Page 20 of Thunder

"You picked the wrong place to mess around, you fucking firebug."

In a blur of motion, I lunge at the man, my boots crunching gravel underfoot as I launch myself into the air and tackle the intruder to the ground.

We collide with a bone-shaking thud.

The man grunts as he hits the ground; the wind knocked out of him. But he's quick to recover, shoving me off, delivering a sharp elbow to my face and then scrambling to his feet.

I circle him, fists raised, heart eager, happy at the chance to let loose some steam.

The intruder throws a punch, which I dodge with ease. Then I counter with a series of quick jabs that send his head snapping backward and I follow up with a knee to the intruder's midsection that doubles him over, causing him to spit blood on the left leg of my nice pants.

"Fuck, I just bought these, you dick," I snarl as I hit him with an elbow to the back of the head. “And they were fucking expensive, too.”

He slumps to the ground, but he's only down for half a second; quickly, he rolls to the side, dodging the stomp that I had aimed for the back of his head, and rising to his feet.

"Fuck your pants," he says. "You're gonna regret this."

"The only regret I'll have is that I won’t be killing you. Whoever the fuck you are, I’m going to turn you over to the cops once I’m done beating your ass."

Fire in his eyes and a bloody, broken-toothed grin on his face, he charges.

A left hand hits me square in the jaw, but his follow-up hook misses.

I counter, landing a punch that stops him in his tracks. He spits blood and comes in again, fists raised.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you."

I snort. "Well, I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass."

The intruder reaches into his pocket. There's a flash of moonlight on steel as he holds up a large knife.

"We'll see about that."

I move in, fists raised, faking a left, then delivering a hard right as I blast the man's head with my fist. I can feel his teeth break under the impact and he staggers back, spitting blood.

"Next time, bring a gun."

I swing again, connecting with the man's ear and splitting it open. He staggers backward, blood now streaming down his face.

"I'm going to enjoy watching you die."

He feints and then slashes, the blade of the knife coming so close to my face I could pucker my lips and kiss it. If I did, it'd still only be the second-worst thing I've kissed in the last twenty-four hours.

"You're going to need a bigger knife, firebug."

My fists fly forward, faster than the man can move. His head snaps back again, his knees buckle, he hits the ground, landing hard. The intruder tries to rally, lunging at me with a desperate, wild thrust.

I dodge and he stabs the air behind me.

A swift kick sends him onto his back and the knife flying.

I leap on him, cock my fist back, and hammer it into his gaping, bloody mouth.

“Who sent you?" I snarl.

He laughs. "You don't get it, do you? You're messing with something you don't understand."

Another blow shuts him up.

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