"Remember, Kurt... A fight is like a dance. You have two positions, you either follow or you lead!"

"Y- Yes, mother!"

"Once the fight starts, you need to make sure you are always in control of the situation, and should you ever lose control, do everything you can to recover it as fast as possible!"

"Yes, mother."

"Your enemy will do everything they can to have you dancing in the palm of their hand. Don't give them that chance! Never be the prey! Always be the predator!!"

"Yes, mother..."

"Do you understand?"

"I... I think so..."

"Good! Now! Raise your arms and let's go one more time! Try to hit me with everything you can!"

"O- Okay... Here I go-"

"No, you idiot!! Didn't you just hear what I said?? If you just do exactly what I tell you to do you will be my easy prey!! Don't give me that advantage! Don't give me any advantage! Never allow me to know what you want to do!!"

"Then... What should I do??"

"Surprise me!!"

_________________

_________________

The memories of his training under the guidance of his mother flashed briefly inside his mind.

Ever since the incidents where dangerous dragons would try to attack him out of nowhere when he was a kid, lady Sabiri has been teaching her boy the art of self-defense through combat.

Kurt spent many days and nights learning how to harness the true strength of the dragon inside o him, and now, it was finally time to put all those lessons to use.

"Let Dorothy go..." he ordered while standing tall over the two boys that were knocked out at his feet.

The lad with muscular arms and shaved head began to smile at him, "And if I don't want to?"

Not even a second after he said that, a fist came flying right at him and punched his face and sent him flying backwards with a bleeding nose dirtying the floor with red spots.

"AAArghhhh!!! My Nose!! You miserable son of a-"

Kurt simply ignored his screams and began to inspect his owl's body to see if she was okay.

[I'm so sorry, Dory... I'm never gonna let anything happen to you again. I promise!]

'Oh... Thanks? Kinda wished you would have felt that way a little earlier but, better late than never I guess?' the bird whispered while rubbing her wings to ease the pain of her feathers getting pulled.

Kurt started to analyse the situation. Two kids knocked out, one injured but still awake, one other kid standing in front of the exit, and three slightly older boys surrounding him.

'You just had to let these guys drag you with them... Didn't you?'

[Sorry, I was reckless...]

'That's okay... Let's just get this over with and get out of here!'

The shave-hair boy finally stood up again and began to glare daggers at Kurt, "You really did it now... I was just going to play with you a bit... But now, I'm really gonna mess you up inside out!!"

"Play? You call tormenting my owl just playing?" Kurt groaned, feeling a little insulted that the boy had the nerve to be upset considering he was the one that called him out and antagonized him.

Kurt rushed at him with his fist raised to deliver another strike, but his attack was blocked by one of the older boys who jumped in front of him and stopped it with his palms.

"Move!!" Kurt ordered while grabbing the boy stopping him and launching him to the side.

But the moment he turned around, a second person appeared and delivered a kick on his back.

"Gaaahh!!"

He lost a little bit of balance and almost fell on the floor, but managed to stomp with his left leg in time to stop his fall.

The boy that kicked him tried to attack one more time, but Kurt managed to evade it by spinning around and retaliating with an uppercut to his jaw.

The shaved-head boy and his final ally began to rush at the same time and forced Kurt away with a double shoulder blow to his stomach.

Once again, he almost fell but managed to get himself back and rushed back at them to shove his fists on each of them.

"Kuuuhh!!"

"Guaaahhh!!!"

The two of them fell on the floor and began to look at him with shock.

"Hey, what the hell is this...?" the shaved boy asked, "Even if you are strong, how in the world can you keep moving like this after getting so many wounds??"

Kurt was about to copy his favorite moment from the comics and movies he used to watch, the scene where the protagonist starts to explain what his secret to taking down the bad guys was. But before he could the worlds of his mother echoed for a moment, reminding him to never give your opponent any advantage.

"Who knows... Figure it out after I put you to sleep..." Kurt replied while rushing at the shaved boy and striking his mouth with a blow from his knee.

"Kughhhhrggh!! Why is it always the faceeee!!??" the boy cried while dropping on the ground again.

The other three began to stand up and rush after Kurt, but instead of feeling intimidated, the emperor's son found himself rather relaxed.

[God, mother was so much faster than these guys... Could it be that they are just really slow...?]

'Or maybe your mother is just too fast...' Dorothy wondered.

Kurt began to run in the same direction as the boys and right before colliding with them, started to slide down below their legs, quickly standing up again, and delivering three quick punches to each of their faces as they started to turn around to look at him.

And while they found themselves disoriented by the attacks, he took this chance to deliver even more strikes on every single one of their weak spots, the same ones his mother would often go for whenever they spared together.

Before they could do anything, it was already over. The three boys were now completely out cold, leaving only the shaved boy left.

[These guys were just amateurs... I almost feel bad now...]

'Oh! Do you now???' Dorothy asked while raising her wings and showing the damage they had done to her.

[Ah... You're right... Even if they're just idiots being idiots, these guys went too far...]

Kurt turned his attention to the shaved kid who couldn't stop looking at all of his friends passed out on the ground like kids taking a nap.

"You can't be serious... What the hell are you???"

Kurt widened his eyes for a moment at hearing that question, "You don't know?? Then why were you guys after me??"

"Ugh..." the boy's face began to turn blue.

"You better start talking, or I'm going to vent all my frustration on you!! Hurry! Tell me who put you guys up to this!!"

"Bite me! I ain't telling you anything!!"

"Oh...? Is that so? Fine by me then..."

Kurt began to approach the boy who in response began to give a few steps backwards while shaking his whole body.

"I was just wondering by the way... How many times have you done this?" Kurt asked while starting to hold a cold smile.

"W- What?"

"This whole act... Grabbing kids out of nowhere, ambushing them with your pack of friends, and scaring or injuring them just for funsies... Do you guys do this a lot? How many kids have you harmed so far? How many people did you send home crying? How many poor animals did you torment just because of your sadistic fetish??"

"Stay back!! S- Stay back!!!"

"You are a bad boy..." Kurt whispered while grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, "And bad boys need to be disciplined!"

Kurt then closed his fist one more time and shoved it into the boy's stomach, making him throw up in the process.

"Guaahhhh!!!"

"You wanted to know my secret? Well, here you go!"

He delivered another punch, and for some reason, the amount of pain the boy suffered felt rather fresh.

"Kuuaaaghh!! Huh!?? What the??"

He then finally realized it, the place Kurt was attacking, there wasn't a single scratch in it.

"What in the world??? Is this some kind of illusion??"

"Not illusion" Kurt corrected while closing his fist again, "Healing!"

The boy watched as he took another blow, and finally, he understood. Kurt's punches were severely injuring him, and them immediately healing his wounds as if nothing had happened.

"Ah!! Ahh!! Your... Your talent... You can heal!!??"

"Bingo!!" Kurt admitted while striking him again, "Which means, I can just keep beating the hell out of you and you will never pass out or go numb. I can just keep this up until I get bored... Or... Until you tell me what I want to know!"

"N- No, please, please stop!! I'm sorry!! I'm sorry!! I won't do this again!! I promise!!"

"Good for you, man! Now that's some nice character development right there!" Kurt laughed while punching him one more time.

"Kuaaahhhh!!!"

"Now tell me something that I actually want to hear! Who. Sent. You!!??"

"I can't say!!! We were just told to piss you off!! That's all!! Please, just let me go!! Pleaseee!!!" the boy cried while trying to hide his stomach with both hands.

"After all you did to me?? You think I-"

'That's enough, Kurt' Dorothy whispered while giving him a gentle peck.

[What!!?? But- But Dory!! Your wings!]

'The only reason we came here is because you wanted to play their dumb game. You are as much to blame as he and this batch of bullies...'

[I- I... Ugh...]

'Let him go, Kurt... I don't want to see my little boy turn into a bully as well...'

[Arghh... Fine...] Kurt groaned reluctantly while dropping the kid on the ground.

He began to observe his surroundings and noticed that all the kids in the area were slowly standing while staring with horror at him.

[They're afraid of me?? Just because I fought back?? After all they did??]

'They're dumb kids being dumb kids, Kurt... They don't know what real pain is like until they feel it themselves...'

[This is so stupid...]

'Yeah... People can be pretty stupid when they want to... Now, let's get out of here. Lunch break is probably over by now. You don't wanna be late for your next class.'

Kurt delivered one final glare to each of the kids that tried to ambush him as if daring them to try that again anytime soon. After making sure they had no intention of messing with him again, he finally left and began to heal some of the wounds on Dorothy.

[What a way to start my school year...] he mumbled.

Dorothy then took a small peak at the exit he had just passed and began to lose herself in thoughts.

[Something wrong?]

'Wasn't there one last kid guarding the exit? I think he kinda vanished in the middle of the fight...'

[Was there...? I don't know... These guys all look the same to me...]

'Mmmm... I wonder...'