Rosea Saints

Chapter 5

Ethan POV

I was walking home from school. The same time as yesterday, back when I got the crap kicked out of me. But I wasn't going to let it go that way today. I planned to fight back. No, I was going to beat them. I would make it so one-sided that it wouldn't even be a fight, just a beat down.

I could feel the rage inside me, a powerful presence but unstable, my head was throbbing with every breath I took. In my mind I could see the face of that ginger kid, I imagined every possible move he would throw at me. Every single time I imagined us fighting it emerged in me victorious, and I imagined it a lot. My mind seemed to be working at ten times its normal speed.

After a few minutes of me waiting around at the corner of the street, the group of kids rounded the corner. There were five of them, though only four I was sure I hated. The fifth one seemed like a nice guy caught up in the wrong crowd, he'd never once hit me or insulted me.

The ginger kid grinned at the sight of me, "Oh, hey, queer!"

I walked forward and stood up to him, he and I stood at roughly equal height, though while I was thin and muscular he was on the stocky side. His cheeks seemed to always be flushed, and were flecked with more than a few freckles. "How long have you been bullying me now? Years? Well today it stops, and I'm not screwing around. Ya hear me!"

I jumped up and landed an extra solid kick to his gut, the force sent him flying back and he landed on his back, the cement making his fall seem all the more painful.

"Hey, that's a cheap shot!" Another one said as he rushed me with his fist raised.

I grinned, "Not like you haven't made cheap shots on me."

He threw a haymaker with his right arm, which I easily blocked, and tucked under my left arm. He threw the same punch with his left arm and I tucked it under my right arm. He began to tug on his arms, trying to free them, but I had him locked. I then kicked his knee with all my force. I heard a snap, and his knee bent the other way a bit.

He started to scream louder than anything I'd ever heard, and he fell to the ground. I released him, knowing he was unable to fight.

Somewhere in my mind I knew I had gone too far, there was no hiding from our parents that we had fought. But I needed them to know how strong I was, they needed to know that all this time they had been making fun of me it had been like poking a lion with a stick, they could have been hurt long ago.

The ginger I kicked down got up, and got into a stance. It was a boxing stance, he seemed to know the basics of boxing. Probably because someone like his dad showed him.

I sparred with a man who boxed, but he also did judo, and freestyle wrestling too. You can't go into an MMA fight with only one martial art. Rick taught me Muay Thai, and Brazilian jiujitsu.

I came closer to him and he punched. I punched back, our fists hit each other and I felt the pain, but it was nothing new to me. He however winced from it, that was my opportunity. I rushed at him, unable to stop myself, I released a barrage of punches right into his chest, stomach, and face. I yelled as I did it, I could hardly tell one of my arms from the other as I punched, it was blindingly fast.

Finally he fell to the ground, his eyes wide with surprise, and even fear. For the first time in his life he'd realized that the 'queer kid' he'd been bullying for years was actually a great fighter, even dangerous.

I turned to the other kids, my grin making me look insane, "Who's next?"

"Shit!" Yelled one of the kids as he backed away, "I can't fight him!"