Have you ever felt like the odds were so stacked against you that you could never win?
Well, Harvey couldn't.
The entire southern block rallied against the Portman fence as the two boys "fought", If you could even call whatever beatdown was happening a fight.
Typically fights eb and flow, Like phases of the moon they wax and wane. There was no waning in this situation.
The boy sputtered up some blood as he hung helplessly by his hair from his assailants hand. The kid was big, A snot nosed 12 year old who hit puberty early kind of big. Against Harv's small 10 year old frame, This boy was a giant and one who wasn't afraid to throw his weight around no less.
"Get 'em Logan!" A second boy guffawed, Slapping his knee as another fist flew into the poor boy's face sending waves of warm pain rippling through his flesh and numbing his skin. Harvey hung on, Raising his forearms in a pitiful display. The boy had no issue slamming his closed fists straight into the bruised flesh that hardly defended the young boy.
"Please let me go!" Harvey pleaded. The cries fell on deaf ears as he kept pummeling away. "Maybe you'll think about running off with our baseball next time, Rat!" The boy responded, Tearing past the arms and raising his fist over his head.
The young boy's fist began to glow, A shimmer of blue flames flickering off of the youngsters light brown skin.
Panic sunk into Harvey's stomach, His entire body going numb to the pain as his eyes locked onto that fist. The heat emanating from the menacingly poised bundle of flame was enough to make his skin burn, Even from a distance.
"Night night, Twerp."
A loud crunch echoed throughout the yard as the weight was lifted off Harvey's waist. Standing over him was a familiar face, One dark haired young man with metal slicked arm. "Ashton! You're back, Oh thank goodness you're-."
Harvey's pleas were cut short by a flaming fist that connected with the young man's metal arm, Driving him back a couple of feet.
"Shut up Harv! Just go get the slingshot!" The commanding boy barked, Slugging that cold metal fist over his shoulder in retaliation. The blow was enough to send Logan recoiling in distress, Signaling for the ratty looking blonde kid on the sideline to join in his endeavor.
Harvey took off, Not wasting any more time staying frozen in place and instead opting to run over to the tree house to go find his slingshot.
The pained grunts of the boys behind him fueled him with terror as he tore his way to the foot of the oak tree, Scrambling his way up the ladder.
As he clawed his way to the peak of the tree house, His momentum halted, Terror flooding his body as a tendril coiled tighter around his ankle.
"Where do you think YOU'RE going Mr. Pinhead?" A nasally congested voice cackled in triumph. "Hector, Let me go! Ashton needs our help!" "Not so fast, Logan told me you STOLE from him and I intend on doing what's right Y'hear?-" The kid's sentence was marked with a heavy tug, Hoisting Harvey's leg off the ladder.
Harvey sharpened his mind, Concentrating on the task at hand. Reaching high above himself, He gripped for the curtain door dividing the inside of the tree house from the open air, Tugging with all his might.
His grip began to slide as the force became too much to bare, The metal rod clattering to the floor of the tree house.
"Give up Harv and give back that baseball!"
The tug was hard, So hard that Harvey fell out of the tree, Curtain rod at his waist as he tumbled into the grass. As he laid, The baseball followed up with a tumble out of his pocket to the ground ahead of the tentacles juvenile.
As Hector bent down to pick up the ball, A sickening crunch hit his ears as his shoulder was struck with the rod. His tentacles writhed in pain and futile grasped at his shoulder in pain as he staggered away.
"Mind your own business, You stupid Jerk!" Harvey yelled, Raising the rod again and bringing it down between the young boy's shoulder and neck, Sending him scattering in distress.
In a adrenaline fueled rush, He towered over the crumpled body of the youngster, His rod Poised overhead and ready to strike him down once and for-.
"Harvey! I really need you! Get your mangy rump down here!" Ash's voice bellowed, Followed by another clank which echoed through the garden. The snotty looking blonde kid was using the garden hose as a whip and was gaining ground on Ash.
"You should've stayed out of this mess, This isn't your fight!" Logan yelled, Kicking Ash in the gut and sending him staggering backwards. The delinquent could hardly turn over his shoulder before the sound of footsteps turned into a whistling gust of wind, Marking the rod's swift swing into his shoulder.
Harvey's hands stung with the recoil of the strike but it wasn't nearly as bad as Logan's blistering pain that burned in his upper shoulder. The break in the action was all Ashton needed to turn the tide in his favor, The closed metal fist clattering into the side of Logan's skull, Sending the boy to his knees.
As the blonde rat sprinted away in cowardice, Ashton jolted his entire body forward, Gripping the boy by the collar and raising his fist. His gasoline drenched breath was beating down on his senses. "Now who's so tough, HUH? YEAH, Stupid filthy rotten brat-!" He babbled in a adolescent fury, His fist cutting through the air before getting snagged, Inches from the young man's face.
"Leave him." Harvey said, Smearing the blood from his broken nose across the rest of his face in a futile attempt to clean himself.
"Oh you can't be serious!?" Ashton said in a distraught voice, His face laden with mania. "Look at him, We've got him! We could put a stop to this right here, You wsnt that don't you..?" He paused, Staring into the downcast expression Harvey bore. "DON'T YOU!?" He barked, Dropping the kid's collar.
"I said what I said." Harvey replied, Picking up the baseball and taking his leave. Ash grumbled in response, Dumbfounded. Sneaking in one last kick on the boy's now crumple figure, He took his leave.