Finally, after waving a guard to lock the gates with the key that Marcus left on the ground, Jericho turned toward .
We walked to our corner of the station, where Marcus had already led the injured soldiers and quietly offered them the first aid we had scavenged from the ruined mall.
Before reaching our corner, I, like before, glanced at the old man.
That enraging, nerve-flaring smile was absent from his lips this ti. Instead, he glared at with trembling red eyes that conveyed the extent of the rage he barely held him.
Seeing this, I scoffed.
Cry about it.
I smirked.
The old man froze, visibly quivering.
I almost laughed.
Aight, quit the rage bait, Dustin.
I turned.
"A fresh out of water kid like you... You think you can humiliate ?" The boss spoke with a low, venomous voice.
I paused, blinking.
What did he call ?
Jericho, who now stood where Marcus wrapped a bandage around a soldier’s arms, turned to face . "Just ignore him."
I sighed.
Yeah, he’s right.
I began to walk.
I should be immune to rage bait by now. I should be the one doing the rage baiting.
Heh.
"Goes to show the poor parental upbringing."
Once more, I paused.
My heartbeat flared imdiately. My blood pressure shot up to unfathomable degrees as I struggled to breathe properly.
I clenched the pipe in my right hand tightly. Very tightly as I clenched my teeth.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Hey, no! Don’t do it, Duz. Just stay where you are." Jerry said calmly.
Marcus looked up, "Huh? What’s wrong?"
Jerry waved at Marcus, "Shhhh, wait a minute, Mark, I think he’s about to lose control."
A lackey chuckled, "Does he even have parents? He looks holess."
"True." Another one supported, "He has this feral energy that only fatherless delinquents display."
"You hear , boy?" The old man’s voice cut through. "You’re lucky that the gunman is your friend and shielding you."
"Hey!" Jericho scread. "You should all stop now! Just go back!"
"Why? I’m not crossing any lines, am I? I’m not defying you, am I? I’m not stopping you from entering the gates, am I? I’m only trying to talk sense into a kid who probably didn’t have parents to speak to him." The old man yelled out, voice shaky yet enraging. "As for you, boy, If your friend wasn’t protecting your sorry ass, I’d have–"
"Stop it!"
Kid?
I scoffed, smiling wildly.
They keep calling a kid.
I began to laugh, holding my face as I tried to suck in the laughter. But all to no avail.
? Can I really be called a kid?
Is a child not soone safe, protected and cared for? Whose every need is provided by their guardians? Who’s incapable of deadly harm?
Why call a kid? I’ve long surpassed that generalized term... I don’t even rember when, but I know I’m the one who provides for myself, and I’m capable of doing deadly harm.
I’m not soone who needs a guardian anymore. Now, I’m soone who’s ant to be the Universe’s guardian.
But the thing that enrages isn’t even the fact that he called a kid.
I clenched the pipe tighter, crouching.
A lackey growled. "Insane bastard. The hell is laughing for?"
"Fatherless behavior."
My laughter dwindled, replaced by an imdiate, silent cold.
It’s the fact that they had the guts...
"No!!!" Jerry scread.
I leaped toward them, clenching my teeth as I raised my steel pipe high in the air.
To talk shit about my parents!!!
My eyes locked in on the boss’s figure.
The old man stood there unsuspecting, a smug smirk on his lips as he spoke to his lackeys.
My target.
As soon as his eyes locked with mine, they widened, and his smug smirk faded instantly.
All the lackeys behind him froze in horror, their grins dissipating as their mouths widened in horror.
I swung the pipe on the boss’s shoulder.
Bam–!!
It connected, and I landed on the ground.
"Arghhh!!!!!!!" The boss’s scream echoed as he clenched his dislocated shoulder, imdiately falling to his knees.
I held back. If I truly went all out, I could’ve broken his entire shoulder.
As the boss fell to his knees, the gasps and murmurs of the crowd heightened. Even the lackeys moved backwards, fear evident on their faces.
The boss clenched his shoulder with his free hand, and the palm of his broken shoulder rested on the ground.
I walked closer, stepping on his fingers.
—Scrunch!
"Arrrggghh!!!!!!!!! Ughhhh!!! Stop!!!"
I didn’t stop there, I turned my legs, pushing strength into my heels as I pressed on his fingers, crushing the bones and the joints.
"Heyy!!! Please! Stop!" He scread.
The entire station went silent.
The boss tried to remove my leg with his other hand.
Unluckily for him, my leg didn’t budge.
Instead, I pinned that palm to the ground with my pipe.
He scread even louder. My scowl deepened.
I crouched slightly, using my knee to raise his face.
Ah, good.
Now our eyes locked onto each other.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
How funny. How genuinely funny.
"What did you say you’d do to if my friend wasn’t with ?" I asked with a cold voice. "Well, here I am. He isn’t with ."
I took my leg off his palm as I slapped his cheek hard, clenching his jaw and tightening my grip. "Co on, tell more about how holess I am."
The man began to tremble, pupils shaking as his jaws quivered.
"Tch."
I grabbed his hair in a rough motion, dragging it as I dropped my steel pipe on the ground.
My lips widened at that mont.
Are you really going to kill him, Dustin?
I curled my fist tightly, raising it toward his face.
"Yes, I will," I whispered.
Because he said the truth?
"What do you an ’truth?’" I whispered.
Aren’t you holess?
Aren’t you fatherless?
Aren’t you a delinquent? Aren’t you a feral madman?
I hesitated with my punch, and my fist remained hanging in the air as my smile slowly faded.
"I.." I whispered.
Aren’t you... a kid?
My eyes widened.
Then suddenly, the soft, innocent voice of a child echoed, "Mr. Naless?"
I felt a small, warm palm on my elbow.
I narrowed my eyes, looking behind .
"Katie?"
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