Chapter 9: Chapter 8: Big Escape
It was finally over. Sure, he had a few fractured ribs, sore forearms, and an annoying small headache, but he won a battle that's pretty much impossible for anyone his age. Limping away out of the ring, he arrived back to the top with the rest of the spectators and sat at a table. Many congratulated him on his victory and gave him a few slaps on the back while others gave him mean looks. Obviously, they were hoping he would lose. He couldn't really care less how they felt. The only thing he cared about at the moment was getting home and resting.
Seeing a mug on the table, he grabbed it. It could possibly be alcohol in it, but it didn't really matter he just wanted something to drink. Taking a few gulps, he felt the liquid burn his throat and stopped to look at the mug. It was alcohol alright, and not only that, it tasted like shit but hey, it was doing its job, at least. Going to take another sip, he felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder and turned around to see his sister smiling with a sad expression.
"Hi," she said, taking her hand off and looking at Clay. He didn't answer her. Instead, he looked away and took another drink from his mug. Kat looked at her brothers injuries in shame. She knew 5 people was a lot, but she thought he would be able to take care of it like he always do, he makes it look so easy after all.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know they would be that strong, I thought they would be a bunch of nobodies like usual"
He didn't answer for another 12 seconds until he spoke.
"Even if they were nobodies, you wouldn't know what would have happened . This is real life. Kat, anything can happen at any time.
He was pissed off. And he made that clear from the aggression of his tone. Taking one last gulp from his mug and slamming it down, he took a deep breath and spoke.
"But you said you're sorry. So in return, I forgive you…just don't make the punishments as harsh in the future, please."
Clay watched his sister face bright up from sad as a cloudy day to bright as the summer sun, and she gave him a tight bear hug. It would have been super sweet if she wasn't making his fractured ribs worse by squeezing him.
"OW OW KAT RIBS MY RIBS"
"Oh, sorry about that. Do you think we can make it home with you like that?"
"Don't know, it already took a lot out of me just to get up here,"
"Well, that's no good. How about you forget about it until we get home"
Seeing his vision turning blurry and feeling his head become foggy, it all went away just as fast as it came. Clenching his fist and twisting his body sideways, Clay looked at his sister completely surprised.
"You didn't,"
"Yup, I did. So, how do you feel?"
"I feel weird, like it doesn't hurt, but it does feel uncomfortable. Like when you feel broken pieces inside of a chip bag."
Talking about it for a little longer, the two didn't notice someone approaching Clay from behind. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Clay turned around, and who he saw shocked him and Kat. It was Ekko smiling at Clay and shaking his hand in a hyper and excited manner."
"ITS YOU, ITS ACTUALLY YOU! YOU TOTALLY KICKED ALL THEIR ASSES."
Turning to look at each other, Clay and Kat were shocked. They thought seeing Powder and the rest of the gang up close would solve the serial feeling they had seeing fictional characters in real life. But it seemed they'll never get used to it.
"Hey…guy I never seen before," Clay said awkwardly as he watched Ekko throw air punches and stopped to look at him and Kat.
"Oh my bad. The names Ekko but my friends call me little man."
"Well, this is -"
"Kat, and your name is Clay. I already know."
Not taking this lightly anymore, Clay looked at Ekko seriously and spoke.
"And how exactly do you know that?"
"Well, uh, Gold Tooth told me,"
"Did he now?"
"Yeah, I took a lot of work, but I eventually got it out of him,"
Humming to himself, Clay walked away in a rush, completely passing Kat and anyone else that got in his way. Kat and Ekko watched him make his way to Gold Tooth booth and then looked at each other. Kat smiled at Ekko and ran to catch up with her brother. Ekko, on the other hand, was stuck there for a minute, trying to collect himself after Kat smiled at him.
'Wow, she's pretty,' he thought to himself.
Walking over to the booth surrounded by smoke, Clay was stopped by a bodyguard surrounding it. They both looked at each other, waiting for the others' move. Clay wasn't 100% at the moment, but because his sister used her voice on him, he couldn't feel anything right now. Before tensions could rise any further, they both heard a voice from the booth.
"Let the boy pass. If he wants to talk, I'll listen. "
With the bodyguard grunting, he stepped aside while still keeping an eye on Clay as he passed by. Walking into the booth and ignoring the smoke, Clay watched Gold Tooth put the rest of his gold into a bag and sat it aside. Taking a puff of his pipe, he exhaled and looked at Clay with a smile.
"So why did you come all the way up here? Not here to complain about broken bones, I hope."
"No. something more important than that"
"Then go on speak,"
"What were the rules to our agreement when me and my sister first came here."
The man chuckled to himself and spoke, "Never speak your names to others, keep out of your private life, and if I remember correctly, always give a fair fight." He started chuckling again at the last part and then took another puff of his pipe with it glinting from the ceiling light."
"Seems like you broke our first rule. Because tell me why there's a kid walking up to me and my sister saying our names like he knows us."
Blowing the spoke towards Clay's direaction Gold Tooth spoke.
"Well, here I was thinking you three were friends. My mistake"
"DONT BULLSHIT ME!"
He said, slamming his hands on the table and knocking some of the gold out of the bag. The club was the same as ever, people were talking, drinking, yelling, fighting, it was all the same except in this one area. The tension was thick as skin and neither broke eye contact. The smile that was once on the man's face disappeared, and finally, the businessman he was finally showed, and he spoke.
"I suggest you calm yourself, boy. You're not here alone, remember."
Looking behind him, Clay could see Ekko and Kat looking worried while the bodyguard glared at them. He was right he didn't come here alone, there were other people who lives he had to worry about so he took a deep breath to calm himself.
Hearing a thunk hit the table, Clay looked back to see the man sitting a gun on the table, and he slowly sat down.
"Is that really necessary?"
"Depends. Are you calm now?"
"Yeah, I'm calm."
"Good. Now, let's talk about this. Like I said, it seemed like he was friends with you both, so I accidentally said your names around him. I apologize. That was rather stupid of me."
"It's alright. The damage has already been done." Rubbing his forehead, he began to ask a question he already knew the answer to but decided to ask anyway.
"Know anything about him?"
"A good bit yeah. He hangs around Vander kids a lot and gets into trouble with them every now and then. He didn't start coming around here until 4 months ago, "
"Alright, thanks for the information. And sorry about the tantrum earlier. " Getting up, he began to walk away when he was called back. Looking over his shoulder, Gold Tooth spoke.
"Before you go tell me. Where the hell did you kids learn to fight like that?"
Smirking Clay was gonna speak when when he heard a word that puts fear into the Lanes when said. ENFORCERS!
It was a lot of them, and they were poring in from the door like a water fall coming down a cliff. There was screaming and fighting, and others ran away. But no matter which one you picked, they would catch you and beat you to an inch of your life and arrest you with the others they caught. Not asking questions, Clay ran and re grouped with Kat and Ekko.
Getting shoved and pushed, the kids went under a table, and Kat was the first to speak under all the chaos.
"Clay, what's going on!?"
"Enforcers busted in, and now their arresting people,"
Ekko eyes went wide, and he spoke, "I thought this place was well hidden and secretive."
Both Clay and Kat looked at Ekko with a raised eyebrow and asked how he found out about this place then. He scratched his head and told them he came across it while riding out one night, but the truth was he crashed nearby and found the place while looking for spare parts to fix his ride.
"Ok, so you have a ride. Did you bring it here tonight?"
"I always do its on the right side of the building."
Peaking his head out from under the table, Clay saw everyone still in panic and running around the place like chickens with their heads cut off. But sadly, the situation got worse, and the enforcers became more aggressive. They all paused and seemed to receive an order, and afterward, they all pulled out electrical batons, and everyone began dropping like flies one by one.
Urgently ducking his head back under the table, he spoke.
"This is bad. We really need to go. They're getting serious now. "
Kat, taking a peak herself, looked around and came back under the table. Clay asked if she saw any way out, and she nodded. "There's a window in Gold Tooth's office. I can see it through the cracked door."
Ekko finally swallowed his fear and took a peak. he saw the path to the office was slightly clear. Looking back at the twins, he waved his hand for them to follow, and they all ran across, trying their best to avoid the chaos that was in the way of their freedom. While running, Clay looked to his right and saw a group of enforcers surrounded around Gold Tooth. They didn't seem as aggressive as the others. In fact, none of them had their weapons out. Instead, they were talking, and Gold Tooth laughed before getting hand cuffed the next moment. It was so weird that Clay couldn't help but look on in confusion until Kat snapped him out of it by screaming his name.
The three made it into the office and slowly closed the door. They turned on the lights and looked at the office. It was a decent sized office, and I could probably hold enough room that two people could live in here together. Ekko ran over to the desk with lots of paper and gold coins on it and began pulling a chair that looked like a throne towards the window. Climbing on top of the chair, Ekko jumped onto the window hatch and began to pull.
"What are you doing?" Kat asked, looking up at Ekko desperately trying to open the window.
"It's pull to open, so I'm trying to…open…it" he said in between grunts and making weird faces while doing it. Chuckling, she climbed on the chair and held Ekko from behind. The boy absolutely froze stiff as a board and spoke.
"What are you doing?"
"What do you mean I'm helping you pull the window?"
"Ok, cool, but uhh, how does you holding me from behind help?"
"Ugh, Ekko, just stop being a baby and pull. We have to go."
Seeing the two arguing, Clay couldn't help but slightly laugh at the situation. And seeing the two trying to pull the window was just as funny, especially when it seemed like Kat was squeezing the air out of the boy. Eventually, the window popped open, and the two fell on the chair, tipping it over and falling on the floor. They both looked at Clay from the ground and lifted their fist into the sky, smiling. "WE DID IT," they both screamed while smiling.
"Nice job. Now we can -"
The screaming and sounds of fighting came back. They were still able to hear it before, but it was muffled because the door was closed. Slowly turning around, Clay saw an enforcer at the door baton in hand. He walked into the office and slowly looked around before he brought his sights back to the children in the room. It seemed he was gonna scream out to his comrades about what he found until Clay threw a lamp that was on the desk at him scratching his face.
The glass shards splatterd all over his face and nearly got into his eyes. He took off his mask and looked back with a murderous intent in his eyes. As the blood began dripping from his mouth area, he spoke.
"YOU FUCKING. LITTLE. SHIT!"
"KAT, EKKO, JUMP THROUGH THE WINDOW I'LL BE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!"
They both charged at each other. The enforcer went for a downward strike only for Clay to slip under him. He ran to the other side of the office and grabbed a coat rack to use as a weapon. It was going well he deflected every strike the enforcer tried to swing at him, but no matter how much Clay tried he couldn't use his full strength he could only stay on defense. Kat made it so he couldn't feel the injuries of his body until they got home but that didn't mean his body was healed, so in return Clay couldn't use his full strength to fight how he normally does.
The enforcer knocked the coat rack out of Clay hands and began attacking him with the baton. He kept it on Clays ribs and watched him yell from the electricity cackling around his body. Feeling a cup hit the back of his head the enforcer turned around to see Ekko with his arm outstretched and with Kat holding other various items. They began to throw more and more items until they annoyed the man and he began to run towards them ready to give them same treatment.
Before he could take another step Clay jumped off the desk and onto his back. Unhooking his nunchucks, he wrapped the chains around the mans neck and began choking him. He used every bit of strength he had to pull, the man began clawing at Clay's arms, it didn't work, so then he tried slamming Clay's back into the wall, that didn't work either. So for a last ditch effort he fell completely on his back hoping it will knock Clay out. But sadly for him that also didn't work. Clay kept squeezing as tight as he could until the man stopped moving completely.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Huffman
Huffman Chapter was so long I had to break it into two parts sheesh
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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