Fire on Fire

3: Trust is for fools

Recap:

That's when the man stopped in his tracks and seemed to be looking at something behind Hayden. The girl turned on her heels and her eyes widened.

Continued:

Standing behind her was the redheaded man from before. The one with the little girl. He was also on fire at the current moment, as where the people behind him. Wait... what the fuck? However, before she could even think of voicing her confusion, the man who had been chasing her, who she had completely forgotten about which was a really stupid move grabbed her arm. In her sense of panic, Hayden turned on her heel and punched the guy square in the nose. He stumbled back, letting go of her hand, and covered his face with his hand. Little drops of red were dripping down his chin as he glared at Hayden. He charged at her and threw a punch, which she blocked before bringing her arms up to her face to stop his follow up punch. The man threw another punch and this time she stepped to the side to dodge it as he stumbled forward. Hayden decided to kick his stomach, as he fell to the ground coughing blood. Despite his broken nose, and quite possibly a broken rib, the man got up again. Instead of trying to punch her, which was what she was prepared for, he grabbed her wrist. Not expecting this, Hayden stumbled forward when he tugged her arm. However, before the man could even think of getting a hit in, twisted his arm with her free hand, forcing him to let her go. She quickly grabbed his head and brought it down to her knee. The man reached up to hold his head, and the girl took that as her chance to kick him in his groin. Again. It worked the first time, who's to say it won't work again? The man fell to his knees as she started backing away from him, but stopped, remembering the burning people behind her. (ahhh yes weird fire people are behind her. That's not scary at all, nope, not at all). Hayden froze. She had no idea what to do. On one hand there was a psycho trying to kidnap her, and on the other hand there were pyros on fire behind her whose intentions were currently unknown. That was before one of the men, one with blonde hair and glasses, came up to the girl.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Silently stunned, the girl just nodded. (Weird people are trying to help me. Weird people are being nice to me. What do I do? Panic mode activated: socially awkward teenager is a go.) The blonde took another step towards her causing her to step back. Seeming to sense her distrust, the man backed up raising his hands in an 'I surrender' type of way. Hayden, seeming to have stepped out of her panic mode, decided to get straight to the point, since no one in front of her seemed to want to talk.

"What do you want?" She asked, scanning over each of the members. The red haired man she met earlier was definitely in charge, and it seems blondie, who was for some reason wearing a bartender outfit, was probably second in command. Then there was this fat guy in a yellow jumpsuit type clothing, along with a boy with light brown hair who was wearing a white button down shirt, and a boy with red hair, a beanie, and a skateboard (as well as other people she was too lazy to actually describe). The people in front of her raised their eyebrows almost as if they were shocked by her words.

"What makes you think we want anything?" the blonde asked. Geez, for someone who is second in command he sure talks more than their actual leader.

"Well if you don't want anything then what are you doing here?" Hayden was genuinely confused. She had never met someone who did anything just because it was the right thing, or it was nice. (AN; that's rough buddy)

"You seemed to be in trouble. I thought you could use some help." The redhead finally spoke up. Hayden bristled at those words.

"I don't need your help. I can take care of this on my own." and with that she turned her back to the fire people to face the man who had been chasing her. He had gotten to his feet during Hayden's conversation with the fire people. He was sporting a broken nose, both arms were crossed over his stomach (where Hayden had elbowed him), and he seemed to be standing funny (probably due to Hayden kicking him in the groin so much).

"You're such a little bitch!" He growled at the auburn haired girl.

"Contrary to popular belief, you are not the first person to have said that to me."

She knew she probably shouldn't be provoking him, but he had severely pissed her off. Hayden also knew she would have to fight her way out, and she was fully prepared to do so, she just needed to keep a calm and rational head. If she managed to piss him off just enough he would make a mistake eventually, so all she needed to do was keep baiting him. She slipped her saddle bag off her shoulder and onto the ground next to her, making sure no one would crush her camera that was inside. Taking a couple steps forward, she gave him a condescending smirk.

"How does it feel?" She asked.

"How does what feel?"

"How does it feel to know you got your ass kicked by a teenager?" She asked, clearly mocking him. "It must feel pretty horrible. Imagine having to go back and admit to everyone that a teenager managed to kick your ass while simultaneously disappearing again. Must suck to be you." The man's fist clenched as his eyebrows furrowed. She belittled him and to make it worse pushed him to act reckless, not wanting to completely fail and deal with the shame. It was only a matter of time before he made a mistake and that would be all she'd need to take him down. He let out an animalistic growl before charging at her. He threw a punch, while still running, and Hayden used his momentum against him. She dodged his punch and stepped under his arm, before grabbing it and pinning it behind his back. She kicked the back of his knees forcing him to kneel before her. Using his other hand, the man pushed her off and she stumbled backwards. There was no way she could win this fight without knocking him out. Whenever he punched he struggled to have a follow through move and that's where she'd get him. She waited patiently for the man to come at her, but he was taking his sweet little time. He was also digging through his pockets before pulling out an object. Hayden's eyes widened as she immediately recognized the object. It was a switchblade.