> Naw, lets leave her out of this.
> Dodge anything they throw at us and strike at the first opening.
>"Just give me a sec, Dayna. This'll be over real quick."
>The thugs sneer at you. "Why you little...!"
>A hasty overhead hammer blow is slapped to the side and a sudden flash of steel is dodged before you hop backwards. One of them's pulled out a knife, but the others merely pound a fist into a palm menacingly. You flick out your own knife in response.
>A meaty fist flies at your face. With a sidestep, you grab the offending limb with one hand and slam the pommel of your knife into his gut with the other, then follow up with a jab to the chin and a knee to the gut. The guy crumples as his buddies flood in.
>The knife wielder attacks you with a clumsy lunge, but your merely deflect the blow and slash the back of his hand with a quick, downward chop. He drops the weapon in pain just as you spin around and kick him in the shins.
>It's actually a little embarrassing how easy this is. But then again you've been fighting otherworldly things for a good while now and this...well...this is kind of easy.
>Another heavy punch comes your way...jeez, they never learn do they? At least come two at once if you want to put up a fight...
>"It's pointless," you state flatly before you rain a barrage of crushing blows on his torso, then finish him off with a roundhouse to the face. As you slide back into position to meet the next thug, you decide to have a little fun.
>Maybe even rock his
warudo world.
>"Like I said, it's pointless! Time's stopped." A quick kick to both shins from the side, to throw him off balance. Two swift blows to the gut, another to his left hip. Two strikes to his arm, then a back swing across his face. Follow with a straight punch to the chest, then a shoulder check, and a flying roundhouse to finish off!
>You indulge in a bit of silliness and pose, back and knees bent at odd angles with both arms crossed over your chest.
>"And so time flows once more."
>You definitely need to read less manga, but it looks pretty awesome at least when you're posing and the guy just flies away for no apparent reason.
>"Alright, who's...next."
>Turning to the rest of the group, you realize Dayna didn't listen to you and knocked out the last two meatheads.
>You sigh in exasperation as Dayna looks at you with innocent eyes. "Let's just go home then?"
>...
>After reconsidering your actions, you think bringing her to that particular mall might have been idea. Sure, cheap, but a pretty bad part of the neighborhood to be honest...
>"...thank you, Mackenzie," whispers Dayna from behind you on the bike.
>"Wha?" you call back to her.
>"Thank you. It was...fun."
>You can't imagine how that was fun at all, but...whatever. You smile back at her. "No problem."
>...
>School starts the next day. You left Dayna with your landlady, a nice, elderly woman who always seems to be doing chores of some sort. Can't hurt to help out...and it might lower your rent.
>Morning gossip fills the air as usual.
>"Hey, did you hear about a few nights ago?"
>"What, there was another disappearance?"
>"No, no! Apparently they found a bunch of bodies, and guess what?"
>"Some of them were the missing people?"
>"ALL of them were! Not just from our town either, but places all across the states!"
>"That's so weird!"
>"And they were all missing all of their blood, and, get this, their
heart too! Identical wounds and everything!"
>...Well that's morbid. You decide to investigate a bit.
>"So, uh, how many did they find?"
>"I dunno, like 3 dozen? They think it's some kind of serial killer, but with the times some of these people disappeared it's impossible that one guy did it all..."
>...Your eyes narrow. Three dozen people discovered, all with similar wounds, on the day you and Natalie took out the Gibbous Moon Phantasm? Suspicious...
