The three of them watched attentively as the group approached. Their bodies tensed as they saw them slowly surrounding them, closing off any possible escape. There were about ten in total, all wearing worn-out leather jackets, knuckles scarred, and eyes filled with bad intentions.
One of them, a tall and muscular guy, stepped forward with a mocking smile. His presence was imposing, but what stood out the most was his gaze: defiant and eager for a fight.
“Well, well, well…” he said in a deep, mocking voice. “So, you’re the bastards who beat up two of ours at Neon Bite... or am I wrong?”
Andreas stood firm, holding his gaze without blinking.
“That idiot started the fight over his stupid shitty drink and—”
He didn’t finish the sentence. The gang member poked him in the chest with his finger.
“Oh yeah? Well, guess what, kid…” the gang member continued, giving him another shove. “No one messes with us and walks away like nothing happened.”
Dedrick sighed and crossed his arms.
“Great… just what I needed,” he muttered.
Maddie glanced at the number of gang members and whispered, “There are too many… maybe if we talk—”
“Talk?” Dedrick interrupted her sarcastically. “Yeah, sure, they’ll probably invite us for a drink, and everything will be fine.”
Meanwhile, Andreas clenched his jaw, feeling frustration build inside him.
“Look, I don’t want any trouble. You’d better stop doing that, or else—”
“Or else what?” the gang member interrupted him with a mocking grin, shoving him again.
“Or else, I’ll break your damn face, you idiot,” Andreas snapped, losing his patience.
The other gang members laughed mockingly.
“Ooooh! Looks like the kid’s got some fight in him!” one of them said, clapping in fake surprise.
“Go on, Dale, mess him up,” another encouraged.
The gang member named Dale smiled confidently and raised his hand again to push Andreas.
But this time, he didn’t get the chance.
Andreas reacted in the blink of an eye: he grabbed the man’s arm tightly, yanked him forward, and slammed a knee into his stomach. The guy let out a choked grunt, doubling over and clutching his abdomen.
“You son of a…!” the gang member groaned, trying to catch his breath.
Before he could react, Andreas headbutted him in the face. A dry crack echoed as Andreas’ forehead collided with his nose, sending him crashing onto his back.
There was a second of silence.
“What the hell was that?!” Dedrick exclaimed, looking at Andreas with a mix of surprise and amusement. “Not even I would’ve done it better!”
Maddie blinked a couple of times before letting out a low whistle.
“Okay… that was brutal.”
But the rest of the gang members weren’t going to stand idle.
“Screw this, get them!” one shouted, and the horde of thugs lunged at them.
“Oh, come on…” Dedrick muttered, raising his fists. “This was obviously going to happen!”
“Shut up and fight!” Andreas responded as he dodged a punch.
“Shit… why again?” Maddie murmured.
The three quickly aligned themselves, and without exchanging more words, they began to fight with determination. Dedrick was the first to move, advancing towards two gang members rushing at him.
“This is going to be fun,” Dedrick said with a smug smile, exuding confidence.
The first gang member threw a direct punch at him, but Dedrick, with surprising agility, ducked just in time, dodging the strike. Without missing a beat, he turned to face the second gang member, who had already lifted his leg for a kick to his face. Dedrick reacted swiftly, blocking the kick with his left arm while grabbing the attacker’s leg with his right hand.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” Dedrick murmured before delivering a strong blow to the man’s groin. The gang member collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.
But there was no time for relief, as the first thug, enraged, tried to hit him again. Dedrick met him with a mid-air punch, stopping his strike with his left hand and, with his right arm, unleashed a flurry of blows to his face. Finally, the man fell to the ground, too weak to continue fighting.
“I thought this would be harder,” Dedrick said with a grin, looking at the defeated gang member.
But before he could relax, a third thug appeared behind him, hitting him over the head, sending him crashing to the ground.
“Damn you!” Dedrick growled, quickly turning to see the gang member now holding a knife, pointing it straight at his throat.
The blade edged closer dangerously, and Dedrick struggled to resist the pressure. The knife was nearly touching his skin, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.
“Don’t die, Dedrick!” a familiar voice shouted.
In an instant, Maddie burst onto the scene. With a swift movement, she kicked the gang member in the side, knocking him off balance. She quickly approached and helped Dedrick up.
“I owe you one,” Dedrick said, breathing heavily as he recovered from the impact.
“And I owe you one,” Maddie responded, smiling playfully as she patted his back.
“Oh, really?”
Meanwhile, Andreas was dealing with two gang members near the edge of the platform. With each exchange of blows, he managed to push one back, but the other, cunningly, came up behind him and shoved him with all his strength.
“Are you kidding me?!” Andreas exclaimed as he struggled to maintain his balance, fighting not to fall. In a split second, he turned and grabbed onto the railing with both hands, avoiding a deadly fall.
“I got you!” one of the thugs shouted, lunging at him with a flurry of quick punches.
Andreas dodged some of the hits, but the other gang member took advantage of the moment and struck him in the stomach. The force of the blow sent him reeling, almost losing his grip, but he barely managed to hold on to the railing.
At that moment, his hood slid back, revealing something that left both gang members stunned.
“Whoa!” one of them exclaimed, staring at Andreas’ hair.
It was long, silky, and a silver so brilliant it seemed to reflect the light as if it had a life of its own.
“That’s incredible!” the other gang member said, astonished.
The distraction was enough. Andreas quickly stood up, using his strength to push both gang members off the platform. Their screams faded as they fell.
“Yes! That was amazing!” Andreas shouted, grinning with satisfaction.
But before he could celebrate, the same thug who had hit him before attacked again. He charged at him with fury, landing several punches to his stomach and pushing him back against the railing.
“That hair! What are you, a princess or something?” the thug mocked, laughing as he struck.
Andreas, with a defiant smirk, leaned forward, dodging several blows. Finally, he landed a clean punch to the thug’s face, knocking him to the ground. Without hesitation, he started stomping on his face until the thug was unrecognizable, covered in bruises and blood.
“Is that all you got?” Andreas muttered, looking down at the defeated thug.
Meanwhile, Maddie and Dedrick were still at it, kicking a thug who was already on the ground, completely beaten.
“Take that, asshole! Take it!” Maddie laughed hysterically, enjoying every hit.
Dedrick chuckled, nudging Maddie, amused by her enthusiasm.
Andreas ran up to them, panting but smiling wide.
“Wow, that was insane! You have no idea how close I was to falling! It was epic! And then I threw them into the abyss! But… what’s going on here?”
Then, Andreas remembered his hood was down. They were staring at him, eyes fixed on his silver hair.
“Wow…” Dedrick said, mouth open. “It’s shiny.”
“It’s prettier than mine!” Maddie exclaimed, staring at Andreas’s hair in fascination.
Uncomfortable with the attention, Andreas ran a hand through his hair and quickly pulled his hood back on.
“L-let’s not talk about this,” he muttered, feeling his face heat up with embarrassment.
Dedrick and Maddie exchanged amused glances but decided not to push it further.
“Come on, Andreas! Not everyone has hair like that!” Dedrick teased with a grin.
Maddie smiled, unable to hide her admiration.
Andreas sighed as the discomfort faded slightly.
Without saying another word, the three walked away together, leaving behind the chaos they had caused.