Everything had been going so well up until now. She had saved a several citizens from terrible fates at the hands of the bandits. She was almost done beating them all.
Now, here she stood, staring down a bandit with a crossbow aimed at her. She was so close. Is this where it would end?
"Hands up, you stinking piece of garbage," he growled.
She reluctantly complied. "You don't want to do this."
"Shut up, garbage!" he barked. "I don't know who you are, but apparently you're pretty tough." He gave her a sick smile. "Ain't bad on the eyes, either. Not letting that body go to waste. You'll still be good for a few minutes after you're dead."
She realized he was going to shoot her anyway. It was all or nothing. The fate of an entire village rested on her shoulders. She could let herself be killed here. She had to close the gap and give him the beating of his life. She dashed toward him.
He took the shot.
Trying to shatter it with the Burst Fist would be too risky. It was going too fast and there wasn't enough time to get set, generate the necessary energy, then throw the punch. It would end with an arrow through her arm...if she was lucky. No, she had to, "Duck." She forced herself into a crouching run.
She watched the arrow pass safely over her head. Then, she hurried in before he could reload and gave him a beating he would never forget. After tying him up, she headed for the Village Hall, where the bandit leader was holed up. She needed to use caution, though. There was still another crossbowman out there somewhere.
Eventually, she did make it to the Village Hall. She was about to walk up and punch down the door, but the door opened. She scampered behind the nearest building and observed.
Out came a man with a crossbow, looking confused. "Is someone out here?"
"What's going on?" a coarse voice asked from inside.
"I thought I heard someone creeping around out here," the crossbowman answered.
"Find whoever it is, but don't kill 'em," the voice inside ordered. "Bring 'em to me so I can kill 'em. Stupid villagers are gonna learn not to defy us."
Suddenly, a scream came from the distance and pierced her ears. It was male. One of the villagers must have been torturing one of the bandits.
The crossbowman set off running in the direction of the scream. If he saw any villagers roaming free, it wouldn't be good. She used the alleyway between buildings to follow him and stay out of sight.
It wasn't long before she heard him say, "Not sure how you managed to pull this off, but the boss is gonna have fun with you."
Xiang peered around the corner and saw him pointing his crossbow at someone she couldn't see yet. She hurried back around the building, came out from behind him, and sent him flying with a Burst Fist. With him out of the way, she saw the first woman she saved and a group of kids with sticks, clubs, and rocks had surrounded one of the bandits. He was naked, badly beaten, and looking quite scared. She wouldn't stop them. This was their justice. "As you were." She turned away to the sound of the bandit's screams and pleas for mercy.
She saw the bandit leader run back into the Village Hall and close the door. He must have known there was a beating in his future. He was probably barricading the right now. She headed toward the building, but did not punch down the door, for as easy as it would have been. He was expecting her and would probably have an ambush set up.
She walked around and looked through a window to see him standing on the other side of the door, sword raised over his head and laughing maniacally. Unfortunately for him, she would be the one getting the drop on him. She climbed through the window, snuck up behind him, kicked him down, then wrestled his sword away and threw it aside. She could see the fear in his eyes as he looked up at her. "What's the matter? Things didn't go as you planned?"
"Please, let us go," he begged. "We won't do it no more."
She shook her head. "I'm not the one who's going to decide your fate." She opened the door, where they could see the mob still beating the bandit. The group had gotten noticeably bigger, roughly three times the size it was before. Apparently, some citizens gathered some courage and decided to join in. There were even a few men in the group. She dragged him out by the hair kicking and screaming. "Hey, everybody! Look who it is!"
Everyone looked their way. "Look! She got him!"
"No!" the bandit leader screamed. He jerked his head, ripping out his own hair to escape her grip.
She kicked him down, then performed a heel drop on the small of his back, resulting in cracking sounds.
"No," he cried. "I can't move my legs! Help!"
She looked down at him coldly. "You're going to face the people you've wronged. They will be the judge, jury, and executioner. They will decide your fate."
One of the men reached her first and offered a handshake. "We have you to thank, young lady. If not for you, we all may have eventually been killed. All that's left now is to deal with these pieces of garbage and start over."
She shook his hand. "I'm always willing to offer my services to those in need. If you need help rebuilding, I'd be happy to stay a while."
He shook his head. "You've already done so much..."
"It wouldn't be a problem," she said. "I want to do it. And from my understanding, you're going to need some more able bodies. I'm volunteering mine. I simply need to go back to my camp and gather my belongings. I'll return shortly."
He smile. "Alright. We'll get a place ready for you. Feel free to stay as long as you'd like." He turned his attention to the bandit. "And you...you killed our men, beat our children, and raped our women. We can't in good conscience just let you all go so you can victimize someone else, can we?"
"No!" the bandit begged. "We promise not to do it no more! You'll never see us again! No!"
"It's time for you the learn what happens when you treat people wrong," the man growled.
Xiang walked away to the sound of the bandit's bloodcurdling scream as the mob surrounded him. He was right about one thing. They would never be seen again.
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