The plan—which I’d named the Trap—went into action three days later.
The Boss really did send over some seven- and eight-year-olds.
They clearly weren’t thrilled about it, but none of them argued with their elders’ orders.
As that big-hearted demon liked to put it,
“Discipline and the habit of following orders—you’ve got to build those in from childhood.”
The idea was simple.
Lure my bullies into an alley, and have my helpers block both ends.
If they all piled on together, it’d turn into an ordinary street brawl—but if it came down to one-on-one, no problem.
I figured my abilities would be more than enough to win.
And for my height, I could pass for a seven-year-old rather than a six-year-old, which helped.
I stepped out at the agreed time and found the gang of little brats in their usual spot, perched on a pile of stone slabs that had once been meant for building houses.
On top sat the biggest bully on the whole street.
I didn’t know his real name, but his nickname was something like Cat, or Mole—some kind of animal, anyway.
I walked on, pretending not to see them.
When I was less than five meters away, a small pebble hit me.
Sometimes I could feel exactly where a blow was going to land—usually when it was a heavy rock that could actually do damage.
This time it was just a bit of gravel that caught my shoulder.
Nothing serious.
“Get lozt, you creep,” one of the boys sitting closest to Mole nasaled out.
“You ain’t welcome here.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not thrilled to see you either.
Mind moving your snake asses off my spot?”
That was the highest-level insult available.
I’d seen with my own eyes what they did to kids from other streets who dared claim that spot.
“Get the bastard!”
At the leader’s command, the whole pack came after me.
Exactly what I wanted.
I ran, not too fast—had to keep the hunting instinct fired up.
I dodged a couple of bigger rocks.
The mob of boys chased after me, whooping and hollering.
There was the turn I needed.
I rounded the corner and stopped near the far exit.
The place reeked of waste.
Holes gnawed by local vermin dotted the walls.
Still, it was the best option available.
By the time the whole angry mob had piled in after me, my helpers had blocked both exits.
The bullies slowed down and started glancing around uncertainly.
Five against seven—the odds were technically in their favor, but everyone knew and feared the Boss’s boys.
Time for act two, then.
Same players, same alley.
“Wow, so brave,” I said, pressing a hand to my cheek in a display of admiration so exaggerated no one could miss the mockery in it.
“Seven against poor little me, and now you’re shaking in your boots.
So here’s the deal.
Mole fights me.
One on one, nobody interferes.” I gave the boys a moment to take that in.
Slowly, faint smiles spread across their faces.
Good, keep going.
“I win, you leave me alone for good.
Break the deal, and these guys hunt you down one by one and turn you into mincemeat.
He wins, you just walk away.
Deal?”
“Come on, Cat, wipe the floor with him.”
“Yeah, kick that bastard’s ass.”
But the leader wasn’t in any hurry to step forward.
Smart little bastard—he understood I probably wasn’t just being overconfident for nothing.
Fine, I’d help him along.
“What, scared to fight a little kid?”
Red blotches spread across his face.
He glared at me like the look alone could burn me to ash, then walked toward me slowly.
He’d clearly had some training—he didn’t just charge in, he took a moment to get a better grip on his metal rod first.
Word was his father was a pirate.
Maybe he’d taught the kid how to swing that thing properly, or at least how to think properly.
Not that it would change anything.
He closed in and brought the rod down in a chopping strike from above.
A whistle and cheering voices followed it—except I was already standing somewhere else.
The club sliced through the air just a few centimeters from me.
A step with a pivot of my hips, a plain kick to the knee, and the street kid buckled.
I caught the moment, grabbed his wrist, and started twisting his arm.
His fingers sprang open in surprise, and the rod dropped to the ground.
A fist swung for my face, but a kid’s punch was so slow, so weak.
I could hit hard enough that he’d never get up again.
Anger flared in me for a second, but I caught myself—I didn’t actually want to cripple him.
I jumped back and waited for him to get up.
The instant he was on his feet, a sudden shove to the chest sent Cat staggering sideways, scrambling to avoid the humiliation of falling into the trash scattered everywhere.
I kicked the rod away, sending it skidding into the far corner of the alley.
My opponent pretended everything was fine and came at me again to the jeers of his cronies.
He threw a kick at my stomach—probably sure it was fast.
Too bad for him, it wasn’t.
A step back and his boot simply fell short of my body.
Before he could pull his leg back, I wrapped both arms around it.
One yank, and Cat lost his balance and hit the ground again.
You could see it on his face—the sheer wrongness of the situation.
Him, king of the ordinary boys, losing to a kid younger than him, one who used to run from him every time.
He got up and lunged at me with his arms thrown wide, like he wanted a hug.
But his eyes said the opposite: he wanted to crush this arrogant upstart who’d dared challenge his status, grind him into the dirt.
Time to end this.
I could practically see the exact spot I needed to hit.
A straight punch to the jaw, and my enemy dropped like a felled tree.
His body nearly pinned me to the ground, but thankfully he wasn’t heavy enough for that.
Tough kid, though—he got back up.
This time I closed the distance myself.
A feint with a straight right, then a left hook toward his head.
Just as expected, he dodged.
I could practically see where his body was about to move, so all I had to do was put my arm in the way.
He dropped like a felled tree and didn’t get up again.
I looked over at the pack of boys.
They’d huddled in the far corner, staring at me with something close to superstitious dread.
No wonder—their magnificent leader had just been beaten by a boy several years younger.
A dangerous monster, some kind of beast, not a person at all.
“Remember our deal?”
They nodded frantically.
“Good.
Then get out of here, fast.”
They scattered like the wind had swept them away.
Finally, I’d be able to actually explore the city I lived in, instead of running into a fight every time I stepped outside.
“Thanks for the help, guys.”
“No problem.
What do we do with this one?”
One of the boys gave my opponent a light kick.
“Take him with us, dump him somewhere on the way.
Can you carry him?”
“Easy.”
Clearly, after everything that had just happened, I’d gone way up in their estimation.
Man, I wanted a bath and something to eat.
I wondered what COO-2180 was cooking tonight.
That cranky, foul-mouthed hunk of metal made incredible meat dishes.
Hopefully I’d make it back before the grown-ups picked the place clean.