As James and Drake were surrounded by the boys and the goons,they both had the same rhing going on in their head.How to escape.Each did not know if the other was capable of fighting or was going to be a burden on them.Nathaniel called back his goons and ordered,"Let us play with them first.Then you can break their bones."
Nathaniel and his gang went ahead,feeling confident in their ability to take down these two boys.After all the odds were in their favor.Nathaniel looked at the sweating faces of his nemesis and felt peace in his heart.Now he would have revenge!Deciding to not miss this opportunity to gloat,he said,"Poor boys...such good players you would heve been..only if you had not offended me...With a nod,he gestured his partners to punch him and James.However there was something wrong in his plan.Ryu Long had trained in traditional martial arts since he was small and James was a street fighter,where fighting was the only was to survive.No tricks were underhanded or wrong.
Within a span of a few minutes,the tables had been turned and the hunters had become the prey.Drake used skills while James used brute force.One was refined,the other aggressive.
Immediately backing off,Nathaniel pointed the goons to enter the fray.However ,before eventhe first goon could throw a punch,wails of a siren could be heard.The rich heirs did not notice this but the goons did.They knew tobe alert when committing a crime.Knowing that they would be finished if caught,thegoons ran away as if the hounds of h.e.l.l were following them.
Seeing the goons running off in the other direction, brought Nathaniel out of the haze.That is when they realized that the police were on the way!Though they were not worried that anyone would do anything to them but they dare not test their family"s limits.So,with a threatening glance at the two boys,they too ran away.
James and Drake stared at each other and then both their injured hands.Agreeing without a word to not create unnecessary troubles,the two decided to go back and ignore it.But both knew this could happen again...They were lucky to be saved this time!
But,just because the would be victims decided to let go did not mean that the others would also.The siren had been sounded by Ryu"s bodyguards.Just because his father had sent him to a different country for training and exposure did not mean that he was going to ignore his son"s safety.The guards had been instructed to not interfere until absolutely necessary.As long as Ryu had the upper hand,they had not interfered.Now that the master was safe,the guards immediately reported the incident to Ryu father.
On the other hand, the perpetrators whose plans had been ruined had already devised a new strategy.Instead of going back to their tents,they made way to the camp supervisor"s tent.
The next morning,Drake and james were unceremoniously seperated from the rest of the players and ordered to run around the field until told to stop.Everyone was shocked and confused.Why would the supervisor do this?The coaches tried to intervene only to be insulted and told to back off.But they were too worried.These players were their best and needed to be in top condition for tomorrow"s match!but if they were tired out then it would be a loss...
One of the coaches took a chance and immediately informed the organizers of the camp.After the numerous rounds of the football field,both the boys could feel their legs go numb and their strength drain.They were feeling dehydrated as well because the supervisor had not let them have a drink of water as well.Once the organizer had been informed of the severity of the situation,he immediately rushed to the camp.The supervisor had actually told him that he was going to punish the boys that Nathaniel and his gang had complained about but the stupid man had not told him that Drake Long was one of them!Torturing a few measly players to please the sponsors was alright but torturing an international student of Drake"s status!The camp would never rise again!
Before the organiser could reach the camp site,a few foreigners arrived with the police.They were actually people from the emba.s.sy who had received a complaint about discrimination and personal threat from Ryu.Usually this would not be a priority but they had also been informed of the status of the complaining party.So with utmost speed,they had gathered the local police and arrived to check the situation,only to see Drake and James fain from sun stroke and dehydration!Enraged at this,they had caused a chaos,forcing the local police to arrest the supervisor and shut down the camp until things were cleared.The supervisor tried to justify himself by claiming that he was punis.h.i.+ng the boys for their wrong doing but soon a video evidence was submitted showing who the real culprit was.Realizing that the rich boys had played him,he begged them to help him get out of the mess.The local media was also in an uproar over this apparent bullying by the heirs.
Nathaniel"s and the other parents tried to suppress the news and bribe the people at the emba.s.sy only to be finally informed of Drake Long"s status.It seemed,they would back down only after receiving a sincere apology from their sons.Cursing their sons,the familys informed them to apologize at the soonest.
Meanwhile,Drake and James became good friends while recuperating in the hospital together for a few days.Each boy had respect in their hearts for the other.James was shocked when he received the apology of the heirs and also "gifts" (bribe money to keep his mouth shut)from their parents.James wanted to throw the money back in their faces but Drake stopped him."Why would you want to do that?They have the money,you don"t.And it is not like you are taking them because you were hit.They are actually paying you for what you did to their sons!"
James was simple minded and had not thought this so he accepted the money and promptly gave half of it to Ryu since he had not received anything.On the day they were discharged,Drake"s parents had sent the security team for their son..Seeing this James was shocked!It was only then that he realized that his new friend was also a rich heir.Angrilyhe turned to Ryu and punched him in the face,"You b******!You are also rich.Whay did you not tell me?"..Ryu got up and punched James back,answering"You did not ask!"
After this both the boys were sporting matching black eyes and had become best friends for life.