A brawl breaks out (violent chapter)

In my 39 years of life, I've been bullied many times, but I don't remember ever standing out for myself. I've always been too scared to do that, too afraid of both getting hurt and the consequences of crossing those who are only looking for an excuse to boast their strength and aggressiveness against people weaker than them.

And my coward mentality hasn't changed a bit, even after I accidentaly stole the body of this black crook.
So here I am now: facing a towering mass of testosterone who is instants away from breaking my borrowed face with a fist the size of a bowl... and I'm about to piss my pants.

However, once I've made my rushed wish, instead of my usual reaction of stepping back and covering my face with closed eyes, something unusual happens.

As if following some kind of impulse, I slightly lower my hips, curl my torso and parry his punch with both my shoulder and forearm.

"Huh...?" The hulking man mutters in a confused tone.

"Wha...?" I say, even more confused than he is.

But he immediately regains his composture. And the next instant, he clenches his powerful jaw and slams my whole body to the wall.

"ACK!!" I grunt when his push takes the breath out of my lungs.

But once again, my body reacts almost by instinct: so I manage to secure one foot on the floor, press my butt towards the wall, twist my hip and, in one swift motion during the same instant that my attacker slightly backs off after his tackle, I slam my left elbow on his exposed eyebrow.

"GUAaah!!" He yelps in pain and steps back with a hand covering his forehead.

The moment I see dropplets of blood dripping over the floor, I freeze in place.

"What...? H-How...?" I mutter in disbelief.
D-Did I just do that? Me?!

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!" The man howls at me with his hand still covering his wounded eyebrow. At this point, he is absolutely livid.
But when he extends his other hand to grab me by the clothes, my body once again seems to know what to do at the right moment.

So I grab his wrist with both my dark-skinned hands and kick his shin with all my strength. I kick it so hard I almost break my own toes.

"GUAAAAAAAHHH, FUUUUUUUUUCK!!!" Meilyn's boyfriend falls heavily over the floor while grabbing his leg.
But before he even finishes the fall, I complete the work with a quick pull on his wrist and a timely knee strike delivered right onto his falling face. I don't even put much strength into this one, but the sound of his nose breaking is still the most terrifying thing I've heard during the whole exchange.

Before I know, the fight is over. It has lasted less than 8 seconds, and finished with my hulking opponent sprawled over the floor with a bloodied face and weeping in pain and... fear?

I just stare down at him, totally baffled with myself and what I just did. My breath is rugged, the adrenaline still rushing through my veins.
I look at Meilyn, who is clearly as bamboozled as I am, but my attention quickly goes back to the subject of my rage.
So I crouch over the man who was abusing Meilyn just a minute before.

"Hey..."

"Uuuurgghhh!! ...N-No..." He reacts to my words by covering his injured face while curling his huge body.

I gulp down at this pathetic sight. Is this really the same imposing bully who was wrecking my neighbor's house when I came back? He looks so pitiful now. I almost feel bad for him. Almost.

"You had enough?" I ask him, forcing myself to stay composed.

He immediately nods, though I can barely notice the movement of his head behind those huge arms.

I **** my startled brain to think hard of what to say in this kind of situation, which is as far from my comfort zone as the Sun is from Neptune.

"Uh... good... Now listen, man. The shit I did to you is gonna heal no problem, okay? So... well, if you come back, I'm gonna start breaking stuff for real, got it? It's gonna hurt and it's gonna last... for a lifetime."

The already rugged breathing of this guy quickens in response to my words.

"So, uhm..." I awkwardly pat him on the trousers, as if trying to wake up a sleeping kid. "Get out, please."

His response is almost instantaneous, and the next second he is already trying to stand up. His weeping has stopped, but he still has one hand covering his nose and his whole huge body is shaking. I instinctively try to help him up, but the moment I touch him he recoils like if he's been bitten by a viper.
So I just stand there scratching the back of my head while this former scary-looking hunk silently sees himself out of my neighbor's apartment.

"Man..." I mutter. "...what a ride."

When I turn back, I see Meilyn observing me from her corner in silence with a very complex expression.

"You look like you just saw a ghost." I comment, trying to **** a casual tone but faling miserably. "Uh, are you... are you okay, Miss Banks?"

I step into the livingroom, looking around to see the full extent of the disaster. And I have to say, that asshole didn't half-ass things.
Everything is broken. And I mean every thing. It's not only the vitrines, overturned furniture and fallen plates, but also the electrodomestics and every single element from Meilyn's personal belongings her rampaging boyfriend considered worth breaking. The plasma TV is on the floor with the cables pulled and the screen shattered. I see a laptop almost split in half, an expensive-looking drawing tablet broken against the corner of a table, several books with their pages torn apart, a wallet with its contents scattered and stomped upon.

I can't help but shake my head in disbelief. I can't even start to guess how much will it cost to fix this place up. The destruction is so complete that it wouldn't surprise me if it was enough to cripple Meilyn's life or to put the college student in a very bad spot.

When I turn my head and look at her full of pity, the girl reacts by slowly lowering her gaze to the floor, her petite shoulders jolting up and down as she starts to sob. I can only notice her tortured expression on the left side of her face, since she has a hand covering the other side.
The vision puts a knot in my throat. She looks so small and helpless. How can a girl who's always so bright and full of energy be reduced to such a state?

I slowly get down on my knee and ask her:

"...Miss Banks?" I ask in a kind tone. "Would you allow me to... take a look? O-Only to see how can I be of any help."

She doesn't say anything. But when I try to push her hand away as gently as I can, she doesn't resist either. Meilyn just keeps staring down while I finally see the actual results of what that madman did to her. Turns out that breaking her belongings wasn't the worst part.

The right side of her face looks like she was attacked by a swarm of wasps, swollen and reddened from lip to eyebrow to an unhealthy degree. There are patches of blood coming from both her nose and some place around the ear. I can't even see her eye between all the inflamation.

The sight completely quiets me down, and I feel something I haven't felt in a very long time: a wave of pure, raw fury. So sudden and intense it almost makes me gasp.

"That... motherfucker..." I mutter hoarsely while grinding my teeth, full of indignation.
Now I'm fully regretting letting him go so easily. I should've really broken something other than his fucking nose. Just how hard did he hit her?! What did Meilyn even do to deserve this?!

Meilyn's pained sobs makes me snap out of it, and I realize I'm still holding onto her hand.

"S-Sorry!" I back off with an apologetic tone.

There is no point in asking her if she's okay anymore. Doing so when she is in such a state would feel like I'm mocking her.

I stare at Meilyn for a long awkward moment, not really knowing what to do, until she finally looks up to me on her own.

"Thank... you..." She says with a weak, broken voice. Her ruined face is covered in tears and snot.

Her words surprise me for a moment. I'm really not used to be thanked. Or at least not sincerely.

"I... uh... s-sorry. If I'd come earlier, you would-" I stutter, but she is already shaking her wounded head before I even finish.

"No... no..." She insists, looking down at her broken belongings. "...thank y-you."

After uttering those final words full of sincerity, the last bits of her fortitude fade away, and Meilyn breaks down in a painful cry.

I swallow saliva, all my anger forgotten. There are more important things I have to take care of now.

"C-Come on." I say with a gentle voice. "Let me help you."

I slowly help her stand up and sit down on the sofa, which is the only intact piece of furniture in the whole livingroom.
After that, I take out my phone, intending to call for an ambulance and maybe the police.
However, when I turn on the device, the screen still has the Pendant App on.

Actual Mana Reserves: 19%

I furrow my eyebrows, a new idea brewing in my mind.
Sure, bringing Meilyn to the hospital would be the correct call. But... would that actually solve anything? Her face is in such a bad shape that I doubt there won't be any scar. Not to mention all the pain and time it will take to heal.
Plus, bringing her to the hospital or call the authorities won't compensate the loss of her belongings. What would be the best case scenario? A monetary compensation after a long excruciating judicial process that could go either way? Does this girl even have the money, time and evidence to pull that off?

I shake my head. No, her life might aswell be screwed at this point.

At the end, I let out a long heartfelt sigh.
I really have to do this, ain't I?

"Uhm... Miss Banks? I would very much appreciate that you keep whatever's going to happen right now a secret... okay?"

Meilyn stares at me between sobs, clearly confused at my words.

But I immediately stand up and take a few steps forward so the girl can't see or hear what I'm about to do.
Then, I grab the Magic Pendant hanging from my neck and whisper.

"I wish to-"