At the same time, as the others fought, Jacob raised his fists, preparing himself for the attack to come. Suddenly, his opponent charged, wielding a glowing mana lance.
The Red Palace student could feel the energy emanating from the weapon, and he knew he was in for a tough fight.
Immediately, he created two clones, as he did in the Thornton high school tournament, but this time he had a trick up his sleeve: he could make a third one.
The thug charged at him, his mana lance held high. Jacob quickly ordered the two clones to get on one of the thug's sides.
The clones attacked from both directions, forcing the thug to defend himself and back down, but aside from the numerical advantage and the fact that the thug didn't know who the real one was, it was clear that Jacob didn't have much. The disparity in physical strength was too much.
The thug thrust his mana lance, but Jacob and his clones managed to avoid the strikes despite the difficulty.
They dodged and weaved, trying to stay one step ahead of their opponent. Jacob's clone suddenly managed to get on the thug's side as he was trying to kill the other clone with his lance, and he managed to strike the man with a quick jab that left the criminal enraged.
"You stupid kid, I will kill you!"
The thug thrust his mana lance again, this time aiming for another one of the three Jacobs' heads. The Red Palace student's clones moved in to intercept the attack, but the thug was too fast.
He spun around and struck one of the clones with his weapon, causing it to disappear in a burst of energy. The thug was left surprised, as he thought he aimed at the right target, but Jacob's power was much more insidious than he thought.
The Red Palace student, instead, understood he couldn't fuck around against this guy and understood he needed to be more careful in his approach. He created two more clones, bringing his total to three. They surrounded the thug, each attacking from a different angle again, and he, too, took his dagger out of his pocket, which was Jacob's favorite weapon.
The thug was forced to defend himself from all sides, unable to focus on a single opponent, which was also as slippery as an eel.
With a sudden burst of energy, Jacob launched himself forward, his fist dagger straight at the thug's chest.
The thug swiftly sidestepped the attack, narrowly avoiding the full impact of Jacob's blow. Reacting quickly, one of the young man's clones leaped forward, aiming a roundhouse kick at the thug's head. But the thug anticipated the move and ducked, causing the clone's foot to sail harmlessly through the air.
Undeterred, Jacob's other two clones sprang into action. One executed a series of fast slashes, aiming for the thug's arms. The thug, with astonishing agility, expertly weaved through the onslaught, gracefully evading each strike.
Meanwhile, the third clone attempted a high kick, aiming to catch the thug off guard. However, the man demonstrated his nimbleness once again, effortlessly ducking under the clone's leg and swiftly countering with a quick jab to the clone's abdomen.
Jacob himself re-entered the fray, determined to land a decisive blow. He tried to kill the man a dozen times at least. However, the thug's reflexes were razor-sharp, and he skillfully blocked or dodged every attack, frustrating Jacob's efforts.
Realizing the need for a change in strategy, Jacob and his clones circled around the thug, their movements synchronized with uncanny precision. As one, they launched a coordinated assault, attacking from multiple angles in a whirlwind of strikes.
The thug, momentarily overwhelmed, instinctively brought up his mana lance in an attempt to defend himself. He parried and deflected their blows with remarkable skill, turning aside each attack with calculated efficiency.
The battle raged on, a symphony of sounds, agile dodges, grunts, and precise parries.
However, despite their best efforts, Jacob and his clones were having a difficult time gaining an advantage against the thug. His mana lance was a powerful weapon, and he wielded it with deadly precision.
That was without taking into account his superior strength and speed. Jacob was starting to tire, and he knew he couldn't keep this up forever.
The thug managed to land a glancing blow on one of the clones' arms, causing him to wince in pain. Jacob and the other clones moved in to attack again, but the thug was too quick.
He dodged their blows and struck out with his mana lance, catching one of the clones in the chest and causing it to dissipate.
Jacob gritted his teeth and tried to focus. He created another clone, bringing his total to three again, and there were currently four of them fighting. They surrounded the thug once again, attacking with renewed vigor.
Jacob landed a solid blow on the thug's side with his dagger, making a wound on his leg.
"You are dead, kid!" The thug shouted as he killed one of the clones with a strike to the head.
Jacob was down to two clones again and started feeling the strain.
***
At the same time, Patricia and Brittney's fight went on. The two were facing a tough opponent. The thug was wielding a dagger; every time he swung it, a burst of energy shot out of the tip. Patricia had eight animated knives, and they were floating around her, ready to strike at any moment.
Without warning, the thug lunged forward, his dagger flashing in the dim light. Patricia reacted quickly, commanding her animated knives to block the attack. The knives flew toward the thug, their sharpened edges glinting menacingly.
The thug swiped his dagger in a wide arc, deflecting the girl's blades easily. Brittney seized the opportunity, letting out a loud sonic scream, but the man sidestepped and avoided the attack, which ended up destroying a nearby wall. Its destructive power was a lot, and the man didn't want to end up being hit by that absurd amount of mana.
<Damn, these are only kids!> the thug thought, but they fought like trained soldiers.
Patricia took advantage of the thug's momentary distraction, commanding her knives to circle around him and strike from all angles. The thug spun around, his dagger flashing as he parried each blow with precision.
Brittney let out another scream, the sound waves buffeting the thug and throwing off his balance. Patricia took advantage of the distraction, animating a nearby trash can to slam into the thug's side with force.
The thug grunted in pain but recovered quickly, lunging forward with his dagger once more.
Patricia dodged the attack but had to protect Britney. She prepared herself with a sonic scream so the thug couldn't recklessly attack her, or he would die, as he didn't have enough mana to block Brittney's attacks; he could only rely on his speed for that.
The thug was quick; his movements were almost too fast for them to keep up with. Patricia sent her knives flying toward him repeatedly, but each time he deflected them.
Brittney's sonic screams had little effect on the thug, as the thug avoided them easily, and they were only effective enough to keep him away from Patricia.
She let out a frustrated growl, feeling helpless as she watched her friend continue to send her knives at the thug to no avail.
Suddenly, the man lunged forward with renewed intensity, his dagger striking out at Patricia with deadly accuracy.
The Red Palace student managed to dodge the attack, but one of her knives was sliced in half; then, he advanced toward the student and swung his dagger, forcing Patricia to jump back to avoid being struck and to defend Brittney.
Then the thug charged at Britney amid the confusion, as she couldn't still walk and was waiting on the ground helplessly.
Patricia's daggers flew forward, trying to block the man from attacking her friend. However, as the daggers flew toward the man, he twisted around them and rushed toward Brittney. The daggers twisted in the air but slower than the man's speed. They turned and started searching for him.
His blade plunged into Brittney's side, and she screamed. She was already on the ground but would have fallen if that wasn't true.
Patricia's knives continued to fly until they reached the man's back and plunged inside his back, but the damage was meager, and she was distracted by Brittney's cry of pain.
"Brittney!" she shouted, and the thug took advantage of the momentary distraction. He turned around and pushed himself to the limit. Despite the knives in his back, his weapon sliced through Patricia's heart, and she cried in agony.
Erik and the others had been fighting their own battles, but they heard the cries of their friends and turned to see what was happening.
Erik's heart sank as he saw Patricia and Brittney fall, blood pooling around them. If they died, the situation would end for them too. But then something happened.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" Brittney shouted. She was losing too much blood, and she couldn't move. Clearly, she wouldn't make it, as the wound must have been too severe.
"BRITTNEY, NO!" Amber shouted.
The young woman's eyes flashed intensely, and she started charging a powerful sonic scream.
"RUN!" Amber shouted, and the kids barely had time to move away from their assailants and to recover the unconscious Gwen when a humongous scream erupted from her mouth.
The kids managed to get out of that range soon, but the thugs stumbled as they tried to reach the kids, clutching their ears in pain, and Erik and the others saw their chance to escape, albeit being slightly affected by the attack. However, Patricia wasn't that fast and unconscious on the ground.
"BRITTNEY! PATRICIA!" Jacob shouted. They came to save their family together as they were friends, but now only he was among his original group.
"WE MUST TAKE THEM!" he added.
"WE CAN'T; IF WE DO, WE ARE DEAD MEAT!" Erik shouted.
His mind was racing as they fled. They had lost two of their own, and it was only a matter of time before the thugs caught up with them.
He glanced back over his shoulder but saw the thugs still on the ground; however, they were quickly recovering. Though both Brittney and Patricia were losing a lot of blood.
"B-britt-ney…" Patricia wanted to rush to help her friend as she saw her deadly pale on the ground in a pool of her blood, not understanding she was in the same situation due to the shock.
She used her power and decided to kill one of the thugs. She was successful, but once she started standing on her feet to rush to Brittney's help, a dagger reached her neck, and she died.
The other kids were far away and didn't see what was happening. "FAST!" Erik said, his voice urgent. "We need to find a place to hide."
The others nodded, their faces grim. They had been through so much already, and the thought of losing anyone else was almost too much to bear.
They ran down the street, their hearts pounding in their chests, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the thugs as possible.
Erik couldn't help but think about Patricia and Brittney as they ran. They had been such strong, brave fighters who had given everything to protect the group. He didn't know if they would make it, but he knew they would never forget their sacrifice.
Finally, they came to a small alleyway, and Erik motioned for the others to follow him inside. They huddled together, their breath coming in ragged gasps, listening for any sign of pursuit.
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