“What’s all this shit?” came a loud, obnoxious voice from the doorway. “We haven a friggin’ power ootage or somethin’?”
“Huh. Power out,” came the echo.
He didn’t even have to turn around this time to know who was there. He fought back the Black Womb, but actually had to remind himself why he didn’t want to sick it on the duo that had entered. They were the only two people in the world who could annoy him that much that quickly, and he caught himself thinking that if Tommy and Sud were the ones on death row, he wouldn’t have wasted a second thought on letting them fry.
“Hey Xand,” Tommy said, his voice slightly mocking as he pulled up a chair next to Xander. “Geez, all this for that bitch, huh?”
“Bitch,” Sud repeated, grinning at the use of the curse.
Xander’s shoulders twitched into a knot as he fought the blackness, turning to be parallel with Tommy. Despite all instincts, he choked the Womb back. He wanted to do this himself. “Tom, you just picked the worst possible opening line...” he said, even as he cracked the knuckles on each of his fists.
“What’s the matter with you? Were you puttin’ it to that one, too?” Tommy snickered, running his fingers through the bangs of his spiked hair to make sure it stuck out properly. The spikes made the already tall boy somehow seem even larger. As Xander’s nostrils flared, he could smell the odor of the cheap gel and dandruff.
Xander turned over the table Tommy sat at, sending a glass flying. Before either of the crude punks could move, he rushed his hands out and grabbed Tommy’s shirt collar.
“What the hell?” Tommy screamed at Xander, pressing both his palms against Xander’s face and forcing him off, scrambling to his feet as Sud backed up a pace or two in shock. “What the fuck is the matter with you?” he spat angrily as he quickly fixed his collar, although it still stuck off. “The way that bitch touch you remind you of your mommy, or what?”
That was it. Even though Xander still wouldn’t let Black Womb out, it still pumped adrenaline furiously throughout his system, strengthening his muscles. He grabbed Tommy by the shirt and pulled him toward the door at the far side of the Factory, the boy’s feet literally dragging at one point while he regained his balance.
“Jesus fuck, Drew. Piss off, ya Goddam techno freak.”
He pulled Tommy out in front of himself and gave him a shove, sending him into the door with such force that it cracked the knob. He kept going until his back connected with the brick wall across from the door, his head slamming back hard. He hissed sharply as he got to his feet, Xander and Sud not far behind.
Xander drew back and punched Tommy square in the nose. Hard.
Tommy twisted as he fell again, slamming into an old metal garbage can with a loud crash. Blood gushed from his nose when he got up, his eyes burning.
“Get ‘em,” Sud shouted as he stood off to one side, his feet dancing back and forth nervously as he watched the fight.
Tommy put up both of his fists, clenching his jaw tightly as blood ran down it in two trails. He never took his eyes off of Xander for a second as the two men circled each other in the cramped alleyway.
Xander put up his own fists as well, feeling four tiny pricks in each palm as his claws tried to poke their way out, eager to join in the fray.
“You’ve had this comin’ a long time.” Tommy grunted, his voice devoid of the usual wit and whimsy it carried.
“I was about to say the -”
Tommy lunged forward, his fist outstretched. Had it connected, it would’ve hurt something incredible for a guy of Tommy’s size.
If it had connected.
Xander dodged to the left, turning his body to the side and giving him a much thinner target to hit. Tommy fell to the ground and kissed pavement, breaking the blood vessels in both his kneecaps and bringing more speed to the blood from his nose that covered the lower half of his face now. Xander reached out and grabbed Tommy by the collar of his denim shirt, pulling the arrogant child back to his feet. He turned and lunged out again, this time grabbing Xander by the throat and pressing his thumb against his Adam’s apple.
Xander’s eyes went wide as he felt the thyroid cartilage in his neck be forced in, gagging back vomit.
With one hand holding Xander and one hand free, Tommy jerked back his fist again and jutted it forward. It connected this time, mashing in the features of Xander’s face. He drew back again, slamming Xander’s torso and causing ripples of flesh at his side as he tried to squirm away from it.
His right side.
The vibrations agitated the true womb organ, once again sending blackness to Xander’s eyes.
How is he this fast?
Xander fought the rising blackness with everything he had, concentrating more on it than the person who had him gripped by the neck.
Tommy let go of Xander’s throat, bringing his arm around and slamming it into the back of Xander’s head where his neck met his spine. A drop of blood dripped from Xander’s nose and hit the ground. It was a deep black, though neither Tommy nor Sud noticed.
Xander filled with horror as he felt his control slip away as though it had been covered in soap. His pupils had grown wide and he got up as fast as lightning.
Tommy lunged at him again with both fists cupped together, his teeth ground together angrily.
Xander dodged to the left, then to the right when he lunged again.
“Rrrrah!” Tommy grunted,
