Simone and his five men had caught up with Erik and the others, and now the two groups stood across from each other on the street. The air was tense, and no one moved.
Matthew's hound was the first to break the silence; his eyes locked on Erik.
His expression was cold and calculating as if he were trying to read Erik's thoughts.
Erik felt a shiver run down his spine as he looked back at Simone. He knew the man wanted nothing else but to rip them apart.
The thug had a sly smile on his face when he started to speak. "You're all quite impressive," he said, his voice laced with a twisted admiration.
"Most kids your age wouldn't have been able to run for so long from me and my men, let alone fight as well as you did inside the boss's club."
Erik looked at Simone; he was in deep thought, trying to figure out what to do to get out of that messy situation. "We didn't want to fight," he said. "You forced our hand."
"Too bad the boss wanted you dead." The man replied.
"Though, no hard feelings between us, ok? I didn't like this situation either," Simone replied. "Again, I'm impressed about what you did back there. But unfortunately, my job isn't to praise you. Now, I suggest you just accept your fate. You managed to escape until now, but you couldn't outrun us forever. We will kill you all eventually."
Erik didn't back down. "I want to see you try," he said firmly.
Simone chuckled. "I like your spirit," he said. "But let's face it; you stand no chance against us. You all somehow managed to survive thanks to your parents, but realistically speaking, you can't win this now that you are alone. So why don't you save us some trouble? I promise we will kill you painlessly. A quick chop on the head, and it will be done." Erik looked at Simone and then at his friends.
They all knew that surrendering wasn't an option. Regardless, they had to keep fighting, as death wasn't a viable option.
Simone's men were all looking at Erik and the others, sizing them up. They were all armed with various weapons, and it was clear that they were ready for a fight.
"I will give you ten seconds to think about it. After that, things won't be that simple for you... 10... 9... 8..."
Erik and his friends readied their weapons, looking at the men intently. If they had to die regardless, it was better to create some problems, at least. For what felt like an eternity, the two groups stood in a tense standoff, neither side willing to make the first move.
Simone's men were waiting for him to stop counting, while Erik and his friends were for them to make the first move. Finally, the ten seconds ended, and Simone broke the silence. "I can see your weapon, but I will ask this regardless," he said, his voice low and menacing. "What is your response?"
Erik gritted his teeth, knowing that he couldn't back down now. "We're not afraid of you," he said, his voice steady. "If you want a fight, we'll give you one."
Simone smirked, his eyes glittering with amusement. "I was hoping you'd say that, to be honest," he said, raising his hand and licking his dagger.
In that instant, the standoff was over. Simone and his men charged forward, their weapons gleaming in the neon light. Erik and his friends met them head-on, ready for whatever came their way.
Without warning, one of Simone's men charged at them with a wild cry, his powers already activated as he had a weapon in his hand.
Erik dodged the attack and retaliated with a powerful swing of his flyssa, which made the man shout in surprise due to the strength Erik used. That was no average kid's strength. However, Simone signaled the man to stand aside, and Erik briefly found himself without an opponent.
Meanwhile, Aaron was busy creating corrosive slime that he hurled at another attacker, making it so that the others had to avoid the shots while simultaneously creating a pool behind them.
However, Simone then charged at Erik, and he immediately understood he was the most dangerous of the kids, not only because of his fight inside the club but also because of how his man reacted to his previous swing of the sword.
Erik and Simone circled each other warily, both holding their weapons in their hands. The young man gripped his flyssa tightly, his stance low and balanced.
Simone held his dagger in front of him; his movements were fluid and precise.
He lunged forward suddenly, his dagger flashing in the dim light. Erik sidestepped the attack, his flyssa whistling through the air, but the thug slashed at his side a bit.
He darted forward again, his movements almost too fast to follow.
Erik barely parried his attacks with his flyssa, his muscles straining with the effort. The two fighters moved in a blur of motion, each trying to gain the upper hand. Erik was a skilled fighter now, but Simone was faster and stronger.
He managed to land a few solid blows, each sending Erik stumbling backward, but he was relentless and kept coming at Erik with a ferocity that was almost maniacal.
Suddenly, Simone's dagger flashed in the moonlight.
As the man swung it at breakneck speed, trying to get a hit on the young man. The awakener raised his flyssa, deflecting the blade with expert precision.
But Simone was ready with another dagger in his other hand. He was going to hit him in the stomach, and if that happened, Erik would be dead.
Therefore, the awakener no longer hesitated and activated his metalization and mana exoskeleton's power. The blade hit him but wasn't able to penetrate his skin.
The thug immediately found out what had happened, as he could feel four distinct types of mana emanating from Erik's body. The other thugs noticed this too, but refrained from saying anything do to their professionalism.
"What the…?" Erik used that moment of distraction to regain his balance and charge at Simone.
"What the fuck was that?" Simone asked with disbelief.
"It's none of your business…" Erik replied.
"Those were two powers? TELL ME!" Simone demanded, greed already surging inside of him.
The two fighters continued their dance of death, their weapons clashing with a metallic ring. Erik could feel his arms growing tired and his muscles burning with exertion just by defending himself from Simone's attack. The thug, instead, seemed to be tireless, his attacks coming at Erik faster and faster.
The awakener gritted his teeth, determined to hold his ground. He knew that he couldn't afford to make a mistake against Simone. The man was too dangerous and too skilled. One wrong move and Erik could end up dead.
Erik took a deep breath, centering himself. Then he charged forward; his flyssa held high. Simone met him head-on, his dagger flashing in the dim light.
Their weapons clashed with a loud clang, and Erik felt the shock reverberate through his arms. But he didn't falter. He pushed forward with all his strength, his eyes locked on Simone's.
***
As Erik and the thug traded more blows, Mikey, Martha, and Amber were left to deal with the one they called the flexible thug. The man moved unnaturally, contorting his body to avoid their attacks.
It was like he was made of rubber, stretching and bending in ways that shouldn't have been possible, but not so much as to consider it a powerful brain crystal power.
Mikey summoned his flesh-eating bugs, sending them swarming toward the thug. But he was too fast, easily dodging their attacks.
Martha created some vines that sprouted from the ground and lashed at the man like a whip, but the thug simply bent backward, narrowly avoiding the sharp vines.
"You are good," he said with a smile as if he was enjoying the fight.
His movements were so weird and strange that they gave Gwen and the others the creeps.
Amber attempted to catch the thug off guard with her fast strikes while he was still moving, but he was too quick for her too.
He twisted and turned, always managing to slip out of her reach, and as soon as he saw a weakness in the kids' joint defense, the thug struck back, his arms and legs moving in strange, jerky motions as he delivered a series of powerful kicks and punches at Amber.
Mikey sent his bugs swarming toward him, but once more, the thug simply bent backward and avoided them again by gaining distance.
Martha tried to strike the thug with her vines again, but he dodged it with a quick sidestep while at the same time avoiding the bugs.
While that happened, the two gave Amber enough time to recover, and as soon as she was ready, despite being in pain, she went behind him and moved in for another attack, but the thug grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back.
Amber gritted her teeth in pain, struggling to break free. The man, though, was going to bring a dagger to her throat when Martha and Mikey used their power again, and Amber herself released her corrosive gas briefly to avoid getting killed.
The man was forced to leave her and quickly retreated, getting out of the gas's range since he knew how dangerous that power was.
Mikey and Martha moved to help Amber, but the thug was cunning; he avoided the fog immediately and used his flexibility to launch himself at Martha with a flying kick.
The girl tried to create a barrier of thorny vines to defend herself, but the man's foot smashed through it like it was made of paper. She was sent flying, crashing into a wall, and landing in a heap on the ground.
Mikey sent his bugs swarming toward the thug once more, hoping to distract him. The man tried to dodge the bugs, but there were too many of them, and due to his current stance, he couldn't get away from them. They began to swarm all over him, biting and tearing at his skin.
The thug screamed in pain, but his flexibility allowed him to contort his body and shake the bugs off quickly. He then turned his attention to Mikey, launching a series of flying daggers at him.
The Red Palace student tried to defend himself, but the thug's daggers flew too fast, and he ended up being stabbed in the arms and shoulders. He stumbled backward, tripping over a trash bag and falling to the ground.
The thug saw his opportunity and struck at Amber, who was close to him and still in pain, landing a powerful blow to the young woman's stomach.
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