Author Notes:
Seriously, you can see me enjoyed jotting down this chapter, just because of the amount of Easter Eggs I kept buried between the lines. They all ranging from the easiest to the hardest to be spotted. Cookies will be given to whoever manage to nail down all of the Easter Eggs! But don't worry, if you can't catch them all, the journey is what that mattered, and I hope you all will enjoy it all the same.
Thank you for reading, everyone, and if you wanna hangout, do visit me on Discord. Semi-regularly, my Moderators and I will conduct some gaming time despite our differing timezone.
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I don't know, celebratory pic 1: https://postimg.cc/CBzt4LB1
I don't know, celebratory pic 2: https://postimg.cc/xJc7PTJT
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"Ah, having chatted for so long, all the appetizers are goners..." Tommy suddenly says after finishing his last bite of fish and chips.
The gang leader then turns over his shoulder, waving for a member of the Peaky Blinders standing by the kitchen area. "Mate, go and see if the chef has finished the main course, yeah?"
Although the man called upon by Tommy is built like a hard-headed brawler with scars to match, he silently complies with the request. Yuki, nearly finishing up her own plate of greasy fries, takes in the subtle glance the gang brawler gives her in a stride as he disappears behind the kitchen corner. That said, the gesture is still something to take note of, given the circumstances in the bar. Behind Yuki, a Reichsguard, standing slightly ahead of the pack, silently uses a thumb to polish the immaculate, if subtly designed watch face on his right wrist. Unknown to the Peaky Blinders, a silent yellow alert is sounded across the Reichsguards network, which is in charge of protecting the VIP, namely Yuki.
Of course, this little detail does not escape Yuki's notice. However, she is willing to go along with this little show the gangster leader is putting up. It's not every day that Yuki can see such a ballsy figure in the underworld, and the one speaking Spanish in Southern America doesn't quite share the same class as Thomas Shelby. This combination triggers Yuki's internal drive to acquire talented figures, hence her idea of propping up Tommy as an underworld lord on this side of Europe, if not further beyond.
Yuki's desire is not without a basis, however. Tommy is a man who has both the skill to back himself up and the charisma that inspires those who follow him in their dark, shadowy climb to greatness. He is also a man who manages to stay loyal to what matters most to him. At the very least, Tommy tries his very best to do so, which is already more than what many can say in the underworld. The Peaky Blinder gang leader dares and is very willing to risk himself for the sake of his compatriots and family. Given sufficient incentive and encouragement, the Reich can further develop Tommy into a figure worthy of maintaining a cooperative relationship with... To best serve the Reich's interest, of course. Nonetheless, it's something for future Yuki, or her underlings, to handle.
When the brawler from before comes out of the kitchen area, he does so while carrying a silver rectangular tray with a lid over it. It's unknown if what's underneath it is anything tasty, but one thing Yuki knows for sure is that it's gonna be...
Interesting.
With a brief clattering sound, the tray is presented on Tommy's side of the dining table. Just before the brawler can uncover the lid, however, Yuki comments with a smirk while sitting back against the backrest of her chair.
"Are we really going to do this, right now?"
The sudden question would have been cryptic to an innocent bystander, but Tommy is anything but innocent here.
"Yeah." Tommy replies evenly as the lid is uncovered by the brawler, revealing what's underneath. "Yeah, we're doing this now."
The items on the tray are nowhere near healthy enough to be consumed, for they're dynamite sticks bundled with a detonator next to them. All presented on a literal silver platter to Tommy's swift hand. Yuki watches in amusement as Tommy seizes the detonator around the same time as everyone in the room starts pulling their guns against one another. Things would have defaulted to a quite catastrophic manner if not for Yuki raising a hand to call off the trigger fingers of the Reichsguards behind her. Tommy, as well, doesn't seem hasty on pulling that detonation handle, at least not yet.
Once again, the two leaders are left to their own devices.
Tommy, seeing Yuki's unfettered state, comments with a barely perceptible frown. "You're oddly fascinated with the current state of things, yeah? Though that's to be expected, if the tales are right about you."
"Tales of my deeds are," Yuki nods in Tommy's direction with a flourish. "Greatly exaggerated. You don't seem to mind the fact that you're possibly consigning your fate, and that of your comrades, to quite a bombastic send-off as well."
"We know what we signed up for." Tommy says, trusting the others to have his back while he maintains a secure grip on the detonator. "We either make it as someone who bested a proverbial War Goddess, or we'll see our names vilified in the years to come. Either way, it's a straight ticket to the history books. One can only imagine how people would regale our tale..."
Yuki chuckles freely. "Well, that is only a possibility if you really press that detonator... But I think you would second-guess yourself after this."
Without waiting for Tommy's reaction, Yuki snaps her fingers. From behind, a Reichsgauard nods before talking into his earpiece. A moment later, another Reichsguard comes into the gunpowder-filled bar with a rugged laptop in hand. Under the tense looks the Peaky Blinders are giving him, the new arrival courteously offers Yuki the laptop by placing it on the table, unfolded. Since only Yuki is privy to the content of what is shown on the laptop, none of the Eruseans present know exactly what's going on. But Tommy, being the closest, has a very foreboding feeling. His gut, honed through war and a lifetime of ups and downs, is telling him that whatever happens next won't be his favorite cup of tea.
That twisting sensation of his gut goes into a full-blown air raid siren when Yuki smirks and faces the laptop's screen in Tommy's direction with her fair fingers.
"Hello there~!" Comes Yuki's voice, but not from the Yuki sitting directly opposite Tommy, but from the Yuki being displayed on the screen of the rugged laptop. "Mr. Shelby, it's nice to finally put a face to a name. For you to see me right now, I reckon you have triggered my more mischievous side."
"Oh, but where are my manner~?" In a twisted reversal, the Yuki on the screen parrots some of the words Tommy said in the very beginning of this meeting. "As you can see, I am there and not there, at the same time. In fact, you should be familiar with the backdrop behind my shoulders. Quite a lovely open-air diner I've found around this block. I've come to enjoy a meal here, and I must say that they've managed to make some killer steaks despite the shortage of ingredients."
"Bloody..." Tommy's gut feeling has turned true, in the worst way possible. For he knows just where this Yuki is, and that realization baffled and frightened him.
That's his home turf, like the very pinnacle of home turf. That's his home neighborhood! And even though Tommy has made preparations to vacate his and the others' families, for the Reich Marshal to be there in person, or somehow a version of her is... That does not bode well, like at all.
Tommy feels like his heart is twisted out of his ribcage when the Marshal on the screen cuts a piece of well-cooked steak and elegantly places it into her mouth, all the while, movements are made behind her back.
"You must excuse me for partaking in some first as it's been one heck of a ride from London to Birmingham." Yuki returns what Tommy said, word for word, as the soldiers behind her come and press a few people down onto their knees.
Although all of them are wearing black sacks over their heads, their arms are tied behind their backs, Tommy nearly depresses the detonator trigger out of fright as he jumps out of his seat.
"They...! You...! Despicable woman!" Tommy nearly bellows, his face reddening in sheer fury as he glares at the screen.
"Me, despicable?" The Yuki that is calmly enjoying a succulent piece of steak asks with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk. "I'll admit that is indeed a first that someone said such a word to my face. But really, Mr. Shelby, do you really think that you could have so easily held an instance of me at detonation point without repercussion? Even if you would dare risk the well-being of your wife and children and blow the bar sky high, do you really think that would be the end of the Reich's rise, the end of me? I regret to inform you that..."
"I am Legion, for We are Many!"
That line, that quote, is uttered into the souls of everyone presented by the two Yuki(s)... or multiple of them from who knows where. Hearing this declaration, ironically filled with biblical intent, forces Tommy to slump back onto his chair as he experiences a swirl of negative emotions. One can only see the man is struggling to process the situation by the way his knuckle turns white from gripping the detonator so tightly, debating whether or not to push the trigger downward and end it all. Yet, given what the Reich Marshal has displayed thus far, it has turned from a matter of dare-or-dare-not into a hopeless sequence of:
Does it even matter?
And that is much more crushing than the fact that Tommy's family is held hostage, right on his home ground. If even the gang leader's lifeline is subjected to gunpoint like this, then what of those of the common members of the Peaky Blinders? Thinking of this point, Tommy can only lean back with a hand covering his eyes, his lips curled up in a wry, defeated manner.
"My apologies for the outburst... You have made your point quite clearly." And with that, Tommy slowly loosened his grip on the detonator before removing his hand from it completely.
No attempt is made to deter the Reichguards that come forward to retrieve the dynamite and its trigger device. Yet, shockingly enough, the Marshal's bodyguards have something to say after removing the explosives from the establishment.
"The explosives are fakes, Marshal."
The revelation causes less of a stir in Tommy's heart than the one before it. Yet, the two Yuki are absolutely enjoying the sheer gall of this gang leader.
"Bravo! Bravo! Thomas Shelby, you're either the bravest or the stupidest person in the world, trying to threaten someone with a thing that's not even real." The Yuki sitting opposite Tommy expresses her appreciation of the man before adding. "Goes to say that great minds truly think alike, then."
Tommy removes his hand from his eyes. The man's gaze contains a great many emotions, many of which ain't kind to either Yuki(s), but one can see the mounting confusion when the Yuki on the screen suddenly raises her hand and claps.
"Ok~! Show's over, people!" Per her words, all the people behind her shoulders relax their postures, and Tommy's family, supposedly held hostage, stand up easily with no one stopping them.
Eventually, under Tommy's shocked gaze, the family members, supposedly bound and blindfolded, easily removed their bindings without anyone's help. It takes Tommy a full ten seconds to register that those aren't his family, just wearing the same clothes with the same statures. And the familiar environment of Birmingham streets behind the Yuki that was enjoying her steak? It fades away in a pixelated manner. Everything is fake... For the most part, at least.
As the doorbell chimes, Tommy receives yet another shock to his racing heart as his wife and kids are led into the bar.
Noticing their arrival, the Yuki sitting across Tommy speaks to the other one.
"Thanks for your help, enjoy your succulent Berlin meal."
"Always, Other Me~!"
And with that, the laptop is closed and passed onto the waiting hand of a Reichsguard. The remaining Yuki then continues to address Tommy simply as she sits with her legs crossed and fingers interlocked on her knee.
"Go on, receive your family."
With that as the signal, Tommy's wife and kids run into the gang leader's waiting arms. It takes them five whole minutes to get their emotion in check. Honestly, it's Tommy himself who needs those five precious minutes the most, given how he seems to have lost ten years of his life in less than an hour.
Tommy is swift to get himself back in order, however, as he quickly rushes his family into the protective circles of a now thoroughly frazzled Peaky Blinder gang. Eventually, the man himself returns to his seat and stares at Yuki.
"Was everything planned, no... Foreseen?"
"That's for you to figure out, Tommy. I only do what's required by the situation." Yuki replies with a small smile.
"Even if that means holding innocent children hostage?" Tommy quips back.
"I never did threaten them, didn't I? Not really my style, really, I only ferry them from somewhere they don't belong, back into your embrace, Tommy." Yuki shrugs before adding with a knowing glint. "You and I, we are same-same, but different."
"And the hell is that supposed to mean?" Tommy asks, starting to lose his patience in this long, long confrontation.
"It means that, despite our differences in, well, lives, we both cherish the same thing that keeps us grounded, our families." Yuki then leans in with a grin. "Because of that, we have certain lines, a modicum of decorum that we kept dear to us."
Tommy takes one good look at Yuki's uncovered eye, seeing nothing but a controlled expression that gives nothing away but a shocking amount of sincerity. By this point, Tommy has accepted that the time for testing and mind games has passed, and that he and the Peaky Blinders are squarely on the back foot.
"... Alright. You want to talk, let's talk."
Yuki smiles in return. "I hope this will be the start of a pleasant cooperation, Tommy."
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When the Marshal left, she left the Peaky Blinders both scared, confused, and a wee tad grateful.
"Bloody Hell, Tommy. Look at all those guns...! Nowadays, only those Street Judges could bring machine guns to bear!" A Peaky Blinder exclaims while holding up a battle-scarred Lewis machine gun.
"... And they got tanks, my lad." Tommy sighs while lighting up a cigarette, letting the nicotine calm his frayed nerves. "Do not mistake these ordinances' purpose. These aren't enough to do anything against the Judges anyway. They're meant to allow our expansion to the rest of Erusea, Scotland, and Ireland, included."
"... Right. Right. Let's not tempt fate and all that. What's next, Tommy? What did the big lady say?"
"First things first: Get our people back to their homes, back to their works... Restart the industry, revitalize the citizens." Tommy replies while exhaling a cloud of white smoke.
"Despite everything the Reich did to them, I think people will need something more solid than just some suggestions... A guarantee, maybe?"
"Tell them..." Tommy starts. "Tell them they're guaranteed by the Peaky fucking Blinders."
"And if any cause trouble or an issue crops up, notify me immediately... Stand straight, and carry yourself with dignity that befits those suits you are wearing, people. The sooner we can get the Reich off our backs, the easier it is for us to sleep at night."
"Gotcha, Tommy."