The Linchpin

Michael shook his head, and, said, "No, no... I... I'm planning on going there in a few months, actually. I'll be able to visit his grave, as well as the others... y'see, my family, well, we're spread along the east coast, mainly. My uncle was the last one to be living down in Florida.", as he tooo his head out of hismpalms, and put his earbuds in, and simply listened to the music.

"Alright." Ember set off for the tower, and was pleasantly relieved that they weren't attacked en route. Perhaps it was because the Assassins thought she was still on their side.

Ember stepped out of the Jeep, and smiled as she looked up at the building. It was finally time for her to take the next step in the Shay tradition, and continue the legacy started almost three hundred years ago. She locked her car once everyone was out, and patted the pocket that Zuko was hiding in; the poor bearded dragon had had a fright from the sound.

The guards stepped aside, and allowed the group to pass. They were escorted through the tower until they came to a large oak door guarded by two men who opened the door for the group.

The room was relatively empty with the exception of a few rather large candles on pedestals, banners bearing the Templar cross, and a middle-aged man wearing black robes with blood-red trims with an old silver chest resting on a table before him. The man before her looked gravely ill, but he stood tall and proud; he was, without a doubt, a Shay. Ember stood before the man while the Crows stood neatly behind her.

"Ember Shay. Today you step out of the shadows of ignorance, and into the light of the Father of Understanding. Do you swear to uphold the virtues of the order, to bring order to this world of chaos?"
"I do, Grand Master." Elizabeth watched as the man shakily slipped a Templar ring on her finger.

"May the Father of Understanding Guide us."

Ember took a step forward in preparation to hug the man before he held out his hand.
"Apologies, but we're not done yet." The man turned to the chest, and pulled out an old gauntlet with a red gem. "Ember, there may not be a ceremony for the indoctrination of a new Grand Master, but us Shays have our own tradition. The Demon's Claw, passed down through the generations since its creation at the hands of Elizabeth Shay. Now, I hand it to you, along with my title." The man gently handed Ember the Demon's Claw, and finally smiled. "Congratulations, Grand Master Ember Shay." Ember smiled, and finally hugged her father.
"I missed you, daddy" Ember said warmly as she hugged her father.
"I missed you too, Ember." Ember's father looked at the Crows, and smiled. "Daz, Marco, Patches, good to see you."
"It's good to see you too, sir." Ember's father looked at Michael before he turned to Ember, "And who is this?"
"Father, this is Michael Butcher, a descendent of Jonathon Butcher. Michael, this is my father, Richard Shay."

While Ember and her father were talking, Michael had time to look ar8und the room... yet, when he was addressed,  he looked back towards the man, and, offering his hand in a handshake, said, "A pleasure to meet you, Mr.Shay. I would introduce myself, but... it seems your daughter has done so for me.". It was amazing, to think of it. Two long, powerful lines of Templars, both of them knowing each other over long periods of times... the farthest back known to be nearly three hundred years ago...

"Ah yes, Ember's always been a very excitable child."
"Daddy!" Richard laughed at his daughter's reaction.
"Now that everything's done, why don't we head down to the pub" Richard asked enthusiastically in an effort to hide his pain. His skin was white, he had dark bags below his blue eyes, and he was rather skinny. He supported himself with an ebony cane topped with a silver dragon head.
"The slug and lettuce?"
"Naturally" Richard said with a laugh.
"Sounds wonderful." Ember turned to face Michael, "What do you think, Mikey? Up for a trip to a good ol' British pub?"

Shrugging lightly, he said, "Ah, why not. First time for everything... I guess.", and, to himself, wondered who would name a pub 'The Slug and Lettuce'. Did they own a pet slug and like Lettuce alot? Eh. Well, atleast it was some where to drink. He couldn't help but wonder what would be Embers reaction when her father passed... he over heard his state from the others, so it would seem it would be, at kost, six months, maybe, be fore he finally died, or something.

(...aaaaaand now it is time for Michael to live up to the American stereotype. Which I, aswell, can not help but live up to either.)

Richard sat in the passenger seat beside Ember, Daz and Patches sat in the seats in the boot while Marco sat in the back seat leaving a space for Michael. Since her father was with her, Ember played some of their favourite music that they would listen to when she first started to meet up with him. The Crows loosened their ties, rolled up their sleeves, and messed up their hair for that sexy business look. Richard simply rolled up his sleeves.

(Come on Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners
The Cheers theme song
Seven Wonders - Fleetwood Mac
Piano Man - Billy Joel)

Ember smiled as they entered the pub. She had removed her robes in the car, and pulled on a plain black shirt with a red tie. Everything she loved about England could be summed up with one thing: a decent pub. The dim lighting, rich wood, dark colours, the good food and ale, the friendly people who loved to laugh and share their stories, the warmth that seemed to permeate ones very soul, and the overall atmosphere that made everything seem good and pure. Even Richard, upon entering the pub, looked happier than he had been. They took a seat at one of the booths, and Ember went off to get some drinks. Richard had his Bushmills Irish whiskey, Marco had a brandy and coke, Daz and Patches had a pint of Guinness each, and Ember had a double Mount Gay rum with lemonade in a tankard she had brought with her from her home.
"Sorry, Michael, but I didn't know what you would want, so I just got you a Gentleman Jack and coke. I hope that's alright with you" Ember said as she set a glass before him. She finally took Zuko out of her pocket, only for the lizard to hide under her clothes.

Michael nodded, and, holding his hands together on the table, said, "Ah, don't mind. It's fine.". Taking a sip of it, he looked down at his phone, and said, "Ah... seems as if we've found another ancestor. Templar, this time. Apparently one of the tallest, yet that's all they know, as of now. Don' know if it's a man, woman, dunno. Only that, compared to others... he was a giant.", as he took another sip.

(A Little hint at a new guy I'm working on.)

"Sounds interesting. Which era would he be from?" Ember sipped at her drink, and pulled her phone from her pocket. On the screen was a picture of a woman dressed in shortened kimono, carrying a scythe as her primary weapon.""Shiro Yagami, also known as the Shinigami. Don't know much about her just yet, let alone how I'm related to her."

Shaking his head lightly, he said, "Not really. We just know the closest thing to range weaponry was a bow, and a crossbow, no hint of rifles nor pistols, not even the earliest kind, so I would have to guess about the 12th century to the middle 14th century.", and, finally, after taking a sip of his drink again, showed his phone to her, which showed a man wearing metal pauldrons, a chest guard with a blood red templar cross painted on it, and a helmet on his head, aswell as normal Templar robes on underneath. "If lucky, we'll know when he was born, where he was born, and his name by 11."

(Forgot to mention - this is an edit - but the helmet covers his face aswell. Think of the knight from Darksouls, but somewhat darker, for the helmet.)

"That should be quite interesting. Very interesting, actually." Richard took this as an opportunity to mention some ancestors that he had done research on.
"A few years ago, I did some research on a few of our ancestors. Donahue Shay, a knight during the crusades. The black knight."

Taking another sip, he said, "Interesting. And fascinating.". He putmhis phone in his pocket, and, jokingly, asked, "How'd he die? A flesh wound?", as he smiled lightly, taking another sip.

"Actually, Donahue died in a fire. His wife and son managed to escape somehow." Richard sipped at his drink, and smiled. Daz and Patches had stepped outside for a smoke. "So how are you enjoying England? Not too cold for you, is it?" Marco kept his eyes open for any possible threats.

Shrugging lightly, Michael said, "It's fine. Much warmer than our winters at my home, and about a bit more than the falls. Last winter we had last until April, and it started at the beginning of November. It sucked the big one.", and, finishing the sentence, took another sip.

"Something's not right. Patches and Daz should be back by now." Ember finished her drink, and went outside to find out what was going on.
"Get down, now!" Marco pulled out a gun, and shot at the bartender.
"Jesus Christ almighty!"

Crouching down a bit, Michael pulled out a small switchblade knife, and activated the blade. Looking up at Marco, he asked, "Assassins, I'm guessing?", as he slowly walked out from under the table, crouching down, his knees slightly hurting from how far down he was. He looked back towards Marco, and said, "Distract the ones here - I'll help the others! If they can take out two already talented men...", and, not finishing the sentence, stood up, and began running to the door.

"Most likely." Ember burst into the pub, holding a revolver in each hand.
"First day on the job, and we're already knee-deep in shit" Ember growled as she shot one man before ducking behind a booth. "Dad, you alright?"
"I'm fine, pet." Richard peered out from where he was hiding, and took note of the enemies. "Remember the Konami code!" Ember chuckled to herself before she popped up from her hiding place, and shot in the direction of the code. Up was forward, down was to her rear.

"Christ," Said Michael, as he turned around, "Was 'boutta look for you. Let's kill 'em.", as he ran towards one man, and, the man aiming a gun at him, Michael seemed to growl, as he clutched the knife harder, and violently began repeatably into his the man's face, and, after what seemed like an hour of stabbingmof him - more so ten seconds, flat - he stood, as he began running after another man, plunging the knife downards into his scalp.

"Marco, get dad out of here. I need you two to help the others."
"Why? What happened to them?"
"I'll explain later." Ember continued with her shooting, careful to avoid hitting Michael. Marco managed to help Richard escape, and led him away from the pub. "Jesus! All I wanted was a drink with friends and my father!"

Following the others, he was about to talk, before he saw somebody run up to his side, and, seeing the gun drawn, quickly drove the knife through his face aswell. Looking back towards the others, and, following them again, spat out some blood, which was not his. Finally, he said, "Don' see why they can't just give up. They know their fates... plus, going to have to wash these clothes, and take a bath, and even clean off this knife... Can we get somewhere safe, where Assassins cant get in wihout trippig something off? I've seen some people look at me odd, mainly cause of the blood on my arm, shirt, pants... everywhere, basically."

Seeing that everyone had finally escaped, Ember reached into her pocket, and grabbed an old spice jar and a lighter.
"Well, brothers, it's time for me to bid you all a rather unfond farewell" Ember said with a laugh as she lit the fuse protruding from the small jar, and rolled it further into the pub. The room was filled with a thick smoke, and the coughing of the Assassins could be heard from all corners of the pub. Ember raced out of the pub and leapt into the Jeep.

Michael sighed, and, deciding it best to not to wait for the smoke to clear, got in the jeep aswell. He was a bit suprised some by standers hadn't called the police at the mere sight of him, or even at the gun fiht in the pub. He was considering taking a bath... which seemed like a good idea, since he would most likely be greeted by a shower nozzle that would reach to around his chest, if he took a shower.

"Jesus! What happened to them" Marco asked as he pointed to Patches and Daz.
"Shot by Assassins! Most likely a Lee Enfield!" Ember sped off in the direction of an old safehouse while Marco and Richard tried to keep the two injured Assassins from bleeding out. "Michael, there's a .307 by the back seat, and some black tallon hidden under your seat. I need you to use it on any Assassins we might come across."

Michael nodded, and, to himself, said, "Finally...", as he reached to the back seat, and grabbed the rifle. Reaching under his seat, he pulled out the bullets, and, setting them to the side, looked out behind them through the window, just in case for Assassins.

"They'll most likely be on the rooftops or on bikes. Look out for the white speedbikes." Ember put the pedal to the metal, and they were soon doing 160 kilometres an hour. She knew exactly where they were goin: to the ferry.

Nodding once more, Michael continued looking around. He thought he saw a assassin, but it simply turned out to just be a middle-aged man, who obviously had no intent on attacking them. He still held the rifle close, however, despite there being, seemingly, nothing.