A duty and an honour

Mr Leonard, walking faster and reducing the distance between them and Mrs Taiyo, suddenly felt a resistance from Alpha, who now stood still as if even moving an inch would mean sudden death.

"What's the matter?, try to keep up, will you?" Mr Leonard who had now stopped moving and turned around asked " w..."

*Whrrr! Whrrr*

This time anyone could pinpoint the origin of the sound. Mr Leonard who now stood face to face with the culprit_ the faceless cowboy, had every hair in his body stand.

He had served in the military for over 30 years, faced multiple terrorist organisation, was at deaths door a few times but in all of those times, nothing has ever made him experience dispair. Every enemy he'd ever faced was a foe he could kill or atleast have a chance of winning against, but not this time.

The enemy that stood before him was like a pillar, one that had stood in place for centuries, overcoming every calamity nature threw at it without so much as a scratch.

He turned his head slightly and saw Alpha, tilting his head, he glanced at the group behind him, which stood there having lost all hope.

"PULL YOURSELVES TOGETHER" without batting an eye at the faceless cowboy who now stood there motionlessly, Mr Leonard shouted as he clenched his fists and took on a battle stance

Alpha snapped out of it, as he peered at Mr Leonard with fear and suprise in his eyes.

"Go help your teacher and the other kids, and follow that path" Mr Leonard said while pointing at the path that had skulls all over it's pavement

"What, why that path?, why not go through the forest?" Alpha asked his voice still trembling and his eyes teary

" You have about a minute, when you are all ready, run, run like your life depends on it" ignoring his questions Mr Leonard continued

"What about.."

Staring at him with a mixture of worry and anger in his eyes.

"Now."

Hearing that, Alpha didn't say anything else, after stealing a glance at him one last time, he dashed towards Mrs Taiyo, who was now busy helping the kids who had previously fallen down due to fear get up.

A couple of seconds later he approached the rest of the group, after explaining everything Mr Leonard had said, to which he was a bit skeptical about them agreeing to, but was rather surprised that Mrs Taiyo didn't really oppose, instead she doubtlessly agreed to it.

The kids however didn't seem to be on board, but after a lot of persuasion and a passionate smile that seemed to have been capable of driving any person that saw it into a trance from their teacher, they all agreed.

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*Crrring*

A loud bang could be heard echoing across the entire field.

The faceless cowboy who had stood there motionlessly all this time, like a lifeless log in the middle of a forest, dropped his two metre silver long machete, letting it tear through the earth, whilst sending chunks of dirt frying in each and every directions due to it's weight. After the display, he untied the silver chain which was almost six metres tall from his left arm , and tied it to his right arm, before mimicking the fighting stance from the man before him

Mr Leonard, who now stood infront of the faceless cowboy, flinched after the display, and took a step back.

After the staring contest of about four seconds, Mr Leonard tilted his head slightly to his left and saw that every kid had gotten up and the group was now circling towards the path, he heaved a sigh of relief as he charged forward.

Standing at approximately 2.5 meatres tall, Mr Leonard was heavily outmatched and would have needed a miracle to win, but that wasn't his objective, from the moment he saw the giant man before him, he new he couldn't win, he also new due to his countless battles, that the moment he took his eyes off of him it would be the end of him and everyone on the field.

He had been ready for death since the moment he entered his first battle back home, but now that it was a certainty, he couldn't help a longing for a few more years to spend with his grandkids. He could see their smiling faces whenever he told them about his adventures. Becoming a school bus driver so as to be close to the warmth of today and the pillars of tomorrow, was the best decision he'd ever made in his life. Being a mere distraction of protecting the warm smiles of the kids was a duty and an honour.

As he closed the gap between them he lept forward, swinging his right fist, aiming for the face_or rather the emptiness, it's not like he couldn't aim for any other part in this cowboy's body, but he pondered if the face looked like that then even the body must have been the same, in the same logic if he couldn't land the punch and hit some kind of surface then there was really no point in trying.

To his suprise though, the punch connected, even if the cowboy didn't flinch or move in the slightest from its earlier mimicked fighting stance, Mr Leonard could feel a surface although not any ordinary one, this felt much like punching water, even though you can feel it, punching it is a different story.

After landing the punch, Mr Leonard moved back two steps and was about to take another one, before the cowboy appeared Infront of him in an instant seemingly mimicking his punch only this time it was more powerful and deverstating.

I see , he wasn't hesitating , he was learning , trying to mimic us, it's different from last time with a smile on his now disfigured face, that had one of its side bashed in I just hope you're all make it, I did my duty, now let's see how long it'll take for you to notice that there's no do.. before he could finish, his thoughts trailed off to the back of his head as his now lifeless body hit the ground, his soul trailing to eternal darkness.