Huh?"
"Ya heard me," Craven told Wyatt.
They were in a town close to the forest where Wyatt woke up, at the Dark Bulls' base.
It was a church-like building on the outskirts of the town. It was nothing special, but it was home to them. It looked old, shabby, and reeked of alcohol, but it was also sturdy and big enough to house the group.
As for why Wyatt's face currently looked like he had seen a ghost, it was because of something Craven said.
"Get ready, you're fighting big boy here," Craven informed him as he lightly patted Bob on the shoulder.
"Huh?"
Wyatt had barely sat down after coming to the hideout, yet he now had to fight someone three times his size?
"Ya heard me," Craven repeated as he went toward a bar-like area in the room.
"HUH?"
"Captain," Randy called out loudly, "let me fight him. I'll make sure to test him really good." He licked his lips savagely.
"No." Candy hit Randy on the head, hard. "We wouldn't want you to accidentally kill him."
'Kill?' Wyatt thought.
"I won't kill him," Randy insisted. "I'll just break a few limbs. Callum can heal him, right?"
"Wait, hol—"
"I don't wanna fight…" Wyatt's voice was interrupted by Bob's gentle voice.
"Bob hates fighting," Julius suddenly said behind Wyatt.
Wyatt nearly jumped out of his skin in fear.
"He believes that people weaker than him are meant to be protected, not harmed," Julius continued like he didn't just almost give Wyatt a heart attack.
"He does?" Wyatt's voice was low.
"You don't have to if you don't want to, Bob," Candy came and held Bob's gigantic hands in hers.
Randy smiled as he pounded his fist into his palm.
"No, Randy," Candy told him coldly, not even bothering to look in his direction, resulting in a loud groan from Randy.
A large burp sounded from the bar area as all heads turned to see Craven holding an empty bottle of booze in his hands. "We still need somebody to fight him."
"Exactly, I'm ready, let me—" Randy felt a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll do it." Tai smiled as she pulled Randy back by his shoulder, much to Randy's annoyance.
Wyatt looked at her—the brown-haired girl, Tai. She looked kind, with her warm smile and gentle brown eyes to go with her caramel-brown hair tied into two neat buns. There was no way someone as sweet as her would hurt him, right?
Wrong.
They had barely gone ten seconds into the spar when Tai kicked him in his ribs, then roundhouse-kicked him in the exact same spot.
'This girl is crazy!' Wyatt's side was aching, and he couldn't concentrate due to the pain.
Wyatt had never fought a day in his life. Every time he was bullied or got into fights, he just laid there and took the beating.
So when it came to fighting experience, it was safe to say that Wyatt had next to none. But there was one thing he did have—endurance.
Due to the endless beatings he experienced at the hands of the nuns and bullies at the orphanage, Wyatt could take quite a few blows and move like it was nothing.
'Focus.' Wyatt tried to steady his breathing so he could focus solely on Tai's assault.
As he kept repeating the word 'focus' in his head over and over again—a trait he picked up over the years to steady his mind—he noticed that Tai was continuously aiming for the same spot: his left side.
Wyatt might not be the brightest, but he definitely wasn't the dumbest.
Picking up on subconscious actions like this was a simple task for him, especially when his opponent didn't even try to hide it.
Tai gave Wyatt two quick jabs, which he surprisingly blocked, but it was just a feint. She raised her right leg, preparing for a kick—a kick to his left side.
'There it is again. I'll block this kick and hit her in the stomach.' Wyatt prepared himself to defend against her attack.
But much to his surprise, Tai stopped her kick mid-swing.
"Stopping my kicks at this speed is child's play for me," Tai smiled at him. "And try not to fall for baits that easily."
Then she went down low, sweeping one of his legs, causing Wyatt to stumble and lose his footing before receiving an explosive kick to his jaw and another roundhouse kick to his chin mid-air.
"Wow, she must really like him, seeing as she's going easy on him," Lung, who seemed uninterested in the fight the whole time, suddenly spoke up.
'Did I get hit by a train?' Wyatt's head felt like it was spinning. A human should not possess kicks this powerful, much less a girl.
As if she heard her twin brother's words, Tai seemed to up the tempo, attacking faster and stronger than she was at the beginning of the fight.
'She… she was holding back?' Wyatt, who was barely holding on before, was going through hell now, receiving kick after kick.
Every time it seemed like Wyatt would block her attack, she would stop mid-attack and aim for another open area.
'It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…' Each kick felt like a nuke as they slammed into his body.
"Hey, isn't that enough? He can't do anything," Callum asked Craven, sounding worried.
"Not yet. I can feel it. If she keeps pushing him, he'll show us something good," Craven replied, more focused on the fight than any of them.
"Besides, if he can't take this much, then he's got no reason being with us," Randy said offhandedly.
'Stop. Can't you see I'm powerless against you? Why are you still hitting me? Stop, stop, stop…' It was all coming back—the countless times he had been beaten or hurt just for existing.
'It's not my fault I'm weak. Stop…'
"STOP." Wyatt shouted as he caught Tai's leg. His eyes glowed slightly red, his expression filled with pure anger, his fist readied.
Tai's pulse quickened. She had been messing around, taking it easy on him, but the look on Wyatt's face now was serious, and it made her skin crawl.
She felt goosebumps as she struggled to break free of his grip, watching the punch inch closer and closer.
Suddenly, Wyatt's fist stopped just inches from her head, and his grip loosened.
Tai pulled her leg away and backflipped to create distance, but she fell onto her backside when she landed.
Wyatt stumbled before collapsing to the ground. Behind him stood Lung, one hand in his pocket, the other held out, two fingers pointed at where Wyatt's neck had been moments earlier.
Everyone was shocked. Lung had moved before any of them could notice—and quickly. What they couldn't understand was why.
From their perspective, Tai had been winning. Wyatt had just caught her leg and was about to land his first hit.
That's how it looked to everyone except Lung.
Call it instinct or a twin bond, but Lung could tell—his sister was scared.
"There isn't much that can make my sister scared," Lung said quietly as he picked Wyatt up by the collar, two fingers poised toward his face. "But you,… you could've killed her."
A loud clap stopped Lung's fingers an inch from Wyatt's eyes.
"That's enough." Craven smiled widely as he clapped his hands. Even after everything, he looked genuinely pleased.
"Callum, tend to Wyatt," Craven ordered. "And the rest of you—don't you have better things to do?"
The group slowly dispersed.
Lung released Wyatt and went straight to Tai, who was still seated on the ground.
"You okay?" he asked, helping her up.
She nodded and smiled—but she was anything but okay.
'My leg…' Tai realized as they walked away.
'My leg… he broke my leg…'