Xavier asked the 5 elite guards of the one-eyed demon for their names as he prepared to leave the fight club with his duffel bag filled with cash, but the answer he received was definitely not what he was expecting.
He and the 5 of them had come to a mutual understanding very quickly. And, as intelligent and capable individuals, they also all had at least some respect for each other.
Since that was the case, Xavier expected them to at least give him fake names to avoid ending things on an awkward note.
However, they all had the same response.
"We don't have names."
"...?"
There was an awkward silence, and at first, Xavier thought they might be joking, but seeing that they were serious, he couldn't hide how shocked he was.
"What?! You don't have names?" he exclaimed.
They had wry smiles as a few of them scratched their heads and tried to think of a way to explain how they didn't have names, which was very hard to believe.
And despite it being an absurd thing to claim, Xavier was pretty confident that they weren't lying.
Trusting in his instincts and ability to read people completely, since he had come to that conclusion, it was even more intriguing to Xavier.
-
If he believed they were lying and giving him a lame excuse to avoid telling him their names, that would have disappointed Xavier, but also made much more sense.
But their answer, which seemed to be the truth, was absurd.
How does someone not have a name?
And even if they didn't have a legal or official identity, they would still have a name that they were known by.
If they didn't, what did people call them or how did they communicate with each other?
-
There were so many things running through Xavier's mind after receiving their answer, and now that he looked at them, they all had quite varying appearances and differing physiques.
Since they were always grouped together in his mind as the one-eyed demon's 5 elite guards, he never really bothered to observe them as individuals, and so he never noticed.
But now that he was talking to them and had confirmed to them that he was merely a youth, they seemed to have dropped their guards and were much more casual.
That's not to say that he could surprise attack them. He still felt immense danger from them and could tell that within a split second they could end it.
However, at least now they seemed more human-like.
Previously, in Xavier's eyes, they were merely aggressive robots that served the one-eyed demon and there wasn't much personality among any of the one-eyed demon's subordinates.
That's not to say that each of them didn't have their own character. But they couldn't show them and were trained like soldiers who couldn't think for themselves.
But it was difficult to say whether or not that was a good thing.
-
Having such subordinates was useful as they would never question orders given and would put their lives on the line to execute their orders without a second thought.
However, it was also a hindrance, and unlike those that Xavier had recruited to the Outlaw Gang, they wouldn't have any input or surpass expectations in any way.
Their development was restricted simply because they weren't allowed the opportunity or freedom to do so.
Leading on from that, the subordinates that the one-eyed demon accumulated wouldn't progress much at all in the grand scheme of things, and when it came to it, would struggle to react or adapt during intense situations.
That could give the Outlaw Gang an edge over them.
However, ruling with an iron fist allowed the one-eyed demon to have complete assurance that there wouldn't be any disloyalty or complications in his operations, which Xavier couldn't guarantee.
He also knew that there was more to the Wolf Gang than just the one-eyed demon and his men. And so his plan to take it over was far from complete since there was still a lot to learn.
Nevertheless, the one-eyed demon was the most famed and powerful of the executives in the Wolf Gang, or so it was rumoured, and Xavier had observed him enough to have an idea of what kind of person he was.
And now before him were the 5 closest to him, all lost in thought and taken aback after merely being asked for their names.
Which left one wondering just who they were and what they had been through.
-
There was a moment of silence after Xavier displayed his shock after they claimed to not have any names. Then one of them finally spoke, and as he did, the other 4 were watching him very closely.
Almost as if they were ready to pounce on him if he said or revealed too much, which Xavier noticed, and just made him even more curious.
"Well, we all did have names but we... Um. It's hard to explain. But we are basically like siblings and it's the same with the one-eyed demon. When we were younger we just weren't given names and never asked for them either."
It was a puzzling response, and there was so much to unpick from what he just said, leaving Xavier's imagination running wild.
However, he just couldn't picture the 6 of them being siblings, and if they didn't even have names, their household couldn't have been an ordinary one.
They also didn't look alike in the slightest, and rather than loving each other, it was more like they were loyal to each other. It was as if they stuck together simply because they were the only people in the world that they could trust.
It was the same way stray dogs might group together and quickly start to fend for each other, as, if they didn't do so, survival would be much more difficult and nobody else would look out for them.
But they were humans and not stray dogs, so what kind of hostile environment were they born into to have become the way they were?
Despite wondering that, Xavier didn't bother asking and it was clear that they were on edge when thinking about their past.
Instead, he decided to do something that none of them expected him to do.
-
"How about I give the 5 of you names?" he suggested.
They didn't know how to react and were about to laugh. However, seeing that Xavier was being serious, they were unsure how they felt about being named by a random youth.
"Come on. It's not like you're going to get a name from the one-eyed demon, and there's no time like the present. All people need names that they can call each other by," he urged.
Seeing how adamant he was about naming them, they couldn't help but think he was slightly crazy, or at least weird.
But compared to dealing with their boss on a daily basis, he didn't feel like much as they all shrugged.
"If you really want to, go ahead, but it's not like we're planning to use the names," 1 of them stated, with the others nodding their heads in agreement.
"Great! But give me a moment, I need to think about it," he said to them before starting to look at them all closely while thinking of names that would suit them.
The 5 of them stood there awkwardly while being scanned by the unusual youth before them, who they had their guns aimed at merely moments ago.
Then, after a few minutes, he seemed ready and pointed at them one by one, giving them all names that rhymed.
-
"You sir, are Ed."
"I'm gonna call you Ned."
"And you're Fred."
"Then that leaves you, Ted, and you Jed."
"That's the 5 of you. Ed, Ned, Fred, Ted and Jed. They all rhyme. It's great right?"
"..."
They didn't seem to like the names very much.
And considering how deep in thought Xavier had been for a couple of minutes, the names he decided on were very underwhelming.
"Oh well, at least I tried."
The 5 elite guards just smiled slightly, but quickly returned to their emotionless expressions before hurrying Xavier out of the fight club, wanting him to be out and gone as quickly as possible.
However, since all 5 of them were escorting him out of the fight club, to all those working under them, it made Xavier appear to be an important individual, especially since he spoke to the 5 of them so casually.
And as they led him out of the fight club and bid him farewell, they were internally hoping that he never showed up again just like they had agreed.
Although he was an interesting character and so capable at such a young age, he caused too much trouble by riling up the one-eyed demon, while it was also better for him not to show up.
ραпdα nᴏνɐ| сom In their eyes, it was better for him to try to live as close to a normal life as he could, but Xavier was planning on doing the furthest thing from that.
Either way, it worked out for Xavier since he had to focus more on the Outlaw Gang and find other ways to procure funds.
But before they parted ways, Xavier had one last thing to say...
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