Titans - March of Progress

Sain froze, his muttering stopping in a heartbeat as his right hand stayed hanging in the air, the ball still gripped tight. He must have looked like a statue as he remained poised there, mid action. Ricky turned to face the people spilling into the alley as well, surprise on his own face, which quickly turned impassive as he tried to hide his emotions. The look seemed to be caught by the first person in the trio, who seemingly froze in place as well.

Sain just stared at them, taking in the appearance of each, swallowing nervously and feeling his stomach lurch. Each of the men looked to be in their early to mid-thirties and were quite filled out. The man at the front was rather portly, with wide shoulders and a round belly sticking out. He looked to be the oldest of the group and was completely bald and clean shaven. Not even a hint of stubble could be seen.

“The fuck you kids staring at?” the man demanded instantly, the other two men behind him just staying silent. Sain’s eyes flitted over the two briefly noting amused expressions, before returning to lock on the man in front, and he just gulped, his mind completely blank. What was he supposed to do now?

“None a ya fuckin business old man” Ricky blurted out, his voice more squeaky than intimidating. But it was enough to jolt Sain out of his frozen state. He dropped his arm and relaxed his posture as the bald man fixed his gaze on Ricky, eyes narrowed. Then he just reached behind him, and pulled a small, short club from somewhere. Maybe a back pocket, or a place where it had been tucked in. The two men behind him just laughed and stood back, the one on the left pulling out a box of cigarettes and matches. The one on the right just leaned into the alley wall, arms folding across his chest. They clearly knew what was about to happen and were happy to watch the show.

“Well, I am going to make it my business and teach you some fucking respect you little maggot” the bald man stated and laughed as he stepped forward, the club raised in his right hand, clearly unfazed by Ricky’s attempt to intimidate him. Ricky staggered backwards towards Sain, to get away from the man who just took on a wicked, almost gleeful grin. He was clearly enjoying it. So, he stepped forward and swung at Ricky, who was not quite far enough away from him.

As the club came swinging down, Ricky just flinched and lifted his hands to hold them out like a shield before him as he started to mumble, and Sain let out a wordless yell as he reacted as well, throwing the ball straight at the fat man's face, not a single bit of magic being used.

Everything seemed to happen at once then, in an instant right as the ball collided with the bald man's face, right in his left eye socket. His head reeled back as his club struck down and collided with Ricky’s defensive barrier that he had hastily formed. The early exercises seemed to have definitely been worth it seemed. The fat man barely had an instant to recover from the ball to the face or register his surprise at the magic on display, as muffled cries sounded out behind him, from the two other men.

Sain just whipped his gaze to them, seeing both Corey and Merte standing above and behind the men, who had fallen to the ground. Both the youths had clubs of their own, gripped hard in their hands.

And then Sain was pushed roughly to the left side, sent flying almost as a huge frame bore past him. As Sain crashed into the alley wall, he cried out in pain as his left shoulder erupted in agony and he slumped to the ground, gritting his teeth as the pain raced through his left side. He looked up as Jalel and Youm set themselves before the bald man and started to beat him mercilessly with clubs of their own, joined quickly by Corey and Merte. The man had not even gotten a chance to defend himself. Not that Sain was feeling any sympathy.

Sain just stayed leaning against the wall as the four youths surrounded the fat man and beat him over and over, into the ground, only grunts escaping him every now and then. After what seemed like only a few seconds but was likely close to a minute or two, the beating stopped and the youths stepped away from the man, who just lay on the ground on his back, near motionless. The only movement Sain could see was the man's chest rising and falling, accompanied by the sound of wheezing breaths.

All four youths seemed to be panting from their exertion and Sain just grimaced as he looked over them, seeing Corey and Merte grinning ear to ear. They looked like they had enjoyed it. Sain just shook his head and then turned slightly, to see Ricky pressed flat against the left wall of the ally as well, staring white faced and wide eyed at the fat man laid out on the ground.

After a moment, Sain stood up, using the wall as a support, wincing at the ache in his shoulder and arm. It did not hurt too bad, so maybe it was only the initial collision that had caused the pain. Now it only ached.

“You reckon he is dead?” came a question from Corey who nudged the prone man with a boot and Jalel just scoffed.

“Are you dumb? He is still breathing you fucking idiot. Now go and get rid of those fucks” Jalel replied and then pointed past Corey and Merte. Sain looked past them as well and saw two people had stopped at the alley entrance to look at the scene. As soon as they saw they had been noticed though, they turned away fast and disappeared down the street. Jalel just snorted.

“That's fucken right. Watch the entrance you two shits. We ain’t done here” he snapped and then turned his attention to the bald man on the ground. As Corey and Merte obeyed, going to take up their positions, Jalel just tucked his bloodied club under his left armpit, and then reached for the front of his trousers, undoing his belt. Sain did not see him, as Jalels back was facing him, but he certainly saw the stream of piss hit the bald man's bloody face, first his forehead, and then his open mouth, pooling within it.

After a few moments, the man started choking and spluttering, and then woke up quite suddenly. He shuddered and retched as his eyes flung open and got a wash of piss right in his eyes. Jalel stopped the stream and just shook as Youm planted his boot on the bald man's right shoulder, pinning him to the ground. The spluttering continued as Jalel did up his trousers and then collected his club, which he pointed at the downed man, now staring at Jalel with what Sain thought was pure hatred.

“Good day Mr. Klet. I’d ask how you are doin, but I don’t really give a shit” Jalel stated right before he kicked the guy in his fat belly. Mr. Klet just exhaled sharply and coughed, trying to turn onto his side, which just caused Youm to put pressure on his shoulder to keep him there. The man just coughed again and stared hard at Jalel.

“You don’t know what you are doing boy. You are gonna get yourself dead. Sharks don't tolerate other gangs operating on their turf” Mr. Klet practically spat at Jalel, who just laughed and delivered another kick right into his ribs. The man tried to curl up again at the force, wheezing and spluttering even more.

“Yeah nah, don’t think that gonna happen fuck stain. The Shark Boys gave you up for a fat wad of cash. You fucked up one of my girls' hands, so now you are paying for that. Turns out the Sharks reckon you are a piece of shit too cause they only took half of what I offered” Jalel stated and then laughed, giving some small indication of why this was happening. Klet's face just turned white then, in an instant as the realization seemed to hit him. Realization he had been sold out. At least that was what Sain thought.

Jalel just stepped back then and turned to look at Sain and Ricky, each in turn. Sain gulped as he saw the look on Jalel's face. It was practically pure joy. The thug was getting off on this.

“Boys. Break his legs. Shatter them” he ordered simply, and Sains eyes widened, and he gulped, freezing in his spot. There was no way he was really expected to do that surely? After a moment he glanced quickly at Klet and shook his head. He was ok with doing some things with magic, but actually breaking someone's legs? If his master ever found out, he would lose his apprenticeship.

Ricky, however, seemed to have no qualms, and stepped forward, mumbling as he brought forth his magic, and Sain just gulped, stepping back as he looked up at Jalel with wide eyes. He froze as he saw the thug's expression though. Jalel's face was contorted in anger, and almost purple from rage. Sain’s eyes flitted down to the club in Jalel’s hand, and saw it gripped so tightly that the whites of Jalel’s knuckles could be seen.

“Get the fuck out of here Sain, you useless sack of shit. I’ll find you later and remind you why you should follow orders” Jalel stated bluntly, his voice level and impassive, despite the rage in his expression. Sain looked sharply at Ricky who had raised his hands as he brought forth the magic he needed, a slight shimmer and contortion of light visible in the air before him.

Feeling sick in the stomach, Sain just turned away and ran back the way the group had come, turning the corner just as he heard Ricky shout, followed by a series of crunches and shrill screams from Mr. Klet.