Unleashing Valor
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Disruption
Eight o'clock seemed to creep up on Yumi. She had been eagerly preparing for her latest date with William all morning. She couldn't decide on dressing up or going casual, wearing makeup or being herself, and many other insignificant things. When her watch alarm sounded off at seven-thirty, it quite surprised her. Swallowing her pride, Yumi decided to go casual; after all it was only a movie they were going to and most likely nothing else.
At 7:45 Yumi left her home for the park. At one of the bus stops she found William, Aelita, Odd, and Jeremy waiting for her. Odd apparently was in the middle of a slightly heated conversation with her boyfriend when she arrived. Jeremy and Aelita only paid minimal attention to the insignificant argument, in case they'd have to break up a potential fight.
A sweet smile welcomed her and she returned it to William. Blushing slightly, William turned his face in an attempt to hide it from her. The other all smiled and greeted her. But their tones told her something was on their minds.
Shrugging it off, Yumi was glad that they had decided to accompany her with William. Though she'd have preferred to go alone with William, she felt that they needed a break.
Xana was cruel and unpredictable in ways like that.
With her and William leading the way to the theater, the others followed quietly. Until Odd had submerged himself in his CD player again, that is. With his words distorted and off-key, Odd sang quietly to the song.
Aelita grinned at her friend as he continued, despite William's obvious annoyance. Jeremy kept to himself, quiet with a look of deep thought on him. His laptop was tucked safely under his arm. However, William's warm and firm frame at her side drew her attention to it like a magnet.
The theater slowly came into view as they walked down the crowded streets. A tall building with the words 'Royal Knights' Temple' in neon lights stood proudly between Pizza Plaza and a mall. It was quite easy to identify the Royal Knights' Temple as a theater due to the peculiar, yet familiar features.
A long line of adults, teenagers, and kids stood inside the theater. The din of the numerous activities was considerable. As they passed into the building, the strong scent of popcorn hung over them like a fog.
As they approached the building, they noticed that a majority of the crowd was gathered in front of the numerous televisions in the front windows. With only a glance at each other, Yumi and William began to pick their way through the crowd.
On the screen a blonde woman in a formal suit was speaking while the words 'BOY DISRUPTS JEWEL ROBBERY!' lit up the bottom. As they got nearer, the voices of the reporters grew steadily louder and clearer. The woman was saying "— confirmed that the robbery was foiled by a young child, a boy. The police have just released a security tape of our young hero. However, viewer discretion is advised…"
The screen changed to show a darkened room that was lit only by the moonlight filtering through the large front windows. From the angle of the view, they could tell the camera was in the farthest corner of the store.
There were two men standing in the aisles and it was quite obvious that they were heavily armed. They carried what appeared to be automatic rifles, multiple pistols in their belts, and they wore thick body armor and helmets.
The men were so occupied with breaking into the glass cases to get at the diamonds and gems that they failed to notice a silhouette suddenly appear at the front door. It was small, almost half the size and build of either man. But even the darkness couldn't hide the object that protruded over the small boy's shoulder, a sword hilt.
Then, at surprising speeds, the boy dashed inside and attacked the nearest man. With a single blow, he sent the thief flying several feet away. He struck a glass case, screaming in pain as it shattered under him. The noise attracted the attention of the other thief who instantly raised his rifle.
The second thief quickly opened fire upon the boy but something strange happened. The boy ducked the incoming bullets easily and dashed among the rows of jewelry, crouched very low. Then, he suddenly stopped and jumped upon the row. He took a fast sprint and reached the second thief just as he was bringing his rifle to bear.
With what appeared to be an open-palm strike, the boy smashed the thief's body armor like it was tinfoil. The blow knocked him across several aisles and into a wall where a loud smack rang out. The thief stayed where he'd landed, presumably unconscious.
As the boy was standing upright, the first thief had recovered enough to climb to his feet and aim a pistol. As if sensing the thief's recovery, the boy turned and dashed toward him, unsheathing his sword as he went. Yumi almost grinned with pride when she realized it was a katana
With the katana in his left, he swept it to his opposite side in preparation for devastating slash. Even the most ignorant person alive could see that the thief had been milliseconds away from squeezing the trigger.
Then the blade struck.
It grazed the man's finger as it passed over it and cleaving the trigger in two. The useless stump fell to ground as the thief stared at it in disbelief. But the boy wasn't done yet.
Using his inertia, he brought his free hand forward. It landed and the powerful punch left the man's chest armor with an obvious indention. The force of the punch sent him flying away from the boy again, crashing into the opposite wall as his buddy in crime. This time he didn't get up either.
With an air of confidence, the boy sheathed his katana. Then, as if nothing had happened, he walked slowly out the front door.
"Whoa," someone in the crowd said.
"Did you see that?" "Awesome!" "That kid sure is a little samurai, huh?"
"That's the biggest setup I've ever seen!" someone snapped. Then, like a movie critic, literally, the person continued, "Did anyone happen to see how fast that kid moved? Impossible! And it was too fluid to have been real."
"Yeah, sure," someone sneered. "Those two men willing broke in and were caught on camera being beaten by a kid. Right."
Bored, Yumi pulled William away as the news lady reappeared. In her mind she replayed what she'd seen. A boy moving fast enough to dodge close range bullets, wielding a katana like a master samurai, and somehow knowing where his opponents were even in the darkness. She could understand why that one person believed it to be a hoax; it was too fluid.
"That kid was just toying with them, you know?" William said indifferently. "If he could smash armor like that, then he could've killed them with one finger I bet."
Yumi smirked, but chose to remain silent as they entered the theater. Inside they found Aelita and Jeremy waiting patiently in line for them. Off in another line, Yumi glimpsed Odd purchasing enough food and drink for ten people.
With their arrival, Jeremy and Aelita moved to the front of the room and waited by the doors into the main section of the theater. Yumi stayed by William's side as he bought the tickets for the movie. She was slightly surprised by his choice for their date: Underworld: Evolution?
Meeting Odd as they headed for Jeremy, they helped him carry the two buckets of popcorn, four drinks, and bags of candy. She noticed him glancing anxiously at her then into the hallway. While William gave the tickets to the clerk who stood in front of the hallway, she saw why Jeremy looked disgusted and anxious. It was entering the doorway to the theater that was labeled Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It was Sissi and someone else with her who looked familiar to Yumi.
Catching a profile view of the boy, Yumi realized that it was Ulrich! He looked as though he was going to be sick, but he seemed to obey Sissi's orders without question. Sissi was literally hanging on Ulrich's arm as they entered the theater.
By pure chance, Ulrich glanced down the hall and saw her as they approached the theater. He didn't falter in his step, but he did stare wistfully. Then he disappeared into the darkness, thankfully missing the look of disgust and hatred that Yumi glared into his retreating form.
The anger that she'd felt earlier now intensified tenfold, instantly. It, somehow, suddenly made perfect sense to her why Ulrich had abandoned her three months ago. He's wanted to be with Sissi!
Yumi squeezed her free hand tightly into a fist, imaging both Ulrich's and Sissi's necks in her grip, to release some of her anger. Then, as she relaxed her grip, the anger evaporated and was instantly replaced by indifference. His love life is no longer any of my concern, she told herself.
Loaded with their food, they took their seats near the back of the theater. Odd sat in the center of Yumi and Jeremy. Aelita, though blushing, grasped Jeremy's hand. No one but them noticed this in the darkness. If could almost be considered a blessing for both of them that neither of them could see the other's glowing face.
Ulrich didn't seem to be overjoyed by being with Sissi, far from it if the truth be told. He definitely felt left out of their old group. No, not left out, that would mean that they were still his friends to a degree. No, he'd been…replaced.
Thankfully for everyone's sake, Sissi had pulled Ulrich down to the front row of seats.
With him all but out of sight, Yumi began acting like the Yumi that they'd come to know the past three months. William held Yumi's hand gently as they patiently waited for the movie to begin.
The three men looked amongst one another. From their glaring eyes and wicked sneers, a person would think, fittingly actually, that they were possessed. They wore heavy body armor over their chests and backs. Loaded in their pockets were grenades, pistols hung on their belts, deadly knives in their sheaths, and automatic rifles slung over their shoulders. With their faces hidden behind helmets, they all looked like something out of a military soap opera.
They were gathered in a backroom of the theater, awaiting their leader's command. Soon, very soon, they would get their revenge. They had lost two of their best men to that samurai kid.
Now was time for revenge.
(A/N)HAHAHA! Now this is more like it for the reviews (even though it was mostly Whirobe). Still a deal is a deal. I don't know what is keeping all you others from reviewing, but I do know how many have been on my story site. I really don't understand how it can be so difficult for twenty or so people to leave a small remark or something.
Either it's laziness, or you just think I'm not worth your time. Which one is it?
Anyway, I bet some of you were afraid that you weren't going to see that warrior kid's fight with the thieves. Didn't you? Well, you did. Happy? I am!
And what's this? The thieves had friends?
Revenge? Oh no!
Be careful, kids! These thugs are more than just your run-of-the-mill psychos with machine guns. Rest assured on that.
What will happen? Find out in the next chapter: Helpless