Chapter 5 - Pushed Back

Rushing towards the water manipulator, I let out a series of fireballs to hurt him. Four fireballs to be exact. He doused them with water immediately to avoid being hit. He's pretty good. Now I was still aggressive and fired two more fireballs at him. I'm still new at this Manipulating stuff so that's pretty much I can do in terms of fire manipulating. The rest I have to leave to my hand to hand combat experience. Noire, had evaded most of my fireballs and countered with a water blast which pretty much almost nailed me. Good thing I have fast reflexes that  I have developed over the years. 

Noire was now countering every fireball I've shot at him, and now he was the on the attack. He was using the water from the pond as a weapon so he had enough source of the specific element to dispose of me with. I was not going to allow that so I sped up my movements in order to get closer to him. He sent water pulses towards my direction but immediately I vaporized it with my flames. We're pretty much in a stalemate here so I needed to do something unpredictable if I wanted to take this guy down.

"You're pretty good." I said as I landed on my feet. This guy was keeping up with me just fine.

"Not so bad yourself jackass." Noire told me as he began to catch his breath. 

"We're pretty much at a stalemate here dont'cha think?" I asked him.

"Not even close." Noire said as he began manipulating water yet again. He was doing the same thing by sending me water pulses with his skills. I evaded them again and countered with my own flame blast. He evaded my shot and I evaded his. 

"I told you this is a stale mate." I said to him again.

"And I'll tell you again. You're not even close." Noire had replied as his actions began to get weird and it was like he was pulling something.

I just stood there and watched him, but as soon as I was about to rush at him, I heard Lumina shout.

"Kidel behind you!!" 

I looked behind me and saw a huge piece of sharp ice going towards me. It was the water blast that I had evaded earlier. Noire had turned it into some bizarre ice homing missile. The projectile was heading towards me and yeah it hit me flush in the stomach and sent me flying towards the monument at the park square. 

"Kidel!!" I heard Lumina shout from a distance.

"Hmph. Amateur." Noire had said.

I got up and reorganized myself in order to fight again. I wasn't bleeding or anything, but I sure as hell wanted some payback for that cheap blow. I saw Noire now getting nearer to me and he blasted me this time with Ice crystals. Now I know something which hurt more than those spiky whips. It was these f*****g icicles and I began to get irritated as I set my hands on fire. I smashed all of the icicles with my flame lit hands and I saw the reaction on Noire's face when I did it. He was shocked like it was the 4th of July. He let out another barrage of Ice spikes but I disappeared in front of him.

"What the?!" I heard Noire said as I reappeared in front of him and punched his face with my flaming hands. This sent him flying towards where Lumina is which is near the park bench. I sped up towards him and caught up in him before he landed. I gave him another punch this time to his body and followed it up with another punch to his face and he fell to the ground. The ground beneath him cracked with the impact of my fist. He was still down from my punches so I took advantage of the situation and stood over his body. I saw Noire's face and it was bleeding really bad. His nose had blood seeping out of it and he had bruises under his right eye. The area under his eye was burned and cut due to my flaming fist. He was still conscious but he was badly hurt. I stood over his body and immediately I gave multiple punches to his face and body and where ever it could hit. My hands were still flaming with the azure fire powers I had and each punch gave me a satisfying feeling. I f*****g hated the guy and yeah I beat the crap out of him. No one messes with the Crimson Eyed Demon of the Silver Shadows.

I was through punching him in and I lifted his body by the collar of his shirt. He was hardly recognizable after the beatdown i gave the f****r. I guess I never knew how to hold back, the kid was still an amateur after all when it comes to gang violence. He'd never heard of me, the Crimson Eyed Demon of the Silver Shadows. His face was full of blood as I set my hands on fire again. I controlled the flame in order not to burn Noire to a crisp. 

"U-u-ugh..." he groaned out as he was trying to get out of my grip but he was to weak to do anything. 

"I told you I was born ready." I said as I smiled in a sinister way. I was still lifting his body up when I had the urge to burn the guy to a f*****g crisp. I dropped his body on the floor. He was barely moving due to his wounds and to be honest, no one has ever survived an encounter with me. I put a foot on his face as I lit my hands with flame again. 

"F**k you....a*****e..." Noire had struggled to say.

"Prick's like you irritate the s**t out of me." I replied as I began to heat up my hands more. 

"Ever heard of toasted human?" I said to him as I attempted to burn his body with my Azure flames. Something stopped me though as I saw someone from afar. She looked frightened and petrified. It was Lumina, she had been looking at me the whole time as I beat the crap out of Noire. It was obvious that she was not used to seeing me like a demon fighting and giving a beatdown on someone. I stopped everything that I was doing and just saw her there staring at me. Those blue eyes of hers that had the power to make me do anything including stop beating the crap out of Noire. I put away my foot from his face. Noire was now attempting to escape as he got up to his feet which was not easy for him. 

"Crap... You'll be hearing from The Dragon Clan soon f****r!!!" He shouted at me as he limped away to safety. The insignia that I saw on his arm was the symbol of the gang The Dragon Clan. He was a member of it. From history, The Dragon Clan were not really in good terms with my gang the Silver Shadows because we were the ones who drove them out of their main territory which was under the Callahan Bridge North. They were forced to move out and now from what I heard, they were taking control of the Southern end of the Callahan bridge. I had a hunch that there would be a challenge for a Gang Kai soon.

I turned around and Lumina was still looking at me. The flames on my hands had disappeared but not the blood on my face. It wasn't my blood. It was Noire's. The blood must've splattered on my face when I was punching him on the ground. I looked away from her and onto the ground in where I beat the crap out of Noire. The ground had collapsed as there was a small crater on the pavement.

"I know what you're going to say." I blurted out. "And you'll be probably right. I'm scum Lumina, I can't change that." I told her coldly

"I never knew that you would actually almost kill him." Lumina had said to me bluntly.

Damn, it was my lust for blood that was going to cost me this friendship. Why do I even care? She's just a girl whom I suddenly remembered that I went to school with. The kid I hung out with when I was still in school and eventually forgot.

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Lumina POV

I had looked at him while fighting and now after he had beat up Noire. I didn't like Noire sure but Kidel had taken it too far. I saw everything. How he beat up Noire to a pulp without even holding back. I had heard everything he said to Noire that he was going to kill him. Surprisingly, he let him go. Maybe because there was someone here in his fight and he did not want a witness if ever he killed Noire. He had not replied to what I said as he was just looking at the ground at where he kept on punching Noire as he lost consciousness. 

"The world doesn't see it my way." I heard Kidel blurt out. What did he mean his way?

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"People like you have no idea what the f**k I've been through. You live in the norms of society, go to school and eventually get a job and have a life." he continued.

He's comparing me to conventional people? The nerve that this guy has got. Sure I get good grades to please my dad but that's my gratitude to him and the least I can do for letting me actually go to school. Norms? Last time I heard I was the one who wasn't even part of the norm. My school friends always tell me that. They even dubbed me Lumina the flow breaker and now this guy as the nerve to call me conventional? I felt my blood heat up as I heard him say that. I got hurt when he said those things. I've expected this to come from a stranger, but not from him, an old friend whom I just met again after 3 long years.

"You think I'm part of a norm?! You think you know everything about me?! YOU don't know what I've been through! The hell with you!" I told Kidel as I slapped him in the face. 

"You're not a f*****g genius Kidel. You don't know everything about me and you sure as hell not the brightest boy in the block! You're just a coward living the grandeur of a gang banger! You're afraid of facing the real world out there that's why you ran away from life itself! You're a f*****g idiot Kidel, A F*****G IDIOT!" I shouted at him as I walked away from him.

"B***h... What do you know?!!" I heard him speak.

I turned around and looked at him. His blood red eyes that shone that day. His spiked blonde hair which rose on one side. He had a fierce look on his eyes. His eyes, which had the power to take away even the slightest bit of anger from me. My anger was replaced by pity of him. Why did he have to turn out like this? I saw now anger in his eyes. Blue flames immediately surrounded him. I could not move from where I was standing because I was actually scared that he would burn me to death. 

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Kidel POV

I was so angry at what she said to me that I failed to notice that I was already manipulating flames around me. She called me a coward and an idiot. That was two things that stung me in the heart. I felt like I got kicked in the nads when she had said that to me. I'm no coward and I certainly do not run away from anything ever. Blue fire surrounded me and she was just standing there. I really felt the urge to blast and burn her to death with my fire.

But I didn't. Instead, I blasted the monument present in the park and it disintegrated into bits. I had calmed down after that and saw Lumina sat down on the ground. Tears fell from her eyes for no reason but I didn't give a f**k. I turned my back on her for a while and thought about what I was going to say. I sure as hell won't apologize to her after everything she had said to me. But she did have a point, It was like I ran away from life when I joined a gang and became one of its elite members. I had my reasons so that's that.

"Maybe you're right, but that doesn't give you the right to f*****g judge me." I told her.

"You judged me too." Lumina had replied. There were still tears rolling down her eyes. She stood up and turned her back on me. I saw her went near her grocery cart and she pushed it and went out of the park. I was left alone in the park after everything that had happen. Maybe I was wrong about her. Maybe she wasn't one of those conventional people that I hated. Maybe I just let my indoctrinated views clog my mind to see that there was more to her than her being an average girl. Why the f**k do I care about what she thinks of me? I'm not usually like this with other people. Why of all people her? Why do I suddenly feel the urge to run after her and apologize? My head is f*****g messing with the way I think right now. 

After a few moments I had made a decision that I thought was for the best. I was not going to go after her. I have a life apart from the conventional one and I needed to go back to the den already. The things she had told me weighed more than my urge to apologize to her. For the first time in my life, I was actually hurt not physically but by words. Her words echoed in my head like razor sharp blades trying to cut my head off.

"You're just a coward living the grandeur of a gang banger! You're afraid of facing the real world out there that's why you ran away from life itself!"

To hell with her. I don't care what anyone thinks about me so why should I be hurt with those words?

Hours later I had already arrived at the edge of St. Marks just at the spot where the train station was located. I went in and snuck on to the back of the train for I had no cash whatsoever to get back to the central square. I was not seen by the guards and I got in the train safely. The ride was long and tiring but eventually I got off at the central square station. I got down the stairs of the station and made my way onto the central square and I saw the familiar place that I met Lumina. The fountain. I stood there for a while and looked at the fountain. I actually felt guilty about the things I said to her back in the park, but it was already too late. I just shrugged the guilt off and made my way back to the Silver Shadows gang den. It was a 30 minute walk from the central square station to the Silver Shadow headquarters so I arrived there in no time. I saw a familiar site which was the abandoned warehouse which housed Callahan city's most feared gang, the Silver Shadows. I went inside and I'll probably drench myself in the alcohol stored there to keep my mind off of what happened in the park.

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Lumina POV.

I made my way towards my house while pushing the cart of groceries on my own. I had walked out on Kidel's presence due to our fight in the Grand State park. He was a jerk, but I have to admit, I wasn't some sort of a princess either. I was at fault too because of what I said to him. I said those things out of anger but it doesn't mean that I didn't want to hurt him either. I just wanted him to see that there was more to life than just fighting. Then why do I still feel guilty? Why do I have the urge to call him on his cellphone and apologize to him? Maybe I did hurt him in a way. My childhood friend whom I just met again after 3 long years. It's true that he had changed, but bits and pieces of his old self still remained in him. 

I had arrived at my house and opened the door. I checked my phone and it was already 2:30 in the afternoon. I pushed the cart into my house and closed the door and locked it. I set aside the groceries in the kitchen and made my way towards my room. My dad was not home yet so I had the house to myself. I sat down on my bed and eventually i lied down. I was tired from pushing the groceries alone and I sure could've used Kidel's help if we did not have that fight. My phone was still in my pocket so I set it aside on the computer table and I took off my shoes and socks and lay down on my bed again. I still feel guilty about what I had said to him and I had the urge to apologize to him. Maybe I should call him and say sorry. He did leave his contact number on my phone. I grabbed my phone from the computer table and began to look for his number. I found his number and tried to call it. It rang three times until his answering machine in his phone answered it.

"Whoever this is just leave a message after the beep, I'm probably beating up someone right now *BEEP*"  Kidel's answering machine had said.

"Look Kidel, I'm sorry for what i said earlier. I hope that you would forgive me okay? Please call me back when you get this message." I had said as I hung up from his answering machine.

I just hope that he forgives me, because I hate being pushed back like this.