Lance spotted the addressee across the room looking at his radio in confusion, who then looked around the room in an attempt to find the source of the call. Hiding in the shadows at the edge of the room, Lance sat still. He laughed inside as the remaining gunmen looked around frantically.
“Well, I know you aren’t one of my men, as none of them would dare to address me in that manner,” replied Striker over the radio. “And as much as they are all camped outside, I know the police haven’t come inside yet.”
There was a brief pause.
“I’m almost tempted to offer you a place in our ranks, but with all the trouble you’ve caused I doubt you’d accept.”
“I have a challenge for you,” Lance informed through the radio. “One of strength and skill.”
A series of laughs echoed through the room and reverberated over the radio.
“You just keep talking and we will simply find you, then we will kill you, kid,” said one of the Ouroboros.
“I know enough about the Ouroboros that you never turn down a challenge. On top of that I’ve shut down your weapons before,” boasted Lance. “I can easily do more than that; just think of what I’ve done so far.”
The remaining chuckles died after that statement, his point was made.
“No guns or weapons,” continued Lance. “But I’ll take on all of you to save me the trouble of doing it the hard way.”
“Quite brave,” replied Striker, his voice carrying to the verge of annoyance. “Or foolish. You must not know of the strength of the serpents.”
Several spotlights from the balcony suddenly flared on, all directed toward the center of the room. Lance ducked back behind the pillar he was beside to avoid the new light just before he would have been spotted. Lance peeked back around and could see at least a dozen hostages in a tight cluster, Striker and most of the remaining gang members encircling them. He spotted Melody and a couple of his classmates among the taken, all who were bound.
“Despite your stupidity, we will accept your challenge,” finally continued the gang leader.
He nodded to his men, and they all set their weapons on the platform. After disarming, several took position near the hostages to prevent them from attempting to escape while the others fanned out behind Striker.
Having emerged from his hiding spot, Lance scavenged a pair of gloves from one of the unconscious bodies. As he neared the group one of the lights drifted to his position and followed him as he marched on.
“So, you are the one causing us this trouble,” stated Striker. “You are much younger than I expected, which probably contributed to the naïve idea that you could take on twelve trained fighters.”
Lance clenched his fist around the shield’s handle.
“Spare yourself the monologue, Striker,” he demanded.
“Also, you only have eleven left. Let’s just get this over with.”
With that he threw his makeshift shield behind him along with his goggles, then slid one foot behind him, raising his hands into a defensive stance.
Angered by the student’s tenacity, Striker pointed at two of the men, signaling for them to attack first.
“A kid? This will be cake, man,” bragged one to the other.
Adam watched from his spot as the two men casually advanced toward Lance. He remained firm in his stance.
“Lance...” Adam whispered. “You’d better know what you are doing...”
He almost didn’t want to watch, but when the first attacker threw the starting punch, Adam could have never guessed what was about to go down.
Lance countered the strike, returning with a punch of his own to the man’s face. The shock of the response gave Lance the perfect opening to follow up with a double punch, then a sideways kick to knock him over. The second thug ran at Lance but was met with a similar knockdown. The two got back on their feet and tried to take opposing sides, but to no avail. Lance easily blocked both of their attacks and smashed their heads together, rendering them both unconscious. As their bodies fell, Lance took a deep breath to control his racing adrenaline, returning to his initial stance as he exhaled. He looked past his opponents and saw the hostages, all in awe of what was happening. He met Melody’s eyes once again who was as wide eyed as the others.
“Next,” he called casually as he returned his focus to the fight.
The four remaining men next to striker surrounded Lance as Striker took several steps back himself nearer to those keeping the hostages. Suspicious of Striker’s movement, Adam loaded and prepared the tether.
“High-tier gang leader or not...” he said quietly as if Striker could hear him. “...no funny business, mister....”
Lance decided to thin out the circle rather than waiting for them to attack and rushed the man to his left. He grabbed a thrown punch and used the momentum of his own motion to yank and toss the first one. Before the first gangster could recover Lance grabbed him by the back of his head and beat him against the floor to knock him out. He turned just in time to counter-grab a kick from the second, sweeping the other leg from under him and dropping him as well. Not having time to take him down because of the remaining two, Lance leapt towards them and met them halfway with a heavy blow to the closest of them. The fourth managed to grab him from behind.
“Gotcha now, kid!” he exclaimed as he tried to lock down on Lance.
“Wrong,” informed Lance. “You just made things easier for me to get you!”
With that, Lance grabbed the man’s arm, ducked to escape the hold and spun, wrenching the arm behind him. The man yelled in pain as Lance kicked him towards the one who he swept down, toppling him yet again. The second goon had now returned, trying furiously to punch Lance, but each attack was successfully countered.
“Ever try to mix things up?” asked Lance, after which he delivered a swift high kick, followed by a flurry of quick strikes to vulnerable soft spots.
The man collapsed, leaving Lance once again where he started.
His heart racing, his breathing heavy, Lance wiped the sweat off his forehead and took a few more steps back to breathe. He looked to see the two he hadn’t finished off joined by the remaining Ouroboros members. A slow clap interrupted the brief silence.
“I’m almost impressed,” stated Striker with sarcasm. “But those men you just beat were mere grunts compared to the three before you now.”
The remaining two who had already fought exchanged brief glances to their leader's comment.
“You just like to rant and hear yourself talking, don’t you?” Lance asked.
“Get him NOW!” yelled a now enraged Striker.
“Beat him to death!”
At that he ran at Lance, his remaining henchmen following suit as he passed them.
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