Taffy had been hiding for quite some time, camping, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Then it came.
Jay struck Tai, and Wyatt's body moved on reflex—he had to get to her. But then came the sound—footsteps, fast and closing in. He turned just in time to see a blade aimed straight at him.
Taffy came flying out, eyes locked, dagger ready. He wasn't swinging—he was going for the stab.
Jumping back, Wyatt barely avoided the dagger, although it did manage to give him a small cut on the cheek. Blood trickled from the small cut, but that was the least of Wyatt's worries.
Taffy kissed his teeth, he didn't expect Wyatt to dodge that attack. He knew that he was no match for Wyatt, their last fight had made that painfully clear, that was why he was hoping to finish him off in one swift attack.
"Outta my way." Wyatt's eyes weren't even on Taffy, they were on Tai who was being continuously pummeled by Jay.
During the time he had stayed with the dark bulls, every single person there had treated him like family. He had grown to love and care for all of them, he truly saw them as his family.
So seeing Tai, someone who he saw as family, being brutalized like that on the floor, his blood was boiling. And this idiot in front of him was only making him angrier.
"You really think I'll let you go like that? Boy, you must be really stupid." Taffy smiled as he realized something.
Last time he and Wyatt fought, he was unarmed. Now he had a pair of deviant weapons, although they were only on the basic grade, they were still better than what Wyatt had. Nothing.
Wyatt still had eyes glued to Jay assaulting Tai, he tried to walk past Taffy like he wasn't even there.
"I'll kill you, while brother kills that wench!" Taffy shouted as he swung the dagger at the incoming Wyatt.
In one clean motion, Wyatt dodged and cracked Taffy across the face. The force threw him back, but Wyatt was already closing the gap, fist loaded for another strike.
"I don't have time to waste on you." Wyatt said as he landed two more punches, straight to the face.
Taffy was still standing, though his face was badly bruised from the punches, and his nose was bleeding and probably broken.
'How?!' Taffy shouted in his head. 'I'm holding deviant weapons, how the heck is he still faster and stronger? What kind of monster is he?'
A basic Deviant weapon wasn't game-breaking, but it gave enough power to turn the tide. And yet… Taffy couldn't figure it out. Wyatt was still overpowering him.
The answer was simple. Training.
Wyatt had trained with people way above his level for so long, their speed and skill became his baseline. He didn't realize it—but now, anything below that just felt slow. Easy.
Taffy's dagger cut through the air—Wyatt's eyes followed it with precision. But the rest of him? Too slow. His instincts weren't in sync.
Sure, Wyatt had trained with beasts—but that's all it was: training. This? This was real. Taffy and his crew were his first real fight. And when it came to life-or-death stakes, his experience was paper-thin.
The dagger came flying in at an impressive speed, but using the palm of his hand, he caught the dagger by the bladed part. He had done so with so much force that the blade drew blood from his palm.
Although it was it was accident, it didn't look like it to Taffy. 'This guy is crazy!' he assumed Wyatt intentionally caught the dagger like that. He had no idea that it was a complete accident.
'Sh*t. That hurt.' The stinging in his palm was only making him more pissed off than he already was. So out of rage, Wyatt ran forward and used all the strength he could muster and punched Taffy in the gut.
Before the punch connected, Taffy could've sworn he saw Wyatt's eyes flash red. But he didn't have time to dwell on it because a heavy fist drove into his stomach, knocking him out immediately.
Wyatt was currently holding a dagger in his right hand, it was also the hand that was bleeding. So using his left hand, he picked up the other dagger that Taffy had dropped when he passed out.
Looking back at Tai, he saw that Jay was still pummeling her with his shield and Chuck was walking towards them with a dangerous look in his eyes.
Without hesitation, Wyatt hurled the dagger at Jay with everything he had. It struck true—right in the shoulder. Jay staggered from the pain, just as Tai drove her leg in, slamming the blade deeper before launching him back with a kick.
Jay looked the dagger in his right shoulder, it was in pretty deep, this would cause some problems. Jay's dominant arm was his right arm, it was the arm he used his shield with.
Now his sights locked onto a new target—Wyatt.
"Are you okay?" Wyatt asked Tai with a worried expression on his face.
"Never better." Tai smiled through the pain. Although it wasn't enough to convince Wyatt.
Wyatt looked at her—bruises covered her arms, especially her forearms, torn up from blocking Jay's shield. Her dress was ripped, slashed in places from the fight, and her hair was a tangled mess. She looked wrecked… but still standing.
"let's get you up." Wyatt tried to help her up before he felt a large shield bash into his head, almost knocking him out.
Jay had thrown the shield with his left hand, so it wasn't his strongest attack.
"Wyatt!" Tai shouted as she ran to where he fell. But she was pulled by her arm, someone threw her in the opposite direction.
"You didn't think I've forgotten about you, did you?" Chuck said coldly as he prepped his swords.
"Outta my way!" Tai told him, equally as cold.
Wyatt swayed, fighting the darkness closing in. The shield had nailed him square in the temple—blood running down his face, mind rattled. It was more than just pain… something inside was slipping.
"Even with blood clouding his already fading vision, Wyatt could make out Jay—right in front of him, shield at the ready.
'oh, no' Wyatt thought before the shield hit him again in the head. Now it felt like the world was spinning for Wyatt and he truly was about lose consciousness.
"I'm gonna kill you." Chuck said coldly to Tai as he got into stance, then he pounced forward and attacked.
Tai was already tired from the other fights but she knew she had to get past Chuck to go help Wyatt.
She sidestepped the hit and launched one of her own, but exhaustion showed. Her strikes were slow, predictable—Chuck moved around them effortlessly.
'Looks like I have no choice but to use it.' she thought inwardly as she barely dodged another attack. 'I really don't like using things that bastard taught me, but I have to help Wyatt.'
Tai managed to push Chuck back. Then using her middle and index fingers, she lodged it into her stomach, just above her belly button, and twisted it.
Suddenly, something inside Tai stirred—energy rising, wild and unfamiliar. Her face twisted in pain. Whatever it was, it was powerful… and it was tearing through her.
Jay was about to hit Wyatt again, but stopped when he felt the sudden increase in energy, even Wyatt who was on the verge of passing out could feel it.
"I see, your getting serious." Chuck said still as coldly as ever, not a hint of fear on his face, "Then, it's only fair I do the same." Then suddenly, red smoke began to surround Chuck's whole body.
Chuck was about to use his Talent in his fight against Tai, when all of a sudden it felt he had trouble breathing.
It wasn't just him, everyone could feel it. A tremendous amount of energy so powerful, that it was almost physically suffocating everybody.
"What's all this then?" a strange deep voice said casually.
"Now your all screwed!" Tai had a large smile on her face. While Chuck turned around to find out who was speaking.
"I was tryin' to sleep away my hangover and yet y'all are causin' a ruckus." The voice sounded pissed now.
Chuck finally turned around, the voice was coming from behind of him which was where the dark bull's building stood, so it only meant one thing.
Craven stood with arms crossed, twin axes strapped to his back like a warning. Power radiated off him in waves, thick and suffocating. "Now," he said coldly, "which one of ya idiots woke me up… and which one touched my kids?"