Requiem for a Mouse Read Online Free Page B

stepped on. They shouldn’t get in the way of the more powerful pieces.”
    “Only an idiot would underestimate a pawn,” Prince responded in barely a whisper.
    Move after move, John’s advantage grew. The crowd stayed silent, watching Prince bleed pieces. At last, he was down to some pawns, his rook, and his queen. But John had not come out unscathed, he had lost most of his pawns throwing them recklessly into Prince.
    “You’re too careless,” Prince said taking John’s last pawn. By now, he could talk without trouble.
    “They’re only pawns.” John moved.
    “Then I guess you won’t mind this.” Prince moved his queen. “Check.”
    John shrugged and retreated with his king.
    “Check,” Prince said moving his pawn up.
    “You’re going to send your pawns after me now?” John moved his king back again. “Do you see how weak your precious pawns are? I’m right next to them and there’s nothing they can do!”
    Prince moved his queen into a space protected by his pawn. “Checkmate.”
    Silence. John stared at the chessboard as his face turned a deep violet. “What?” His trembling hand hovered over his rooks and bishops, but none were able to help. A line of pawns blocked their way.
    “Even if you cheat, I’ll still win,” Prince said.
    In a single instant, the table was gone, flung away by John’s monstrous arms. Every fiber of Prince’s body screamed to run. His legs twitched and his heart was a jackhammer, but he remained still. John clamped his hands around Prince’s neck and lifted Prince up until his feet left the ground. The crowd around them came to life, screaming and clapping.
    Now!
    Prince thrust the knife into John’s stomach. The blade tore through John’s skin, but stopped at his wall of muscle. With wide eyes, John dropped Prince. As soon as Prince’s feet hit the floor, he sprang up and tackled the knife. It tore through John’s body with a sickly rip. John screamed as he fell to the ground.
    Prince stood over John. The words came out scratchy, but they were impossible to miss. “Don’t ever underestimate me.”
    Through the roaring crowd, Prince heard a click. He looked up and stared straight into the barrel of a pistol.

LAO
     
    It sure is noisy today.
    “What’s going on?” Lao asked.
    The bar fell into complete silence. The circle of people around Prince opened to allow Lao through. Even the man with a knife in his stomach stopped screaming. The metallic glint of a pistol caught Lao’s eye.
    Lao ignored Prince. He stepped over the bleeding man to stand face-to-face with the gunman, moving as if he had all the time in the world.
    “What’s your name?” he asked.
    “Owen.” Owen’s gun dropped to his sides. His face drained of color.
    The crowd around Owen backed away.
    Lao undid the buttons of his white tuxedo. What was to come would be messy and white was the hardest color to clean. Unfortunately, his entire outfit was white, from his shoes to his dress pants to his cowboy hat.
    “Do you know my policy on guns, Owen?” Lao asked.
    “It won’t happen again,” Owen said, his eyes to his feet.
    Lao gently slapped Owen’s cheek until he caught his eyes. “I’m sorry Owen, you’re muttering. What was that?”
    “It won’t happen again Mr. Dragon.”
    Lao shook his head. “No. You may call me The Dragon or even Dragon, but never Mister. Mister refers to men of more refined qualities. I’m a simple man.”
    “I’m sorry Dragon.”
    “So, is it that my policy on guns is unclear? I thought it was rather straight forward, but then again, we humans are rather stupid creatures.”
    Owen shook his head, his lower lip quivering.
    “So you’re telling me that you, having perfectly understood my rules, deliberately chose to break them.”
    “No, it’s not like that.”
    “So you’re saying that it’s my fault for having unclear rules.”
    “Please Dragon, it was a mistake. I was only trying to protect my friend.” The gun dropped from Owen’s hand and