Chapter 3: Alley Fight (Luke)
I was kicking a small rock while walking home from Skye Tech after a day of the training internship. It wasn't a particularly interesting day with both the the training and my investigation. My investigation doesn't even feel like one. I don't even know what to look for. It just feels like I'm trying to get as much view of a part of my brother's life that I wasn't familiar with. I was deep in my thoughts when I accidentally kicked the small rock too far. I followed it with my gaze until it landed on the side of the road. I was about to come get it when I eyes caught something suspicious. Or more accurately, someone.
It looks like a man, who seems to be hiding or sneaking up on someone else. He was in the dark side of the road heading to a secluded alley. His hand suspiciously reaches from his back, pulling a something from his pants.
I tip toed towards him and followed him in the alley. When I got like ten feet from him, he suddenly turned around. There was a dumpster beside me, so I ducked towards it to hide.
He didn't seem like he noticed me and I hope he really didn't. There was silence for a few seconds. He was probably looking around, getting suspicious if someone was following him. Then after a few seconds, I once again heard footsteps.
While hiding behind the dumpster, I tried to sneak a peek. I saw the man holding something. I narrowed my eyes hoping to see it clearly. It was a dark alley and the only light is coming from the streetlights. When I finally saw was what he was holding, my heart started to beat faster.
He was holding a gun.
Certain words keeps replaying in my mind. He's holding a gun. What if here to kill someone? My paranoia is starting to get to me again.
I could try to stop him, but how would I do that? I don't even have any weapons, and my particular set of skills does not even include anything close to fighting. He could beat me up easily or even worse shoot me. I'll be vulnerable.
Wait a minute I can call the police.
I started dialing 911 on my phone. However before I could press call, a thought came to my mind. Am I really sure that the person was about to commit something sinister? What if I'm wrong?
I lost the man, he probably went deeper into the alley. Should I follow him? My curiosity and paranoia are battling in my head. If I follow him, I could find out if he's really gonna hurt someone, but then there's also a probability that he could also kill me once he spots me. There could also be someone out there who needs help.
I closed my eyes and repeated a thought in my mind. Just stay put Luke, you don't need to try and help everyone. Just stay out of their business. I took a deep breath and quietly cursed before standing up, " Fuck!" I started tip toeing towards the direction the man went.
Sneaking deeper into the alley as quietly as I can didn't seem so hard. As I continued, my surroundings seemed to be darkening. There was very little amount of light, coming from only one source, the moonlight. Apparently, it was already night and I didn't even notice.
When I was about to turn to another corner, I noticed a new light source coming from it. I stopped on my tracks then proceeded to hide behind a pile of wood as I observe the shadows being reflected on the cement floor. There seems to the three figures in the alley.
I peeked above the pile of wood to see the figures that casted the shadows. There was the man we were following earlier along with two other men. He he seems to be the tallest among them three. They look like they're surrounding someone. The man we followed was in the middle. He was wearing a denim jacket and a bull cap. His right arm was holding the gun to his side and slightly hiding it from the person in front of him.
On his right was another tall man. He was more muscular and buffy compared to the other two. He was just wearing a plain shirt that showed his muscular body. It made him look more threatening. I observed from the position of his upper arm and elbows that both of his hands were placed in his front. He is probably cracking his knuckles to make himself look more intimidating.
On the left side was the smallest and thinnest among the three. He was wearing a grey hoodie which covered most of his face. There was a bulge in his pant's back pocket which caught my attention. I quickly narrowed my eyes to see what it was. It kind of looks like an oblong shaped object. I'm not yet sure exactly what it was though.
I kept watching them trying to scare the person in front of them. I can't really see who it was they was trying to scare since they were blocking my view. But I think there is only one person there, probably a short one since they were all looking down at that person.
Then finally one of them spoke in a deep and threatening tone, "Boss wants to see you." It seems that it was the man on the right since I kind of saw his jaw muscles move.
"What if I don't want to see him?" The person they were surrounding responded. I can tell from the voice and its tone that it came from a girl. Come to think of it, that voice seems very familiar.
The one on the left then chuckled, "He thought you might say that." He pulled the oblong shaped object from his back pocket and revealed it to be a pocket knife. He held it in his right hand and pointed it at the girl in front.
Then the man in the middle spoke with a last warning, "Alright little girl, come with us to meet the boss and no one gets hurt." He also pointed his right hand which was carrying the gun to the girl. The other man on the right also positioned himself to be ready to attack.
What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?
"Well, I'm not the one who's gonna get hurt," I saw a smirk form on the girl's face directed at the three men. I immediately knew who it was. Olivia.
The three men was ready to launch at her right. I brought out my phone again to immediately dial 911 and get help from the authorities. I fumbled as I put in the three numbers and my phone slipped out of my grip. It fell on the concrete floor with a sound loud enough to get the men and Olivia's attention. They all turned to look at me.
I got out of my hiding spot and stood up. I took me a few seconds before I out some shaky words, "Let her go." I wasn't sure when I decided to help her but I guess there's no going back now. I saw Olivia's reaction when her face exhibited an annoyed looked. The man on the left showed irritation in his facial expression along with the man on the right. But then the man on the middle didn't show signs of anger like the other two, but he instead he had an amused look on his face. "Look who's trying to play the hero," he chuckled.
While they were distracted with me, Olivia saw an opening and attacked the man on the left of my perspective. She kicked his knee and punched his jaw with her right hand. He tried to retaliate and stab Olivia with his pocket knife. The other man on the right turned his attention back to Olivia. He was going to attack her as she continued to dodge the thin man's attempts to stab her.
While the two men were focused on Olivia, the man on the middle also tried to attack me. He was about to hit my head with the handle of his gun. Luckily I was able to dodge his attempt by jumping back to my right. On the corner of my eye, I can see Olivia who seems to be struggling in dodging the attacks of the two men. I was a little breathless as I dodged a punch from the tall guy who kept hitting me. On the other hand, Olivia was busy fighting the thin man to deal with the muscular man.
As I dodged another hit from the tallest man, I saw an opportunity and punched the right side of his stomach with my left hand. He stepped back a little because of the blow. He probably wasn't expecting the strength of my punch. I guess the adrenaline rush is giving strength to punches even with my thin arms. I don't really have the body type to be able to give off a strong punch.
After my hit, he didn't seem to be rattled by my strength. Instead it seems that it made him more determined to defeat me. He once again smirked at me and punched me back. I wasn't prepared to dodge his punch so I didn't have the time to react. I don't know why but I instinctively closed my eyes to wait for the blow of his knuckles but it never came. I opened my eyes to see him holding his head. It seems that he got hit with something. Right down at his feet was rock.
Seeing the object that hit the man, I immediately remembered Olivia. We're the only ones in this alley so she was probably the one who threw that. I turned to my right to see Olivia fighting off the muscular man while the thin man was on the ground trying to stand up. It seems that she knocked the thin man earlier and he was trying to get up again. I'm not even sure how she managed to knock him out in the first place.
But then he stood up, reaching for his pocket knife which was on the ground. I ran to kick the knife away but I was too late. He already grabbed it and was about to stab me. Luckily I was able to duck to my left side and dodged his attack. With that, he left himself open so I took the opportunity and punched his stomach. I think the blow was so strong that it caused him to drop his knife. I once again attacked him by using my knee to hit his groin. This caused him to drop to his knees. When he did, I punched his jaw with my left hand and I think it finished the job. He fell to the ground.
I looked over my shoulder to see how Olivia was fighting the muscular guy. She seems to be able to handle herself as she just dodged the man's punch and landed one herself on the guy's left torso. However there was still another man so I hurried to her aid to fight the tall guy. He had his back to me so I used the opportunity to tackle him from behind. By his response, he was shocked at first but then he turned around to face me. The tall man was still holding the gun on his left hand as he try to punch me with the other. I dodged him by slightly jumping backwards. He got annoyed so took another hit at me but he once again missed. After a couple more punches from him, which I was luckily able to dodge, I retaliated. I tried to punch him but he spun around to dodge it.
I faced him as he was now on my left side. He was about to kick me but then I ducked and moved a couple of feet to my right. As I faced him, I caught a glimpse of Olivia fighting the muscular guy. She's struggling I can tell. The muscular man was holding her neck choking her as he lifted her body a couple of feet from the ground. Even though he was choking her, Olivia still tried to fight back. She kept kicking the muscular man's arm that was holding her neck. It seems that she was also trying to reach the man's head with her feet. Unfortunately, he won't budge and still holding her in the air.
I want to help her but I can't. I have to deal with this guy first. I tried to land a punch in the man's jaw but failed. He kept dodging my attacks by continuously moving. Luckily I landed one kick in his knee. It didn't seem to injure him as he was still standing. He now took sidesteps on his left. I took sidesteps also on my left anticipating for his next move. It looks like the tall man was also just waiting for my next attack as we were moving in a circle. He once again tried to attack by throwing a punch to my right torso. I was able to dodge it by stepping back to my left.
I was analyzing the man's movements, his strengths and weak spots, planning my next move. But then I heard a groan from behind me and I saw Olivia being thrown a few feet in front of me. Her back hit against a wall as she fell to the ground. I wasn't sure if she can still stand up. I wanted to run to her aid as my instincts tell me.
As I got distracted, the tall guy used the opportunity to attack me. I felt a strong force hit my stomach as I fall to the ground. I held my stomach grunting in pain. I then looked at the man who just kicked me. He had a victorious smile painted in his face. "Time to stop this little game," he said as he pointed his gun at my head.
"You wouldn't kill us," I said gritting my teeth. I kept my eyes staring at his, trying to not show fear.
"No," he replied. "We weren't suppose to kill her, but we can kill you."
Everything became in slow motion. I could see him putting his finger on the trigger of the gun getting ready to shoot. He had a devilish grin plastered on his face as he was about to take my life.
Is this really it? I thought to myself. Is this the end of my life? Am I gonna see my brother again?
"Say goodbye kid," he said as he glanced at Olivia's direction and was about to pull the trigger.
As I was expecting the sound of a shot getting fired along with a bullet coming straight to my head, it never came. Instead I heard a groan as I saw Olivia kick the tall guy's hand which held the gun. It fell a few feet away from the man. Seeing his reaction, it seems that he wasn't expecting Olivia's attack. I didn't even expect her to be able to stand up after that awful hit she got earlier which sent her flying approximately five feet across the alley. But somehow she managed to stand up and even still fight.
I was watching Olivia fight off the tall man when I felt a strong force in my neck. I touched the muscular arms wrapped around my neck, choking me. It was the buffy man trying to kill me. I tried to squirm free from his grasp but it was no use. While I was struggling from his hands, I once again glanced at Olivia.
She still fighting the tall man. Surprisingly, it seems that she's winning. She landed a punch in the man's torso. He got annoyed and retaliated. He punched Olivia but she was able to dodge. Olivia once again landed a punch in the man but then he was able to hit her as well. He punched her in her stomach. The blow made her step back a little, as it was a strong hit. I couldn't see Olivia's face but I can somehow feel her glaring at the tall guy. The man was about to tackle her so I shouted with a raspy voice to warn her, "Look out."
She didn't listen to my warning and didn't even move. I thought the man will tackle her down but I was surprised of what she did instead. As the man was close to her, she move her body on her right side and used her knee to hit the man's groin. Now it was the his turn to step back. Unfortunately for him, as he did Olivia ran towards him and kicked his stomach. The hit made him step back a couple of feet once more. This didn't stop Olivia though. She did a side flip and kicked the man's face. It was strong seeing the tall man fell down, completely knocked out.
The muscular man was still choking me but I was still struggling as well. I thought I was about to loose consciousness but then I heard Olivia's voice, "Let him go." She picked up the gun after she knocked out the tall man and pointed it at us.
He placed me in front of him to use me as a human shield. It wasn't much help though, as I was not that big. But still, Olivia could miss shooting the muscular man and hit me instead. Does she even know how to use a gun? Worry was starting to take over me, as my surroundings begin to blur. I'm losing air and is slowly closing my eyes, about to pass out.
"You can't shoot me," I heard the man said triumphantly.
"I don't need to," Olivia replied.
I opened my eyes a little and saw a black object coming straight at me. Then the grip of the man had on me loosened, until I was finally free. I fell to the ground, coughing and catching my breath. I glanced to my right and saw the feet of the muscular guy. He was about to step forward probably towards Oliva. But then instead of going forward, he then stepped back as I caught a glimpse of Olivia jumping and kicking his stomach.
When I finally caught my breath, I slowly stood up. The sight in front of me was Olivia fighting the muscular man. It seemed that she was winning as she kept landing punches on the guy. But then the man retaliated and punched Olivia. It hit her stomach and she was thrown a couple of feet because of the blow.
He was about to approach Olivia to finish her off. I don't know what to do so I just yelled at him with my voice still raspy from being chocked, "Hey!" He turned his head towards me and changed his course. He was coming closer so readied myself to fight him. But then, Olivia was ran towards the man and jumped to kick his back. He was startled so he turned his body to face Olivia. Unfortunately for him, Olivia was waiting for it. She jumped and did a slight spin to kick his face. It was so strong that he stepped back a little.
He then looked back at Olivia and glared. She didn't mind him. Olivia just approached the man and punched his jaw. This made him to fall down to his knees. Olivia was now directly in front of the muscular man. She gripped his hair to hold his head with her left hand, "Tell your boss not to send his little bitches after me again." With that, she once again punched the man with her right hand, landing on his jaw and finally knocking him out.
After that she glanced at me with a questioning look, "What?" Up until that time, I didn't realize that I was actually staring at her while holding my stomach that got hit earlier. I look away embarrassed that she caught my staring, "N-nothing." I was really surprised and amazed by her fighting skills. That was probably the reason I was looking at her.
There was a deafening silence between us. I didn't know what to do or say, it felt so awkward. Not to Olivia though. She was just standing there, looking at the knocked out thugs that was trying to take her earlier. I noticed her hand placed on her stomach area as well. Then I remembered, she took various hits to her stomach. Maybe she was hurt, or even worse injured.
"You alright?" I asked without thinking. I mentally face palmed myself, I never should've said a word. She turned to me with shock written all over her face. She probably wasn't expecting me to care about her. I as well was surprised by my own actions. "You took a bad hit," I continued looking at her stomach area. When she realized where I was looking, she took off her hand on her stomach. She frowned a bit and looked away, "Yeah, I'm fine."
What shocked me even more was what happened next. "What about you?" She looked back at me nodding towards my stomach. "You okay?" I couldn't quite read the emotion written on her face. I was looking at her, probably eyes wide open. "Yeah, I guess," I responded to her, looking down. I'm alive, so that's a start.
"You should go home," she said as she turned around to leave. "Besides you shouldn't just come charging into an alley fight, feeling like a hero. Not everyone needs saving. It's not like I couldn't have handled it on my own." She's got a point Luke. She did seem to be able to handle it on her own. I can't help but get curious on her skills in hand to hand combat. I didn't even have the time to ask as she continued to the dark alley like nothing even happened.
I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what. As I was looking at her back, I unknowingly called out to her, "Olivia wait!" Oh God, why did I call her? I hope she didn't hear me. Unfortunately she did as she turned around to look at me. "What?" She responded back. I didn't know what to say. Quick Luke, think of something. I mentally scolded myself.
"Uh... Wha- what should we do with these men?" I started not really knowing why I said it.
"Just leave them there," she responded with as-a-matter-of-fact voice, also somewhat amusement in her tone.
"Why did they even attack you? Who are they?" I asked.
"It's none of your business!" She snapped and turned around to leave.
Yeah that's what I told myself earlier as well. It's none of my business.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone