March to Glory (Part I)

Kritvik Bhatt

The soil was silent. The sun had set. It was a ground with some construction work going on behind, for some reason. It was, obviously, empty—just soil and some green patches. And no one was around—just a bunch of about a dozen guys stood on the right edge of the ground, all standing in an irregular circle.

The street where the empty ground stood was filled with backsides of apartments and bungalows, along with some cars that covered about half of the width of the narrow lane. It had no front wall, for some reason, and it was open.

Suddenly, the place was filled with echoing sounds of footsteps walking. The echo kept on getting bigger and bigger.

Our colorful shoes beneath our black pants marched together.

The bunch of guys—who all wore dark red shirts tucked out of their black pants—turned to the street.

“So y’are here, Vikram, eh?” One at the center of those guys, who had his back on the wall and his head tilted down, commented. He waved his hand at his hairs and pushed them back as he moved his head up toward the street.

“Amit,” Akshay, the dark-skinned guy who stood just beside him on his feet, turned to that guy. “It’s time to kick his ass.”

“Ah, asshole, leave that shit to me,” Amit commented as he got his back off the cemented wall and started to walk through the middle of the gang. Some guys got aside to give him way as he passed them. He then walked in front of those guys.

Vikram was the first one visible from their angle. Others too followed him, all with their eyes frowning with anger and pumped up emotions. Some had their hands inside the pockets of their pants, some were stretching up a little, some just walked angrily.

Vikram and our gang stepped inside the ground and walked to those guys at the edge adjacent to the street.

Amit’s eyes narrowed and he too started to walk toward our gang. Behind him, his men too started to walk toward us.

Marching footsteps filled the silence of the ground as both the gangs walked to each other, their eyes filled with rage and thunder.

Then, Vikram and Amit stood just a few steps away from each other, and their gangs behind them.

“Ah, ya got some new teammates for today, eh?” Amit commented as he moved his arms up on his waist. “I guess we got more chances to fuck ya up now.”

Akshay, who stood just beside him, commented, “The fuck? Is Vikram afraid of us now?”

“Ahahahaha,” Some guys from that gang laughed a little.

Vikram continued to glare at Akshay and Amit with his frowning eyes. “Ain’t y’all too confident today?”

“What ya gon’ do, huh?” Akshay replied. “Today, we’re gonna fucking decide who’s the real king of these streets.”

“The streets’ gon’ remember our legacy,” Vikram said. “We ain’t gon’ lose this time… Not today, kiddo.”

“Huuuuh?!” Akshay’s eyes widened. “YA FUCKING SERI—”

“Shut the fuck up, Akshay,” Amit stopped him. “Enough with this fucking chit-chats, motherfucker.”

Vikram turned to him and smiled a little. “By the way, ya got brains, man. I’m proud of ya.”

Amit smiled back at him. “Ah, you’d hate this brain so fucking much before this night ends.”

Vikram just nodded back in reply. He then turned to Akshay again. “Ya wanna say something?”

Akshay shook his head.

“Then it’s time to fucking begin, eh?” Amit’s smile disappeared as he shouted. “Go, boys! Make ‘em pay!”

“AYEEEEE!” Everyone shouted as they charged at us.

“Don’t fucking hold back at these motherfuckers, men! March to glory!” Vikram shouted as his men ran in front of him and the two gangs collided and merged into one.

Akshay, Aaryan, and I were the only three guys that just stood. Aaryan started to walk to the front. “Come on, pals.”

My mouth and eyes opened wide. I was damned scared of this stuff, man. “Really?!”

Aaryan stood in front of us as four guys ran to us. Aaryan took in a deep breath, exhaled it out, and then gave the one at the center a good punch in the pace. The others surrounded him and started attacking from everywhere, but he made sure he evaded most of their attacks and kicked them back.

Just one guy continued to walk to us. He had a creepy smug smile on his face. “Ehehehehe. Ya dickheads are gon’ get fucked today.”

He moved his hand up and threw a punch at me. I tried to evade his punch by blocking it with my arm, but I was too slow. It went past my arm and hit my chest.

I stepped back in impact.

Aakash tried to kick him waist-length, but that guy caught his foot and pushed it up. Aakash fell down on the ground.

He then turned to me, pushing his hair back, and I could do nothing but look at him with my puppy eyes as he kicked me right on my belly.

“Thew!” I spat some of my saliva as I fell on the ground backward. In pain, I held my belly and closed my eyes tightly. “Fuck, man! Damn! These guys kick and punch so damn hard!” I thought. That guy walked to my side and looked down upon me, with that creepy smile on his face. He moved his right foot up and was just about to kick me again before someone jumped from my other side and leaped upon him.

That guy fell on the ground and I turned my head leftward at the guy, moving my back a little up.

Aakash was on top of him, holding his arms and chest tightly with his arms. That guy was trying so hard to punch him with his forearms and get Aakash off him, but that, for some reason, wasn’t working. “Come, Kritvik!”

He then moved his right arm back and punched him in the face. But, that guy’s left arm broke loose and he punched him back on his face. And obviously, that guy’s punch was a lot harder than Aakash’s. So, Aakash moved a little back. That guy punched him again.

I stood up as that guy broke free from Aakash’s hands and started to stand up.

Just as he stood up on his feet, I punched him on his chest. He stepped back—somehow evading my attack—as he waved his fist at me, but I jerked my belly back. I then moved my leg up and kicked him hard on his waist. I then quickly moved it away before he could get hold of my feet, and then slapped him on his ear. I then used my left arm to punch him, my right hand holding his hair.

He frowned as I moved my hand back for another punch. Before I could hit him again, he punched me on my chest. I endured that one and pulled his hair downward. I then moved my right arm up and was about to hit him with my elbow. He started to move up, for some reason, and my elbow hit his shoulder instead of his back.

He held his left shoulder in pain as Aakash leaped on him again, pinning him down. He then punched him once and quickly stood up and kicked him on his chest. On the second kick, obviously, that guy caught Aakash’s foot. I rushed and kicked him on his belly, and due to the pain, he let go of his feet. He then kicked him again and I too continued to kick him.

Aaryan walked in and commented, “Ya both know how to fight a little.”

I turned back and looked at him smiling at us. He held my shoulder and pushed me back. He then stepped to that guy and suddenly kicked on his lower ribs damn hard.

“ARGH!” That guy shouted in pain.

Aaryan then turned back to me. “This guy isn’t gonna stand up soon, pal. Let’s focus on others.”

Aakash jumped up from the top of that guy and walked to us. “For real, mate?! You handled three guys at once?!”

Aaryan proudly smiled. “Pal, those three were fucking weak. I could have handled seven of them at once.”

“Damn,” I said as I walked on his left, with Aakash behind the two of us.

“Alright, assholes, ya two take men together. Alright? Ya two can handle a single one together, right?”

“Yeah, I guess we can,” Aakash commented.

“Yeah.”

“I’d be somewhere beside you guys. If any shit happens, just call me out, alright?”

“Alright,” I nodded.

Suddenly, someone was coming at the three of us as we walked in between the fight. Aaryan turned leftward. “Ya both take care of this asshole.”

That thin guy moved his arm up and punched my chest. I stepped back as Aakash moved to the front and punched him on his face. He then kicked him on his belly, and then on his chest. That guy walked a few steps back. Aakash then jumped up and punched him hard on his face. That guy fell down on the ground.

“I never thought that shit kickboxing classes I had when I was twelve would help me today.”

“Huh? You had kickboxing classes?” I asked.

He smiled as he turned back toward me. “I’m awesome too, right? Maybe a little less than Aaryan, but still.”

“Damn, man. Am I the only one who came here unprepared?”

“Pfft.” He turned his head frontward at the guy who quickly stood up and started to throw punches at him. He blocked them with his arms and kicked him back. That guy moved back a little and then kicked him in return. Aakash stepped back, but he couldn’t evade the second kick that went straight to his face.

Aakash stepped a few steps back as I quickly took off from him and kicked him on his waist. He stepped a little back and moved his fist up to me, in whose response I jerked my head back a little. His fist flew past my eyes. I moved my leg up as I bent my back backward and kicked him on his thigh this time. I got up on my feet again and punched him on his face. He held his nose and jerked back.

“Ya fucking jerk!” He angrily said as he held his nose, his eyes closed with pain. I moved my leg up and kicked his arm again, but this time, he blocked it. He then held my feet and started to pull it back. I fell down on the ground with my muscles stretched up a little too much. “Argh!” I shouted as Aakash took it over from me and punched him on his face.

They both continued to fight like that as I closed my legs in front of my body and lay freely on the ground for a few seconds. I turned back, looking at them punching each other, and started to stand up on my feet again. “My muscles, man! Damn it!” I shouted as I stood up, my knees bent a little. I turned back and walked to Aakash and the other guy fighting. I kicked that guy on his butt, held him by his collar, and then pulled him back. I threw that guy on the ground. I then moved my leg up and beat him on his chest. But he, obviously, took the chance and held my feet. I continued to vigorously pull it back from his hold, but he just won’t let it go. He then suddenly pulled it a little, and I jerked it back, and he then let it go. He did it willingly, obviously.

My butt fell on the ground again.

“You’re gonna fucking break your tailbone, mate!” Aakash shouted as he crouched down and punched that guy. That guy, obviously, punched him down.

I, in the meantime, stood up on my feet and rubbed the dirt off my butt. “Damn, man.”

***

Aaryan Khanna

I fucking punched that asshole on his face. He stepped a few steps back and was about to fall down on the ground, but before that, a guy held him by his back.

I frowned.

That guy was Akshay. “Hey, fucker. How the fuck can ya come back to this shit? D’ya forget yer decision?”

“Ya don’t fucking decide what I do, asshole.”

“… I actually fucking do, Aaryan.”