Bam! The fist connected with Albert's cheek. His head turned to the side from the impact and the insides of his cheek was cut by his teeth. Albert glared at the rapist and kicked him once more while he was still wobbly from the punch earlier. However, it was evident that the rapist was concerned about his lower regions as Albert only managed to kick his shin.
"Albert?" Victoria called out, concerned by the loud fighting noises she could hear.
Albert was trying the dodge and fight back but his opponent was bigger and stronger than him. He suffered more blows than the rapist did.
"Stand further away, Victoria." Albert ordered. "You wouldn't want this trash to touch you again."
"Alright." Victoria straightforwardly agreed knowing that she would just be a burden if she tried to help.
"Freaking brat!" Mr Rapist cursed as his fist landed on Albert's head, sending him to the ground and hitting his head once more on the concrete floor with a loud thud.
Albert felt his world shaking and turning, he was seeing doubles instead of singles and despite trying to stand up, he couldn't resist the allure of unconsciousness. He fell to the ground once more and didn't get back up again. 'Why does this feel so familiar?' He wondered to himself once more as the world faded to black.
"F*cking finally. I thought he'd never die." Mr Rapist shifted his attention to Victoria, who disobeyed Albert's orders and rushed towards his general direction and somehow found where he lay, bleeding, again.
"F*ck do you think you're doing to my little brother!" Victoria screamed, her voice rivaling that of a banshee's. The rapist was visibly shaken by this roar, taking a few steps back in shock and rubbing his sore ears.
Just as the rapist regained his composure, the immobile Albert twitched in Victoria's embrace. His eyelashes trembled and a pair of clouded and confused eyes greeted the world.
"Albert!" Victoria cried out as Albert lifted his head up.
He blinked a few times, seeing the visible concern on Victoria's face and the vicious look in the rapists eyes. Shakingly, Albert got back to his feet. He was still wobbling, barely in the shape to be walking. Eyes fixated on the rapist like predator on prey, he glared and lifted his arms, eyes glowing and-
"ROOOOOOOOAAARRRRRRRR!" The low, intimidating roar of an apex predator echoed in the streets. All who heard it freezed instinctively, looking towards the source of the noise. A beast with golden fur, sharp teeth dripping with blood and a mane not yet fully developed. Beside it was a small girl, though cute, not very strong looking. Seeing the two stand side by side on the roof was quite the sight.
"Piss off, trash!" The girl commanded, her high pitched voice stern and unwavering. "If not, you'll suffer the same fate as your companions."
"Ah?" Mr Rapist was confused. His pea-sized brain couldn't comprehend what was happening.
"Over here, Mr Sandbag." Two boys and the victim from earlier were standing in front of the alleyway that Albert and Victoria ran into. The victim was wearing small worn out jackets as makeshift clothes. She was trembling but glaring at the rapist with hate in her eyes.
Floating above them were two bodies. They were unconscious, blood as if chewed by a beast and frothing at the mouth. The rapist recognised them as his two buddies.
"Y-Y-Y-Y-YOU MOTHER F-" Mr Rapist's outrage was interrupted by a clear voice.
One of the boys raised his hand and pointed it at the rapist. His eyes glowing, he opened his mouth, a bell-like voice ordering, "Sleep."
"Wha-?" Mr Rapist fell backwards and hit the floor. He was unmoving, falling into deep slumber.
Albert stepped back, dodging the fallen man. He dragged Victoria with him so she was also untouched. "Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah." Victoria nodded.
Albert fished out his phone from his pocket and placed it in Victoria's hands. "I leave the rest to you." With that, he lost consciousness once again and collapsed on Victoria's shoulder.
With a little difficulty, Victoria gently placed Albert on the ground, using their backpacks as a pillow. She turned him on his side and wiped the blood that dripped from his head. Only then did she turn her attention to the phone Albert gave her.
"Hello?"
"Victoria!" Kin's anxious voice echoed. "I heard a loud roar, is everything alright there?"
"Yeah, the situation just got diffused. But, Father, Albert got really hurt protecting me, he fainted just now. Can you call a healer to come?"
"They're already on their way." Kin sighed. "Seriously, what were you two doing in another city?"
"Another city?" Victoria repeated but feeling the pack of kids that just helped them staring at her, she quickly ended the conversation, "anyways, come soon, Father. I love you, bye!"
After having patiently waited for Victoria to finish, the girl from earlier spoke up. "Is he okay?"
"His pulse is weak but he's fine for now." Victoria smiled and answered. She knew a little first aid and whatnot thus she was not worried about Albert.
"That's good." The girl smiled. "I'm Iris, and you?"
"My name is Victoria, and he is Albert. Thank you for your assistance." Victoria expressed with a calm smile.
The lion beside Iris stopped making its eyes glow and turned back into a boy. He was naked but Victoria couldn't see that. The others were used to it and the victim lady didn't care about seeing the naked body of a prepubescent boy. "I'm Iris' twin brother, Atlas. The blonde boy-" Atlas paused in realisation that Victoria could not see.
"The one who used his ability to make the trash sleep is Ian and the other one is Vin." Iris took over for her twin brother with a cheerful voice. "And this is..."
At the mention of her, Ms Victim flinched. "I-I'm Annette. I'm terribly sorry for getting the both of you involved in this!"
Victoria smiled. "It's okay, I understand. I would have done the same in your situation. In fact, since they're incapacitated right now, don't you have some 'revenge' to enact?"
'Revenge?' The words echoed in Annette's mind.
"In fact, I've got some revenging to do myself." Victoria maintained her perfect smile and walked closer to the group with her hand on the wall. "Excuse me, Iris. Can you please lead me to where Mr Sandbag is?"
"Huh? Yeah, sure!" Iris replied and without any hesitation, grabbed Victoria's arm and led her to her destination, a few steps to the left. "He's right there at your feet."
"Thank you. Is he tied up or something right now?"
Iris shook her head. "No, but I can tie him now."
"Please do so, with the others too."
"Got it!" Iris' eyes glowed and thread materialised from her fingers. They tangled into a long thick rope and cut off into three equal lengths. She and Atlas both excitedly tied up the rapists while the others just watched.
"Now then, please wake them up, Ian."
Ian flinched but didn't reply, staring timidly at Victoria. In his stead, Vin spoke up. "You can just kick them awake."
Victoria smirked.
"U-Uwaaahhhhhhh!!! LION!" The three screamed in horror as soon as they woke up.
"Lion? They must of been really really scared of me if they had a nightmare of a lion." Atlas chuckled.
"We all know that Ian is the one who chooses the dreams, Atlas." Vin adjusted his glasses and crushed Atlas' futile daydream.
Atlas simply pouted and didn't say more, he rather pay attention to what this seemingly fragile girl was going to do.
Crush! A satisfying sound of bones cracking echoed in the darkness of the night. Victoria's feet stomped down with all its might, digging into a hand as screams became the melody to do rhythmic crunches.
"How. Dare. You. Hurt. My. Brother." Victoria monotonously spoke, each pause meaning a crunch. She still had that perfect smile on her face, making the scene all the more hellish. Albert was someone who hated moving around so much that he'll use her as an excuse to sit out in gym, he was a big coward that would get scared watching trailers for horror movies and most importantly, he was someone that hated getting hurt. This weak person had protected her despite his protesting lungs, he had shielded her with his trembling body and fought back with a crack in his head.
"Not to mention, you touched me with those piss covered hands. Who do you think you are? Touching girls as if you have the right to do so, how dare you think you can lay a finger on beings higher than you? Damn INSECT that doesn't understand its existence in of itself is rejected by the world."
Giving one final stomp, Victoria looked towards Annette's general direction. "I'm done now, your turn."
Annette stood still, petrified. She just watched a young girl completely destroy three grown men's hands, smiling while doing so and degrading them at the same time. Annette's heart thumped in her chest, she was...excited? To see those assholes get retribution after they had just had the time of their lives putting her through living hell, ahahahaha, it was exhilarating! And now she had the opportunity to do the same?
Annette took a step forward, each more excited than the one before. The high heels clacked against the concrete flooring, drilling fear into the hearts of the rapists.
"AaAAAhhHHhhhhhHhhhHhHhH!!!!!!!"
Her heel stood between the rapist's legs. Swiftly, Annette crushed the heirlooms of each and every one of the rapists, twisting her feet to ensure maximum pain.
"Ahahahahahahahah...ha...ha...hic, *Sniff*, uwahhhh~!" The deranged laughter descended into heartfelt sobs as it dawned on Annette that her nightmare was coming to an end, this long, long night would eventually wake up and before she knows it, it will be morning again. All she had to do was wait and let it happen. It would be morning...yes, the sun will rise once more. Then, life would go on just as usual, like nothing happened, nothing at all...