Footsteps crunched closer to the flickering light from a streetlamp swept across the alley, threatening to reveal him at any moment.
Assad's hands balled into fists, his breath coming in shallow gasps. The fear clawed at his chest, but on the outside, he was motionless almost as if it was intentional.
It wasn't what he meant to convey, but to the approaching sellers, he appeared less like a terrified prey… and more like a predator lying in wait.
Assad senses it before he can fully grasp the strange tug at the corners of his lips and a smile, foolish and out of place, spreads across his face.
'Why am I smiling?' he wonders, a jolt of alarm shooting through him.
He tries to will his mouth to stop, but it refuses to listen. They circle around him, their boots crunching on the gravel. The tall one aims his pistol as if it's just another part of his arm.
"Alright, Shiko, We gotta kill him right? We can't let him live since he saw us killing that guy."the scarred seller sneers.
Shiko exhales slowly, a mix of annoyance and something colder simmering beneath
. "Why do I even have to deal with this?" He shrugs, then shakes his head, flatly.
"No witnesses remember so just kill him." His tone is blunt and to the point.
"Damn, Shiko you're ice as shit," the tall one chuckles, more to ease the tension than out of genuine amusement.
Inside, Toon's mind is a chaotic storm. He wants to apologize, wants to plead for mercy, to explain that he was just listening, just trying to survive.
"Kill me? You all look so worn out. Let's give you a little excitement." he says, his voice low and rough.
The words are harsh, a string of streetwise insults and taunts crafted for this exact moment the most disrespectful thing he can think of and they hit like boiling oil. The lean one's sneer falters.
The scarred man curses under his breath making even Shiko blinks, his eyes sharpening, a flash of irritation crossing his face.
They close in as one every instinct screams for him to run. But Assad's legs refuse to obey. His body feels disconnected, like strings being pulled by someone else, until the first fist connects.
Pain erupts in his cheek, bright and red. For a moment, he tastes blood and panic, fully aware and terrified.
His mouth moves again, this time with purpose.
"This'll be fun, it's been a while since I've torn through some trash gangsters." it says, calm and steady, that involuntary smile now cutting deeper.
That voice isn't Toon's. It's not the frightened kid who'd probably drown in a puddle if given the choice. It's sharp, like a blade.
It's Assad's life echoing through someone else's throat and the scar-faced man didn't think twice.
He lunged forward like a dog desperate for scraps, his hands flying in a chaotic flurry of rough, practiced strikes designed to intimidate and overpower someone weaker.
Assad greeted them with a smile but it was not a smile of relief or humor, but that unsettling, thin smile that had appeared before calm, unreadable, electric. Instead of crumbling, Assad's arm rose at the exact angle the scar-faced man expected from a terrified kid.
He didn't flinch. He didn't panic. He absorbed the blow, the impact thudding into his forearm and reverberating like someone tapping a drum. The seller's knuckles jolted. He hissed, taken aback by the unexpected lack of reaction.
A second strike quicker, angrier whipped through the air. Assad slid sideways, his hips pivoting, feet moving like whispers against the gritty ground.
The seller's fist sliced past his cheek where Assad's jaw had just been a heartbeat earlier. Assad's head barely shifted; his pupils tracked with the focus of a predator. He ducked low on the rebound, catching the man's balance with a fingertip to the sternum, an almost casual touch that redirected the attacker's momentum outward like water flowing around a stone.
The scar-faced man stumbled, crashing straight into a brick wall, his face smashing against it with a sickening, wet thud. Shiko and the other sellers stood there, jaws dropped, as the alley began to cool after the chaos they had just seen.
"Dude really is from the streets he fights like he's been through it all," the tall seller remarked, a mix of awe and fear creeping into his voice.
"That doesn't mean anything to me," the scarred seller shot back, pushing himself up to his knees and flexing his fingers.
He squared his shoulders, ready for whatever came next. "He's still weak in my eyes."
"Don't get too cocky. Ario, Ryoko, keep an eye out for bait. Small, trashy bait." Shiko lit another cigarette, flicking the ash into the grime like it was a statement.
Ario and Ryoko exchanged glances and nodded, their expressions sharpening. Assad's smile remained unsettlingly thin, a dark glimmer in his eyes.
"Now that's the spirit, If you're truly from the streets, you don't flinch when some punk hits the wall. We break each other down until one of us is begging for his mom to come wipe his tears."Assad drawled, his voice lazy.
"Man, this guy's a pain," Ryoko muttered under his breath.
"Yeah let's take him down a notch," Ario grinned.
They moved as a unit.
Ario charged in like a battering ram, his fists swinging in wide, heavy arcs meant to finish things fast. Ryoko, smaller and quicker, darted in like a viper, ready to strike and confuse. Their strategy was clear: one would smash, the other would finish .Ario's first punch aimed for Assad's head.
Assad didn't flinch; he met the blow with an unsettling calm. He tilted his chin back just enough to let the knuckles graze his cheek, a calculated move and used that contact to redirect Ario's momentum.
His hand slid down Ario's bicep, gripped his elbow, and with a sharp twist, the bigger man's shoulder gave way.
The bone cracked like a twig snapping. Ario howled and staggered back, but Assad's grin only grew wider.
Ryoko burst in, quick and sharp, his blades glinting in his grip. Assad stepped into the range of the knife with the grace of a predator, closing the gap where those knives became useless.
He pressed his shoulder against Ryoko's chest in a close, crushing embrace and the kid let out a thin squeal as his breath escaped. Assad's forearm slammed across Ryoko's throat, hard enough to rattle his teeth.
The blade clattered uselessly onto the cobblestones as Ryoko gasped and choked for air.
They thought they could overwhelm him with sheer numbers.
Ario roared back to life and swung again this time with a low, sweeping kick aimed at Assad's knees.
Assad dropped his weight like a coiled spring, redirecting the sweep with a flick of his foot, then hooked Ario's ankle. He yanked hard.
The big man toppled sideways, flinging his arms out to brace himself against a dumpster.
Assad flowed with the motion, sliding behind Ario in a smooth arc and driving his heel into the small of Ario's back.
The impact folded the big man in half; his ribs protested with wet snaps and sharp curses. Gasping, Ryoko lashed out with quick palm strikes aimed to blind; Assad stepped aside, letting the arms graze him, feeling the rush of air and sweat.
He countered with a sideways elbow that struck Ryoko's jaw like a cannon, sending the kid spinning into the wall. Ryoko's skull met the brick with a hollow crack. For a moment, he lay there, still. Ario staggered to his feet, rage turning his eyes blood-red. He charged forward, power in every step.
Assad sensed the rhythm, timed the angle, and let the run close the distance. At the last moment, he pivoted, planting his palm against Ario's chest and channeling all his momentum into a single, devastating palm-heel that sent the man flying backward.
Ario didn't soar like in the movies; he folded, slid, and came to a stop with a wet clang against a stack of crates.
Assad stands on the body of Ryoko with a very disappointed expression as they were totally weak here. They could not even last two minutes of fighting and they called themselves gangsters.
Shiko is annoyed by this; he did not expect that both Ario and Ryoko would be taken out this fast, he has no other choice but to fight Assad himself.
"You are one of those cocky types, am I right?"
Assad looks at Shiko as he said that, he starts scanning Shiko looking at him ,just from his stance and ready to go for the attack type of vibe that he is feeling. It already says that this guy looks kinda strong.
"I wouldn't say that, you guys are just hella weak calling yourself gangsters. That's disrespectful even for you guys."
This makes Shiko mad and he goes for the attack.
Shiko goes for a punch but is dodged by Assad, but that was a feint as Shiko turns with a fast reflex and lands a kick.
This forces Assad to block with his arms by crossing them. This makes Assad smile more as truly a real gangster has arrived.
Meanwhile Toon Horst is really afraid, without understanding what's going on his body is moving on its own.
'WHY, WHY, WHY? WHY IS THIS BODY MOVING ON ITS OWN I'M NOT IN CONTROL WHAT'S GOING ON?'
Assad goes for the attack as well he goes for a punch as well which lands but was blocked, then he tries to make a feint but is blocked as well, this annoys Assad so he goes for a calculated move, by moving with a kick mid air this makes Shiko alerted so he tries to dodge but then Assad drops and kicks some broken glass into his eyes but Shiko slapped those glasses away but they scratched his hand.
He tries to look for Assad who has magically disappeared. Then he feels a huge bloodlust behind him and looks back only to find a fist that kisses his face, blood gushing all over and is thrown back to a wall.
"That was beautiful, one of the best fights I have ever done."
As he says this he feels his body is getting tired, he does not understand what's going on then he feels himself that he is going away he should finish this fast before it happens.
While holding himself Ario takes out something from his bag almost like a knife. Then goes for the attack he manages to stab Assad in the heart.
"HAHAHAHA NOW WHAT IDIOTHEART SHOT MEANS YOUR DEAD!"
He presses the knife even further. Into Assad's body then Assad falls down holding his heart he is in pain he starts coughing out blood and his body tightens showing veins around his body from his head to face to neck to arms.
Ario thinks that this is the end of Assad until he hears Shiko's voice.
"ARE YOU A F*CKING DUMMY ARIO? THAT'S NOT A KNIFE!"