Heroes to Hunted

Chapter 21 Agawa's Peril, Part Two

?"Ugh, looks like she's asleep," the heavy voice said.

My mind was paralyzed on how to respond. 'What do I do if they come in? Do I fight? Do I plead? No… I'll be fine.' After all, to them, I looked asleep, so they'd eventually lea-

"I can't believe you actually stole those! It kinda scares me what they'll do to us if they find out…"

"It'll be fine," the heavy voice replied, "we'll return the keys when we've had our fun…" following his joke, the two cackled with what I could only describe as sinister intent.

A resounding clack, followed by an ear-grating grinding, drowned out my thoughts. The squeaking from their leather boots was even more pronounced when they entered the cell.

"Awww, don't sleep too long," the heavy voice feigned distress. "Come on, missy. I and my bud just want to get to know you better," he finished with a devilish snicker.

My heart sank as I realized I was in the same room as the two men.

I couldn't see them with my head buried under the covers. But I didn't need sight to tell how wretched of creatures they were. Aside from their creepy demeanor, their smell was septic enough to rival a metropolitan sewer.

Soon, I felt a hand grope my body through the covers.

That was it. I wouldn't hide anymore, and you could definitely forget talking! I decided to beat these perverts into submission and then some. I was a black belt, so some degenerates would be no problem!

Without warning, I threw the covers from myself and over the face of the groper.

"Wha-" he took a step back in shock and struggled to remove the blanket that was now veiling his vision.

The opportunity was there, so I struck the center of his face with my free leg.

He recoiled from the force, crashing into the cell bars.

I finally put faces to the voices of the filth that had the nerve to try touching me. They were caked in soot and grime, with hair so greasy a spark could set it aflame.

Fitting the heavy voice of the one I kicked down was an even heavier-set man. His head was balding, and he wore a soiled white shirt with beige trousers. The other seemed reminiscent of a rodent.

He had a small nose, a jutting jaw, and a dirty goatee. Jarringly, he also seemed to be wearing some kind of leather armor.

Despite being better equipped than the large one, I could tell he was the type to take orders, not give them.

The bearded one heckled while the other recovered. "Woah, she really knocked you on your ass!" he laughed hysterically.

The heavy one carried on and tore the blanket from his head, revealing a bloodied nose that oozed a thick stream of blood.

He glared at me through the cracks of his fingers while wiping his face.

"Tch, fine," he approached, "if you want it that way, I guess I won't play nice either."

I was clearly the faster one of the two of us.

I evaded a wide-net grapple he launched. Then, slammed my leg into the ground, propelling myself toward him. Finally, I took hold of his neck with both arms and threw him off balance.

He yelped out in pain as his body crashed to the floor. With the larger, more dangerous one writhing in agony, any semblance of fear I had was replaced by a glowing optimism.

The bearded one shouted at me in rage. "You bitch!" He slipped out a roughly stained dagger and angled its tip at me.

He was ready for his turn to get beaten down.

After taking down that ogre of a man, I felt like I could defeat anyone! I was especially optimistic about the bearded one. His body was flimsy and akin to a dried twig; it looked ready to snap with the mildest pressure.

I flung myself, this time in his direction. He panicked and put his guard up, but it was too late.

'I've got him!' But that confidence was replaced with confusion when a familiar clang of rusted metal reverberated through my leg.

I stopped mid-air, inches away from striking my opponent.

Time seemed to slow as the distance shortened between myself and the ground. The realization hit me harder than either of these thugs ever could.

'The shackle on my ankle… it's still there.'

All the momentum I had built up turned against me in the blink of an eye.

Upon slamming into the ground, my breaths were limited to brief, raspy wheezing. Luckily, I avoided hitting my head; that would have been my end.

"H-Heh, you're pretty good." The heavy one stumbled back onto his feet.

"Sadly for you, your luck just ran out, girlie," his mouth formed a smug smirk of victory. "We could've been nice to you, you know?"

With me incapacitated, there was no barrier between them and their goal.

In a last-ditch effort to preserve my honor, I fought with every tool I had. Kicking, punching, clawing, biting, screaming, I did everything I could to defend myself.

"No! No! Get your filthy hands off me! Y-You b-bastards! Let. Me. Go!"

Everything I had left was poured into defense. As you might've guessed, it was far from good enough.

They overpowered me and pinned my limbs to the ground. With me immobilized, the larger one tore at what little clothing I had until I'd been entirely bare.

My pleas only seemed to stimulate them more as their expressions became sadistic.

The bearded one mocked me with a grin. "You can scream all you want, girl. Nobody is coming to save you!"

I threw my pride away as I resorted to begging. "NO! PLEASE!" I cried, clinging to the hope that these men had even an inkling of morality within their hearts.

They only cackled back with cruel smiles.

"Would you shut up? You're really killing the mood..." The heavy one whined, reaching for my breasts.

The touch of his filthy hands removed any inhibition; I needed to be saved. "PLEASE! SOMEBODY! PLEASE HELP! My appeal wasn't calling for anyone in particular. I just wanted to be spared from this fate.

"I said shut up!" the heavy one growled again.

Every bit of resistance left in my body started to die out. "A-ANYONE! P-PLEASE!" My voice was all I had left; the rest of my body went limp from hopelessness.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" the heavy one struck me across my temple with a wave of his fist.

My head pounding, I could feel my vision fading to black. 'Maybe it's for the best,' I teared up. 'At least I won't be conscious for it…'

The heavy one relaxed his shoulders. "There see… Now was that so hard?"

"Heh," the bearded one closed in, "looks like she's losing the fight in her."

Complete despair took over my body as I resigned myself to the torment.

That's when his face appeared. I'm unsure why I thought of him, but I somehow felt it would work this time.

At first, I didn't think to call for anyone in particular. However, now I was calling for you.

"P-Please, Sato…"

Once again, there was no response.

The tears I held back gushed from my eyes now that I'd realized I was utterly alone. That I had nobody to count on to help me.

What other choice did I have but to give up? I fought; it wasn't enough. I screamed; nobody came. Now I was about to lose something precious to some disease-ridden monsters.

Until they stopped.

"Huh, hey, do you hear that?" the bearded one turned towards the door.

I'm not surprised I missed it. My heartbeat thrashed against my chest with such ferocity that all other noise was drowned out. But after he mentioned it, I heard it too: the patter of frantic footsteps.

They grew closer with every moment that passed.

"Ugh, what the hell? They better have a good reason for interrupting me!" The heavy-set man turned toward the cell door when it blew open.

Dashing in was a man I'd lost faith in. A man I thought abandoned me now stood with a furious expression. Even with my blurred vision, I recognized his face.

My eyes stung as I allowed myself to feel hope again.

'I can't believe you…just when I lost hope, you do this….' I closed my eyes to cut off my tears. 'You really are an idiot. You're an idiot and….'

"Thank you."