[Luca fanfiction] Love in Portorosso

Chapter 5

"That all sounds pretty hard," Luca muttered.

"Yeah. Hard to lose. We're going to win," Alberto replied.

"I love your confidence," Giulia said to them. "But don't forget, we're going to have to go through..."

Right on cue, Ercole arrived in the piazza, with Ciccio and Guido behind him. Guido was holding up a sandwich for Ercole as he usually did.

"Champion coming through!" Ercole announced.

The crowd parted, the kids shrinking away from the bully.

"Ugh....Ercole," Giulia groaned.

Ercole walked to the front and put down his entry fee.

"Aren't you a little old, Ercole?" Marsigliese asked.

"Signora! I am sixteen," Ercole exclaimed in mock outrage.

"You said that last year."

"But this year, it's true. You might want to save your money, ragazzi," Ercole said to the crowd. "This year, Ercole's gonna break the record and make it six in a row."

Suddenly, he noticed Giulia, Eimi and the boys standing there and he smiled.

"Oh, no. I don't believe it," he laughed. "Spewlia, you teamed up with these vagrants?"

Eimi sighed annoyed. "Really?"

"Ignore him," Giulia said.

"Oh, I wish for you that you could," Ercole said with a sniff. "I'm afraid your friends still need to pay the out-of-town weirdo tax."

Then, he snapped his fingers and Ciccio took the money right out of Giulia's hand and gave it to Ercole.

"Hey! Ercole! You have to give it back!" Giulia shouted.

"Ercole doesn't have to do anything," he explained in third person. "He's the Portorosso Cup champion, number one. And number two, his life is amazing and everyone loves him."

"They don't love you. They're afraid of you."

Ercole turned to the crowd, leaning in close while Guido gave him a sandwich. "Raise your hand if you love me."

Terrified, everyone in the crowd raised their hand. 

"See? Everyone," Ercole said. Then he turned to Alberto. "Even you. Bop!"

Alberto had enough. "Oh, that's it. Come on, Luca," he said.

"Hey!" Ercole laughed. "The vagrants want to fight. Wow! Che bello!"

Luca wasn't sure about this. Actually he was sure that this was a terrible idea. "Alberto?" He protested.

"Silenzio, Bruno," Alberto said. "Remember, this is for our Vespa."

Eimi thought about Silenzio Bruno. What a dumb thing to do. But before any fighting could begin, Giulia wedged herself between the two groups. "Stop," she said.

Luca was afraid, but he raised his fists anyway to protect himself.

"A Vespa?" Ercole said. "Pfft. Ha ha ha!  Trash like you can't ride Vespas."

"Ercole, you're just afraid we're gonna put an end to your evil empire of injustice," Giulia said, 

"Evil empire of injustice," Ercole mimicked.

She frowned as she realized Ercole was saying her exact words at the same time she said them. It was a comeback she had used many times.

"Seriously?"