Chapter 4: Gaiety of the Past 2

Then the two spotted a group of 5 teenagers aged around fifteen. Aeneas looked at them for a while before speaking up. 

 "Uh, don't you realize that you're blocking us?"

 "Blocking? Nah, you'll have to pay first."

Aeneas looked back at his little brother, confused by the man's words.

 "So you're robbing us?"

 Aeneas asked abruptly.

 "Robbing? Hell Nah, it's called a toll."

 "Toll? Using fancy words doesn't change the fact that you're robbing a twelve-year-old, buddy."

 "If you want money then why don't you just find a job?"

 The little brother naively asked as Aeneas giggled.

 " *pfttt* ok, listen closely, little guy. There are two types of people in this world. Those who are capable of finding jobs, and those who are not. These fools are great examples of the second one. These uneducated brats—"

 He was interrupted by the leader's punch in the face, knocking him back a bit. 

"Welp, you just proved my point right there." 

Aeneas wiped the blood out of his mouth before twisting his waist and cast his fist right into the leader's face. The punch was so fast it left the man no time to react. And with just a punch, the man fell to the floor, lying unconscious.

Two of his followers jumped at Aeneas. He dodged and decided to focus his movement on dodging instead of attacking as he was outnumbered. They punched and kicked and beat him relentlessly but none hit. The fight continued back and forth until Aeneas turned to his little brother and shouted.

"Could use some help here!"

"W-what you want me to do?"

 "Throw me something I can—"

Aeneas paused as he dodged another punch.

Nereus looked around and found a wooden stick on the floor. He threw it at his brother. Aeneas caught it mid-air and immediately swung it wide as his hand touched the wood, hitting one of the followers behind him in the face, and knocking him down. He spun the wood around with both of his hands, so fast his hand's movement was unseenable, only the wood spinning around at his front, over his head, and at his back before he stopped, resting the stick on his shoulder. 

"Anyone wants a piece of me?" 

The other three stood resolutely. 

"Well, I guess today's not that boring after all."

He waved his hand tauntingly.

"COME! I'll whoop all of ya asses."

One of the three rushed to Aeneas with bare fists. The cocky boy thrust the stick forward to the thug, yet he dodged the hit and threw off a punch, aiming directly at the boy's head. Aeneas ducked down as the man ran past him. The thug turned back and met with the stick flying right in his face, bringing him down to the floor. While Aeneas was turning his back on them, one of the other two thugs ran up and grabbed his arms and legs, locking him as the second guy drew out a knife.

"Knife? Really? You guys suck that hard huh? Your leader's a weakling and his followers are cowards? You guys got a dream team right there." Said my brother, taunting his enemy without concern.

The man furiously threw the knife to the ground and ran at my brother barehanded, hitting him in the stomach, followed up with a left hook to the head. Yet, Aeneas tilted his head back, dodging the hit, and flung it back, head-butting the man, knocking him to the ground. The one who was locking him was about to snap his arm. Then, a rock was thrown at them, hitting him in the face as the thug on the floor looked at his friend in worry. Those rocks were thrown by the little brother, not with precision but with the strength of just a child. It was nothing but a distraction. Aeneas then stomped the distracted man on the feet and bit his arm, breaking free from the restraint before knocking him back with a kick. The other guy got hit in the chin with an uppercut. The thug who got kicked rushed in from behind, bashing and pinning Aeneas against the wall before repeatedly striking him in the belly. In defiance, Aeneas continuously slammed his shoulder and while they were fighting, their leader got up and locked the little brother's neck with his arm in a choke position. The force on his throat was enough to set me still yet, far from being lethal. But as soon as my brother saw me, his eyes sparked bright golden in wrath. 

He stopped hitting the man's shoulder and head-butted him hard, and followed up with another punch at the man's face before kicking him in the chest, sending him to the ground. Aeneas dashed to the thug on his brother, snatching the leader's face, yanking him off the little boy, and pushing him to the ground. Crouching on the leader's chest, Aeneas punched his face relentlessly as he screamed.

"DON'T"

He threw another punch.

"YOU"

And another.

"DARE"

And another,

"TOUCH"

And another

"MY"

And another

"BROTHER!"

The blood from the thug's face tainted his fists and face while the thug's teeth fell out of his mouth, some even shattered. Sitting on his now defeated foe, Aeneas breathed heavily, exhausted from the combat. Yet, he managed to draw back his arm with his fist clenching hard, ready to cast it for the last time. But right before he hurled his last punch. He felt as if something was calling him from behind so he turned back and found his little brother. The boy stood there, looking at his elder brother, horrified by the scene.

And there he stopped, releasing his palm, panting with his eyes exhausted.

"Right … right … home… home it is."

He said with tired hitches, interrupting each of his words. He stood up, pulled the lying man's shirt to clean off the blood, and finally, we could continue our journey home.