Sometimes, the oddest things can go through a person's mind at the strangest times. For Sophia, it was [color=silver][i]Getting pushed to the ground hurts[/i][/color]. She had landed heavily on her shoulder, and had her arm not come up, she would have cracked her head on the floor as well. Both facts came to together to demonstrate her error in judgement: it was obvious that Largent did not care about who he hurt.

She looked up just in time to see Largent punch Richard in the stomach, nearly lifting him clear off the floor by his shirt, and she was in the process of standing up when Richard rammed his head into Largent's nose. Sophia was mildly impressed; she hadn't ever seen him hit someone before. Unfortunately, while his attempt at self-defense did succeed in gaining him freedom, it also had the unfortunate side effect of making Largent even angrier. "Ou biddle shid!"

Largent stood well over a foot taller than Sophia, and probably had a good 20 - 30 pounds on her. For such a big person, he could move awfully quickly when he wanted to. Unfortunately for him, Sophia was faster, and she was quite a bit angrier.

As the bigger boy swung his fist towards Richard's face, Sophia once again interposed herself between them, catching Largent's wrist with her forearm and batting aside his attack. Before he had a chance to react, she struck, jabbing her hand up and catching his throat in the V between her thumb and forefinger. His angry snarl gave way to a choking gurgle, and his eyes bulged as he found his airway temporarily blocked. Not giving his a chance to recover, Sophia seized his shirt and drove her knee straight into his crotch, sending Largent doubling over. Still not finished, she clapped her hands on his ears and yanked down, bringing her knee up to meet his forehead. As Largent stumbled backwards, Sophia spun and drove her foot into his stomach, driving the air from his lungs and toppling him onto his back. Standing over the fallen boy, Sophia waggled her finger at him, as though she was looking at an errant child throwing a tantrum. 

Ignoring the stunned silence of the crowd, she turned and helped Richard to his feet, leading him through the parting crowd of bodies. As they put some distance behind them, the weight balance between the pair slowly shifted, until she wasn't so much supporting him as he was supporting her. When they reached a semi-secluded spot, Sophia pulled away and leaned against the wall, clutching at her knee and whimpering as tears pooled in her eyes.

[@pockets]