Lokei's grin spread slowly, sharp and full of mischief. His blue hair was tightly braided, and his eyes were cold and hungry, the kind of look that suggested he thrived on other people's fear.
He stepped forward, his feet crunching over the gravel like a beat in a song.
With a flick of his wrist, his fingers danced loosely. "Ready?"
Assad tilted his head, that infuriating smile creeping back onto his face. Inside, Toon was screaming for him to back off, but his body just wouldn't listen.
"You talk too much, If you want money, you better hope you can still count after I'm done breaking your fingers." Assad muttered, his shoulders dropping into a low stance.
Lokei chuckled, a sound like gravel sliding down a hill.
Then, in a flash, he lunged forward.The ground cracked beneath his heel; one moment he was standing there, and the next, he was right in Assad's face, fist pulled back and ready to strike with lightning speed.
Assad barely managed to raise his forearm in time. The impact rattled through his bones, sending shockwaves down his entire body. He stumbled back three steps, his sneakers screeching against the concrete.
'What the hell? This guy's not just some street thug… he's something else.'
But Assad's smile only grew wider, his teeth flashing.
"My turn."
He lunged forward, dropping low before rising up with a brutal uppercut aimed straight at Lokei's jaw. The punch sliced through the air, loud as thunder in the narrow alley.
Lokei bent back in an unnatural way, his spine twisting like a snake, narrowly avoiding the fist. Then he retaliated with a knee that slammed into Assad's gut.
Whump!
Air exploded from Assad's lungs. Blood splattered against the wall. But instead of crumbling, Assad laughed a jagged, broken laugh that even made Lokei hesitate for a moment.
"You hit like a wimp," Assad growled, grabbing Lokei's leg midair.
Before Lokei could react, Assad twisted, swinging him around like a ragdoll, and smashed.
Before Lokei could even think to react, Assad pivoted, using him like a rag doll, and slammed him hard against the brick wall. The bricks shattered. and dust rained down, Lokei crashed to the ground, coughed up blood, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, a wide grin spreading across his face.
"…Sh*t. You're a blast."
Both of them began to vibrate, raw energy crackling around them like sparks. Two hunters, one narrow alley.
The alley vibrated with every punch thrown, fists cracking, knees colliding, and sparks of raw energy igniting with each hit. Assad's grin never wavered. Lokei's smirk mirrored his, even as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
BANG!
A gunshot sliced through the air, reverberating off the narrow walls.
They both froze for a split second before instinct kicked in and their heads snapped to the side, narrowly dodging the bullet that zipped past and shattered a bottle behind them.
"What the hell?" Lokei muttered.
Assad's gaze sharpened. They turned in unison.
At the alley's entrance stood the tall seller, the same guy Assad had slammed against the wall earlier.
His face was swollen, his nose bent at an odd angle, but somehow he had managed to get his hands on a pistol. His hands trembled, yet he sneered defiantly.
"You two… you're not walking out of here alive."
For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then, in perfect sync, Assad and Lokei said, "…This dumb idiot."
Their annoyance was palpable, as if the gunshot had interrupted their favorite track.
Before the seller could even react, they sprang into action. Assad was the first to move, his smile sharp enough to slice.
He seized the seller's wrist and slammed it against the wall with such force that the gun clattered from his grip.
Lokei was right behind him, driving a fist into the guy's ribs with a sickening crunch. The seller wheezed, spit flying from his mouth.
Assad didn't let up; he kneed the guy in the face, snapping his head back, then shoved him forward just as Lokei's kick sent him crashing into a dumpster.
The seller crumpled, bloodied and unconscious before he even hit the ground. Both fighters stood over him, panting heavily.
Lokei clicked his tongue. "Man… talk about killing the mood."
Assad spat blood to the side, a smirk creeping across his face. "Yeah. If you interrupt me again, you'll end up worse than him."
Their eyes locked, the air was thick with tension, but there was an odd sense of understanding between them now.
"...So," Lokei cracked his knuckles and shifted back into his stance, "where were we?"
The alley erupted again with the sound of fists meeting flesh. The fight raged like a tempest until Assad, with a calm grin plastered on his face, ducked under one of Lokei's wild swings. His foot slid over a puddle on the alley floor, and without thinking, he kicked it up.
The murky water splattered across Lokei's chest, soaking through his shirt.
"AAAAH WHAT THE HELL?!" Lokei screamed, stumbling back. He grabbed his shirt, took a whiff, and instantly gagged.
"Dude DUDE, IS THAT…?!" His voice cracked like a fragile glass. "Why the hell does this smell like—like actual SH*T!?"
Assad tilted his head, his grin widening, eyes sparkling with mischief. "Guess the streets don't play nice, huh?"
Lokei's horror morphed into a mix of rage and disgust. "No… no, no, no screw this, I'm out!"
And just like that, he took off.
Lokei dashed through alley after alley, shoving crates, vaulting over trash cans, even slipping past a toppled noodle cart, while Assad casually pursued him, laughter echoing like a predator relishing the chase.
"Stop chasing me, you psycho!" Lokei shouted.
"You already stink, one more splash won't hurt!" Assad shot back.
They darted through alleyways, leaped over fences, startled pedestrians, and even barreled through a cramped laundromat, knocking clotheslines askew. Finally, Assad cornered Lokei in a dead-end backstreet.
The blue-haired fighter pressed against the wall, eyes wide with panic.
"Wait, WAIT don't—"
Another wave of foul-smelling water hit him right in the face.
The stench was immediate. Lokei recoiled, gagged violently, and then crumpled to the ground, face-first on the concrete, overwhelmed by shock and disgust.
Assad stood over him, casually wiping his hands, exuding calm. "Pathetic."
When Toon finally regained his senses a moment later, he looked around, bewildered. The chaos of the fight had swept them into a completely different part of town.