Rotten To The Core

what me a traitor, ain't got your back?

are we not friends, what's up with that?

It had been a slow morning so far, but Marlene knew that it wouldn’t last. She was meant to be meeting the others soon but since she still had time, she wanted to get something out of the way first. 

A few days ago her and Remus were waiting for Mary and Regulus to show up so they thought it would be a good idea to try on each others stuff and Marlene, forgetting she was holding her hook, put on one of Remus’ leather fingerless gloves, ripping the whole top half clean off. She’d promised him that she would get him new ones when she could, so here she was. The walk to Rumpelstiltskin'sgolden gloves (the gloves weren’t really golden, he was just so obsessed with trying to spin everything into gold that he’d convinced himself it had actually worked) wasn’t too long but Marlene had to go through darker parts of the Isle to get there. As she turned into the garage where the glove shop was, there was a thump to her left and some hushed talking. As she got closer, she could see a group of kids, roughly her age, stood circling something or in this case, someone. 

Another thump and this time, a younger voice spoke up, their words broken by a sob.

“No- no please! I told you I don’t know anythi-!”

“Hey there boys,” Marlene called out. They all tuned to look at who had called them, and what they saw, they were not expecting. It was a girl with blonde hair, dark eyeliner, a crooked pirate hat, and a leather jacket with stains from god knows what. 

“Got room for one more?”

The group of boys all exchanged a confused look, they had no idea who this girl was. One boy, presumably the leader, took a step towards Marlene, closing the space between them. 

“Well, what do we have here?” he said, his voice dripping with arrogance. “You looking for trouble, sweetheart?”

She leaned in closer, so she was practically whispering into his ear. 

“Depends on what kind of trouble” she teased, her voice light and airy. She moved her fingers up and down his arm, acting as if she had all the time in the world. She flashed a quick look at the kid , then back to the leader. “If I'm being honest, I prefer my trouble a bit more.. exciting”

She caught a glimpse of the boys behind them, sharing looks, clearly intrigued by where this interaction was going. The leader laughed, a harsh, deep laugh. 

“Looks like you’ve come to the right place then. We were just having a chat with our little friend here, weren’t we?” The rest of his crew nodded in agreement while the kid just sat on the floor in the middle of them, not knowing what to do. “But, i think we can make room for a bit more fun.” the leader said, staring directly into Marlene’s eyes. 

This was her chance, she was close enough now. She dropped her voice to a low, almost seductive tone. “You know, I don't think it’s fair for you boys to have all the fun.”

The leader’s eyes narrowed in confusion. Before he had time to react, her knee shot up, hitting him right in the stomach. He doubled over, eyes wide in shock, gasping for air.

“Here’s a tip boys,” she said, her tone more fierce now. “Don’t underestimate a girl.”

And with that she struck at the other boys. Starting with the one closest, she spun around, delivering a sharp roundhouse kick to the side of his jaw, causing him to fall to the floor, knocked clean out. The next one swung at her first but she caught his wrist and twisted it till she had his arm locked behind his back and kicked him to the floor. The last three drew their swords, expecting the worst. Good. she smirked, finally able to fight in her desired element, and drew her own sword. One of them lunged at her, aiming straight for the heart, but she moved swiftly out of the way, parrying his thrust. His eyes widened with shock, dropping his guard for a split second. She used this to her advantage, pushing him back while he was unfocused, eventually taking a swipe at his face, leaving a single cut along his cheek. 

The second boy rushed in, his sword at the ready, and struck. She turned just in time, making her blade meet his. For a moment, they struggled back and forth, using the swords to balance their force, but then she twisted her wrist, sending his sword flying out his hand. He staggered back, reaching for his sword while simultaneously trying to cradle his wrist. 

The third and final boy hesitated, not sure if he should pursue after seeing his friends’ fates. Just then, she turned to see the leader slowly rising from the floor, recovering from the previous strike. He looked at her, eyes wide with a mix of anger and disbelief. “You’ll pay for that!” he spat

She smirked, a new fire in her eyes. “You sure you want to do that?” she put her sword away, sensing that there wouldn’t be any more of a fight. 

“I- fucks sake, lets get out of here mate.” the leader said, and with one last glare, he left, the last of his mates following quickly behind. 

Marlene sighed, finally able to let her guard down, and turned to the kid, who had backed away into a corner to hide. He stared up at her with fear but also awe.

“You ok? Sorry if i gave you a fright there, but they really needed that” she said, her tone significantly softer than before as she knelt down to face him.

He nodded, “it's ok, i thought they were gonna-” he started.

“But they didn’t, and that's the main thing” she smiled reassuringly. “Just be careful who you find yourself around next time, because I won't always be here to get you out of it, ok?”

The little boy smiled and stood up. Marlene noticed then that he was staring at her hook, she’d forgotten she was even wearing it. 

“That's a cool hook, do you always wear it?” the little boy asked. A lump formed in Marlene’s throat but she swallowed it back down, she couldn’t afford to cry after something like that, she would look weak. 

“Yeah I do, it's just something special my dad gave me, before he-” she stopped herself, realising that that information was too much for such a little kid. “Just a gift from my dad, it's a way i can always be close to him” she sniffed, trying to hide any kind of emotion she just let loose, then smiled. “Go on, there’s probably someone waiting for you. And stay out of trouble.” with that she winked at the kid, and he fled off down the street. She took a second to wipe the dust off her legs and, when she was ready, she started walking back to the dock to meet the others, completely forgetting to get Remus his gloves.