The male Goblin took a step back, though not out of conscious intent. It was a reflex born from something deeper, primal maybe.
It came from the sudden shift in the air around Kaiden that pressed against his instincts, warning him of danger his mind had yet to fully grasp.
I'll give him credit for that much. His senses weren't completely dull.
Unfortunately for him, that flicker of awareness wasn't nearly enough to save him.
"So here's how it's going to go," I said, taking a slow, measured step forward.
He responded in kind, retreating a step, his confidence leaking through invisible cracks.
A smile crept onto my face, one that felt entirely too natural in the moment.
"I am going to touch you. And I am going to touch her." I pointed at the female Goblin, who still stood there, clinging to whatever fragile sense of security she believed she had. "I am going to touch you very badly, and trust me when I say it will hurt like a bitch. And you? Once am done with you, you are going to run out of here to rally your crew. And then I am going to touch them too. Every single one of them, I will touch them like I never before have."
I spoke with certainty, like I was reading from a script already written by fate itself.
Truth was, I didn't need foresight to know how this would unfold. Creatures like him followed a very predictable pattern. Pathetic.
"So," I added, tilting my head slightly, "what do you say? Are we cool with that agreement?"
The veins along the male Goblin's neck twitched violently, his expression twisting into raw disgust. His fists clenched so tightly I half-expected his knuckles to crack.
"You! You psychotic!" he screamed, charging at me with reckless abandon.
Ah. There it was. Right on cue.
I didn't move much. I didn't need to. A simple swing of my arm was all it took.
My fist met his face before he could even take two full steps.
A clean hit. A satisfying hit i will tell ya.
His nose crumpled instantly under the force, the sound sharp and final.
"Nice."
The word slipped out without effort.
His body reacted slower than the impact itself. For a brief second, he stood there, frozen between action and consequence. Then his eyes rolled back, and his body collapsed.
Head first. The rest followed like a puppet with its strings cut.
I stared down at him. "Seriously… way too easy."
Calling it a fight would've been an insult to actual fights.
Still, I wasn't finished. Not even close.
"Hey! What happened to you? Why did you just pass out on the floor? HEYyyyyy!"
The female Goblin's voice pierced through the air, high-pitched and frantic.
"Pipe down," I said flatly. "It'll be your turn soon enough. Don't rush it."
I stepped past her, my attention settling back on the unconscious male Goblin.
He lay there, motionless, as if passing out had somehow exempted him from what was coming next.
That was… adorable.
Really. Did he think this was over?
Punishment. That was the word that first came to mind.
But no… no, that didn't quite fit, did it?
Punishment sounded crude. Brutish.
What was I, some random thug throwing hands without purpose?
No. I was better than that. I should be better than that.
This wasn't punishment. I refuse to see it as such.
This was... education.
Yes. That about sounds right.
I wasn't hurting him. I was teaching him.
A valuable lesson on why being a bully tends to end badly.
Education. Sounds much better and pleasing to the ears. More importantly, it sounds less threatening.
"Alright," I exclaimed, crouching slightly. "Class isn't over yet."
I bounced lightly onto his torso, pinning him down with Kaiden's significantly heavier frame. Then, without ceremony, I raised my hand and brought it down in a sharp, echoing slap.
Perfect.
His body jerked violently as consciousness snapped back into place.
Confusion. Pain. Panic. It all rushed in on him at once.
Before he could react, he realized he couldn't move. My weight pressed into him, anchoring him to the ground.
From there, things became… one-sided. So very one-sided.
My fists did most of the talking.
Each strike landed with purpose, each blow carrying the lesson he so desperately needed to learn.
Face. Jaw. Cheek. Repeat. Over and over.
Time blurred into a rhythm of impact and reaction.
Teeth didn't last long. They came loose under repeated strikes, scattering like broken pebbles across the floor. His resistance faded quickly, replaced by weak, twitching motions that meant nothing.
Whatever dignity and confidence he started with, by now I was sure they had long since left him.
By the time I stopped, his face had lost all structure worth recognizing, and the light in his eyes flickered like a dying ember.
Only then did I decide he'd had enough… for now.
I stood up, letting his body drop limply back to the ground.
"You're next."
I turned slowly, fixing my gaze on the female Goblin.
The look on her face shifted instantly.
Fear, ladies and gentlemen. Pure, undiluted fear is what her face greeted me with.
My smile didn't help to quench the fear she felt.
In fact, I reckon it only made things worse.
Her stomach churned audibly before she let out a piercing scream and bolted toward the exit.
Heh. No way. So not letting that happen. Not until I was done.
She barely made it two steps past me before I moved.
One moment she was running. The next, I was behind her.
My hand shot out, fingers spreading wide before closing firmly on her skull. Very tightly, I let my palm hold her from the center of the head.
Got you.
"Grit your teeth," I whispered coldly. "Because this is going to hurt like fuck."
She struggled immediately, her body thrashing as her feet left the ground, dangling helplessly just inches above it.
Light. Too light. It made what came next even easier.
I pulled her back, lifting her fully into the air with one hand. Her limbs flailed uselessly, panic overtaking any sense of coordination.
Still not enough. Not nearly enough to resist my strength that came from the natural Hobo-Goblin physique plus the addition strength increase caused by possession.
With a smooth motion, I swung her upward as I let her body arch over my head like a ragdoll caught in a storm.
Then I brought her down. Hard.
Her face met the ground with a sickening force, the impact echoing through the hut.
A perfectly timed brutal slam. Like swinging a slipper to kill a cockroach. In this case, swinging a bitch to mop the dirtied floor is more like it.
For a brief moment, I simply stood there, staring down at her crumpled form.
There was a strange… satisfaction in it.
A raw, unfiltered thrill that coiled somewhere deep within me. And it only got better from watching her helpless body on the floor.
…Wait. Hold on a second.
Doesn't it seem like I was beginning to enjoy it a little too much?! Yeah. I definitely was.
Not to mention the sweet sensation I derived from her helpless state, It doesn't sound of feel right. Felt more like a—
Nope. No. Absolutely not.
I straightened, shaking off the thought almost immediately.
"I'm not turning into some sadistic freak with pleasurable moments for other people's s suffering. Was I?" I articulated under my breath.
Definitely not. No way. I was perfectly fine. Perfectly normal. A completely reasonable, Norma guy I what I was.
"Yeah… exactly," I added, more firmly this time.
A small laugh escaped me, light and dismissive.
"Ha, ha, ha.". I let out a robotic forced crackle that frankly, is a means to stop me from coming to terms with the obviously reality?