My Counterattack System After Reborn

Chapter 22: Todd Confronts Caleb

The moment after Caleb gave his order, the tattooed man stepped forward. He was the one that had accosted Todd the day before. Todd had slapped him to the ground, though, and his friends had all laughed at him. By being the first to face Todd today, he hoped to rebuild his reputation and get revenge on Todd.

The tattooed man was behind Todd, and he thought that he had the element of surprise, but when he threw a punch, Todd stepped aside, spun around, and slapped him across the face.

The tattooed man stumbled backward, and he brought his hand to his face. He touched the place that he had been struck, and he was ashamed.

Todd smiled as he stepped forward. He shoved the tattooed man so hard that he fell over, and then he faced the rest of Caleb’s healers. He looked around and tried to figure out his next move. His speed, strength, and skills had been improved, but not enough that he could take on more than twenty people. If he tried, they would surely kill him.

Without showing any sign of what he was about to do, Todd rushed into the crowd like a wolf attacking a flock of sheep. He did not need to defeat them all. He only needed to defeat those that were an immediate threat to him. As he passed through the crown, he used his fists to humiliate anyone that was close enough to hit.

Before long, a quarter of Caleb’s healers had been struck down, and most of them were still on the ground. Some were bleeding from their mouths or noses while others were clutching their stomachs or private parts. There were still more men standing than there were that were down, though, and they were all still committed to the fight.

Todd received numerous blows to the back of the head. He had taken a half dozen shots to the ribs, and some of the people on the ground were grabbing his ankles which caused him to stumble. Under the guidance of his perfect fighting consciousness, though, he could not be restrained. Every time his opponents thought that they had him, he managed to outmaneuver them.   

Before long, the number of people that Todd had defeated had more than doubled. Everywhere he looked, he saw pain and misery. His opponents’ faces were blotchy. Tears, snot, and blood flowed freely from their orifices, which seemed to put the fear of God into the rest of Caleb’s healers. They circled Todd. But they were wary of him, and they kept their distance.

“Well?” Todd jeered. “Who’s next?” He lifted his fists into a mock Boxer’s Stance.

The healers looked at each other. None of them wanted to end up like their defeated peers. Finally, one of them lifted his hands as a sign of submission. Then he stepped out of the circle and sat down. There was a moment of silence and then, one by one, his peers followed his example.

Caleb saw how all of his healers had sat down, and an expression of shocked dismay appeared on his face. What am I going to do now? – he wondered. He saw that Todd was slowly walking towards him, and his whole body began to tremble. He saw that there was blood all over Todd’s body, and he almost peed his pants.

Before Todd could get to him, Caleb scrambled to his feet and ran away. He was tragically unlucky, though. He had only made it a couple of meters when he tripped on a stone and fell flat on his face. And by the time he was up again, Todd was in front of him.

“Go ahead and hit me!” Caleb cried. “Beat me to death if that is what you want to do, but you will still be the loser in the end. Your dad is bankrupt. You will lose your house and car. I would rather be dead than be standing in your shoes!”

Todd smiled, and then he slapped Caleb across the face. Then he stepped back to get a look at his work and slapped the other side of his face. The image of his handprints on the other man’s face pleased him, and he said, “I am sincerely sorry about that last slap. But you know what it says in the Bible, right? It says: If you slap someone across one cheek, you must also slap them across the other.”

"You!" Caleb felt his face become hot, and the shame in his heart made him feel like he was losing his mind. "How dare you invoke the word of God to validate hitting me!" Because he was afraid, his voice came out like a squeal, and the students around him laughed.

Caleb was extremely ashamed. More than anything, though, he was angry. He looked around and shouted, “If anyone dares to laugh again, I guarantee that their whole family will be forced to leave Edmonton; so help me God, I dare you to defy me!"

When the students heard this, they stopped talking. They knew that Caleb did not make idle threats.

Caleb's family was in the mining industry and their company was one of Edmonton's ‘Pillar Enterprises.’ His family’s advertisements were everywhere on the street. If Todd's father had not taken the seat of power when D.S.G. Unlimited hit the Open Market, then Caleb’s Family’s business would have taken that position of prestige.

As far as Caleb knew, D.S.G. had all but crumbled, and he took satisfaction in knowing that no matter what Todd did to him today, it would be his last hurrah, and when he finally got his revenge, it would be sweet. 

Todd looked around, and as he met the eye of every one of Caleb’s healers, he laughed. This made Caleb furious. “Why are you laughing,” he growled. “Don’t you see that you are done? Your family is broken, and your company is crumbling beneath you. Pretty soon, there won’t be a place for you in this city!”

Todd tried to reply, but he could not stop laughing. Finally, he was forced to speak through the laughter: “I am laughing at you and your pitiful minions. They are afraid of you, but what is there to fear from a washed-up bumpkin like yourself? What can a pitiful person like you do to a person like me?"

“What are you talking about?" Caleb could not believe his ears. Nothing that Todd was saying made any sense to him, not with everything that he knew about the big takeover. By now, he would have expected Todd to be a mess, but he seemed more confident than ever. This gave him cause to pause, and he began to doubt everything that he thought he knew.

I need to get the spotlight off of me and put it back on him – Caleb realized. He looked at Todd and said, “This is school property. Look at all the damage that you have done. I am sure that the principal will punish you. He may even expel you!"