Chapter 3
In the blink of an eye, Gaia started running. Not away from the scream, like anyone else would have, but towards the sound. Joan ran to catch up, weaving in between trees, fear mounting in her system. Gaia was way ahead of her, running at warp speed. Joan knew how rare it was for there to be an attack in the park at one in the afternoon, but there was all the same.
"Let her go," Gaia said, her voice perfectly calm. There were two guys, one short red-head, and one tall brunette. They were pushing a girl, probably only 13 years old, against a large stone. The two guys smiled at each other, stepped away from the girl, and started to walk towards Gaia. "Run," Gaia told the girl, and the girl took off. "Now," Gaia addressed the two thugs, "you are going to learn what happens when you cross paths with Gaia Moore."
Joan tried to scream, but nothing came out. Her feet were rooted in place, she was hidden from view, but she could see what was going on, and she watched in shock as Gaia crouched down in a fighting stance. Gaia showed no signs of fear.
"Hai," Gaia leapt from her position and shot into the air, her right leg out, her foot connecting with red-head thug's chin. He crumpled to the ground. The tall thug charged at Gaia, and Joan gasped as she watched Gaia use his momentum against him and flipped him over her shoulder, and he landed back down on the ground. He was out for the count.
The red-head thug had regained his strength and started to walk up behind Gaia. Gaia turned in a round-house kick, where she spun on her left heal, and lifted her right leg, keeping it up, hitting the thug's head, and returned to her standing position. The thug collapsed to the ground, apparently unconscious.
Joan finally found her body able to move, and rushed over to Gaia's side. "That was amazing. I can't believe you just did that. How did you learn to-" Joan stopped when she noticed how pale Gaia looked. "Gaia, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just going to pass out for a while..." and as she said this, she collapsed to the ground.