Chapter 3 : Power
A guttural cry tore from Malcolm's lips as pain enveloped him, his body crumpling beneath Joy's unexpected assault.
Malcolm's rage surged through, his chest heaving with fury as he lay sprawled on the ground. Pain radiated from where Joy's blow had landed.
His voice reverberated with anger, echoing across the space between them.
"What the hell?!!" he yelled, his words strikes with disbelief and simmering anger. His eyes bore into Joy's, ablaze with an intensity.
"Why??..... Why did you fucking punch me?!!" He's voice cracked with anger as he demand an explanation, an apology, anything to justify the sudden violence.
Joy stood before him, her own emotions calm but with disdain. Her lips tightened into a thin line, her gaze unwavering as she met Malcolm's furious stare.
As Malcolm seethed on the ground, his underlings sprang into action, rushing towards him with urgent shouts of "BOSS!!" Their hands moved swiftly, tending to his wounds.
Joy's gaze bore down on Malcolm, her eyes raging with intensity.
"You're not what you seem you to be," her voice a whip crack of anger "You know what, I think you're a liar..... . Don't think for a second that I would fall into your trap."
Her words heavy with accusation and defiance, a challenge thrown down at his feet. But beneath the anger that colored her voice, Malcolm sensed a vulnerability, a fear that mirrored his own.
"Are you okay, boss?!" The underling with a bandana asked, his voice thick with concern.
The underling with a hat moved swiftly to tend to Malcolm's wound, his hands fumbling with the makeshift supplies they carried. Their rugged appearance, mirrored their skills in tending wounds.... they don't fucking know what their doing....
Joy's eyes blazed with a fiery mix of anger and disgust as she watched the clumsy attempts of Malcolm's underling to tend to his wounds.
Her voice cut through the air like a knife, as she addressed them with a ferocity that left no room for misunderstanding.
"There are things that I really hate the most," she declared, her words a thunderclap in the charged atmosphere. "And Liar is one of them!!"
"What do you mean by that???.. I'm not a fucking liar?!" Malcolm retorted, his voice thick with indignation.
"You told me that you work as a miko in the temple, right?" Joy's words dripped with disdain, her gaze piercing through Malcolm. In her eyes, there was no room for doubt, only a steely resolve to uncover the truth.
"I told you, I really work as a miko!!! " Malcolm replied without hesitation, his voice firm despite the unease churning within him.
Instinct drove him to cling to his lie, a desperate attempt to shield himself from the suspicion brewing around him.
But even as the words left his lips, he couldn't shake the feeling of unease. Beneath Joy's scrutiny, his falsehoods seemed fragile, ready to crumble at the slightest moment.
Despite being man who done this kind of thing for a long time Malcolm doesn't even understand why he is so scared. With his body and brawns versus Joy who is frail and tiny there is no doubt he can take her on. But this time it's different, this time he felt FEAR.
Despite his years of experience navigating the treacherous waters of deception and manipulation, Malcolm found himself grappling with an unfamiliar sensation: fear. It gnawed at the edges of his consciousness.
As he stood before Joy, his towering frame a stark contrast to her delicate figure, Malcolm couldn't help but feel a sense of unease creeping over him. Logically, he knew that he held the advantage—his strength and brawn pitted against her fragility—but this time, it was different.
"So are you a transgender or something, because only a female could work as a miko in the temple?!" Joy's words rang out with a sharpness that cut through like a blade, her anger and rage simmering beneath the surface.
In her accusation, there was a rawness, a vulnerability laid bare for all to see. It was a challenge hurled at Malcolm's feet, daring him to confront the truth that lay hidden beneath his carefully crafted facade.
And as the weight of her words hung heavy in the air, Malcolm found himself at a loss for words. In that moment, faced with Joy's unrelenting fury, his carefully constructed defenses crumbled, leaving him exposed and vulnerable.
With a fierce determination burning in her eyes, Joy confronts Malcolm and his underlings. With lightning speed, she delivers a powerful kick to the chests of two of them, sending them crashing to the ground, incapacitated.
The underling with a bandana lets out a pained scream, clutching his injured ribs. "Ugh!!!! My ribs!!!"
The goon with a hat staggers back, his
face draining of color as he coughs up blood, the realization of what just happened hitting him like a cannon.
Seeing his companions disabled, Malcolm was so terrified he never expected that a beautiful frail teenage girl could take him on and his underling down in just a punch and a kick.
Joy's narrowed gaze pierced through the air, her words laced with fury as she clenched her fists in a display of anger and rage. "I had believed you to be a virtuous soul, tending to the sacred grounds of the temple," she spat, her voice trembling with betrayal. "But now, it's clear to me that you're nothing but a deceitful, despicable pervert!"
Malcolm's shock-filled gaze remains fixed on his companion, shocked at the unfolding horror.
Sensing Malcolm's distraction, Joy snaps, "Don't you dare ignore me, you pitiful excuse for a human!" With a swift and forceful kick, she shatters Malcolm's jaw, sending him sprawling across the alley. Teeth scatter like shattered pearls.
The impact of the blow sending Malcolm into the building, creating a jagged hole in its facade. Amidst his agonized cries, Malcolm writhes in agony.
The room fell into a stunned silence as Malcolm's body hurtled through the air, crashing into tables and chairs with a sickening thud. Gasps of horror and shock echoed off the walls as onlookers recoiled in disbelief. Malcolm's contorted face, swollen and disfigured, sent shivers down their spines, amplifying their fear.
As Joy stepped into the wreckage, the full weight of her actions crashed down on her. The once lively restaurant now lay in ruins, tables overturned, food scattered across the floor. She saw the patrons, frozen in terror, their expressions ranging from confusion to anguish.
Joy felt a flush of embarrassment spread across her cheeks as she scratched her head awkwardly. "Oops, looks like I overdid it, S-Sorry.... Hehe.. " she muttered to herself, hoping to alleviate the tension even just a little.
Suddenly, a teenage boy emerged from the crowd, He stare at Joy, as he pointed at her.
"HEY YOU!!!" he yelled, his voice cutting through the stunned silence like a knife.
To be continued....