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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
"the end of the line"
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(no mercy pt. 1)

JULES NEVER LIKED the first day back at school.

 It seemed as if everyone took high school entirely too seriously. It was a whirlwind of who likes who, and how long you studied for what test, and a whole load of shit that Jules found annoying. In her eyes, high school was like a small scene compared to the entire movie. Sure, a lot of her future depends on how well she does - but why should that make her treat four years like an eternity?

Now, she was experiencing deja-vu. You would think that after a very eventful summer, the first day back at school would feel different from previous years, but for Jules it was the exact same. She was walking next to Demetri, a book in her hands that her eyes skimmed furiously across. The raven-haired boy sighed deeply, rolling his eyes. "Jules, how many times this summer did I remind you to do the reading?" 

 "Seven." She deadpanned, Demetri guiding her arm so that she wouldn't run into the wall. "And I didn't listen."

"You didn't listen," the boy repeated, "and now you're behind in English." 

 "It's okay!" Jules shut the book, smiling up at her friend and jokingly linking their arms together. "Because you can sit next to me and give me the answers."

 Demetru rolled his eyes again, scoffing. "You're lucky you have me."

 Jules smiled then, a genuine smile that made her eyes light up as she glanced at her friend; watching as he fumbled with the straps on his backpack. It was a funny thought, but Demetri really was the only person who never strayed from her side... it was reassuring. "I guess I am," she admitted, hugging her book to her chest. "Thanks for being my friend, 'Metri." 

 "Well, you need someone with a few braincells in your life." The boy teased, reaching over to ruffle her hair. "C'mon, let's try to get seats in the back."

 The atmosphere was so familiar that it made Jules relax somewhat as they walked into the classroom. She noticed Hawk sitting in his usual seat, and made a point to ignore him as she followed Demetri to the back. It felt weird not sitting with her two nerds, but she had to get used to it sooner or later. 

 Class went by smoothly. Jules listened to their homeroom teacher drawl on and on about expectations and credits, nearly dozing off at least three times in the process. She had her eyes glued on the clock, as she always did the last five minutes of class, absentmindedly listening to morning announcements. 

 There was a disruption in the false-cheery voice speaking over the PA, and Jules subconsciously glanced up at the ceiling. The voice came through in short, sporadic bursts of grainy audio, before it focused again. 

 "Juliana Monroe." 

 Jules felt her muscles stiffen, as suddenly every single person in the class was staring at her. It was Tory's voice, no doubt about it, and it held a dangerous, malicious edge that made Jules swallow so her throat didn't go dry. 

 "You started this fight, now you have to finish it. Time to prove yourself." 

 There was another rustle as Jules clenched her fists.

"I'm coming for you, bitch." 

 For a moment, everything was silent. Demetri was staring at her, so she turned to catch his eye, muttering a "well, fuck", under her breath. Jules didn't know what to do, but then she remembered the events of the previous night, and rocketed up from her seat right as the bell rang. 

 She felt as if she was only propelled by anger as she stalked down the hallway. She wasn't sure where she was going, but everyone parted to let her pass; knowing that some serious shit was about to go down. She caught sight of Tory as she approached the main entrance of the school, and threw her bag to the side as the two girls faced each other. 

 "What the hell do you call this?" Jules demanded, spreading her arms out as students began to gather around them. Some had their phones out, recording, while some were just watching with a mixture of frightened and excited expressions on their faces. 

"I call it revenge." She sneered, "you've done nothing but fuck things up, and you think you can get away with it?" 

 "You kissed my boyfriend!" Jules shouted back, "I never did shit to you, and you decided to be a psycho-bitch anyway!" She cracked her knuckles, clenching her teeth. "And you know what? I am going to finish this, I'm tired of your bullshit." 

 Tory surged forward, aiming an aggressive punch that Jules sidestepped to dodge. She tried to punch her again, but Jules ducked and kicked her hard in the stomach; sending her stumbling back a few steps. Rolling up the sleeves of her shirt, she scowled as she held her fists protectively in front of her. 

 She ran forward, barely even feeling it when Tory landed a kick to her side, lashing her elbow out and hitting the side of her head, before spinning around and landing a hard kick that made her fall to the ground. 

 "Lia!" She heard someone cry, and lifted her dark eyes to see Sam staring at her; concern evident in her gaze as she grasped the straps of her backpack so hard that her knuckles turned white. Tory took advantage of her brief distraction, tackling Jules around the waist and pinning her back to the lockers. She held onto her shoulders, kneeing her harshly in the ribs three times in a row, and making hot pain spread through her lungs. 

 Jules managed to escape her grasp, gasping as she rolled to the side. Tory tried to hit her again, but Jules sidestepped and she instead hit the lockers. She caught a punch and jumped forward to knee her in the side, only to stumble back when Tory landed a blow to her jaw. 

 Stumbling back into the lockers, Jules spit out a glob of blood. She could hear her heartbeat surging through her ears as Tory reached out as if to grab her by the neck. Before she could, she was shoved into the lockers, and a hand was pressed against her chets. 

 "Hey, it's okay!" Robby yelled, his hair wild around his face as he pushed Tory to the side, holding the girls apart and only further increasing the pain in Jules's chest. 

 She shoved his hand away, "don't touch me!" 

 "We can figure this-" 

 "Hey!" 

 The shout came from Miguel, who arrived at the scene just in time to see Jules push Robby's hand away. His face was red with his rage as he clenched his fists. "Don't touch her!" He yelled, running forward and tackling Robby around the waist. 

 All hell broke loose. 

 Tory immediately advanced on Jules again, but was kicked to the side; courtesy of Sam, who then ducked out of the way of a punch and ran into a pair of boys throwing punches at each other. She was immediately caught up in the crowd, making Jules' eyes widen as Tory turned to her. 

 But Jules wasn't afraid of Tory. All the girl had managed to do was make her mad -- so mad, in fact, that red was creeping into the edge of her vision, and all she wanted to do was make Tory disappear. 

 So she let out a enraged scream, before running forward and harshly pinning Tory's shoulders against the lockers, she punched her once in the jaw, before hitting her in the side. She managed to get three hits in before Tory grabbed her by the hair and jabbed her knee into her face. 

 Jules was momentarily disoriented, feeling blood run down her nose as unwanted tears sprang to her eyes. She felt Tory kick her in the stomach, and landed on her back, spotting the red fabric of Miguel's shirt, before Tory grabbed her by the shirt. 

 Jules kicked her in the knee, grabbing onto her shoulders so that she could spin them around, punching Tory in the face before she was kicked off. She rose to her feet, breathing heavily; her vision obscured as her hair got into her face. Onlookers watched intently as Tory wiped some blood from her lip, before yelling loudly and tackling Jules into a now-vacant classroom.

Jules couldn't think clearly. She was desparately trying to remember her lessons from Miyagi-Do, but her body was moving on auto-pilot. It was Cobra Kai against Cobra Kai; a fight too dangerous for anyone to even comprehend. Jules smacked Tory's head against the hard wall, before grunting as the girl shoved her back into the crowded hallway. She grabbed onto her arms, so Jules knees her in the stomach and spun around to try and kick her. Tory managed to dodge, shoving Jules backwards so her back hit a door. Loosing her balance, Jules fell onto her back, hastily scrambling to her feet to avoid being trampled by the crowd of rowdy students. 

 She spotted Miguel just as Robby kicked him in the face, and shouted his name. He turned to look at her, his eyes widening at the blood leaking down her face, before being shoved to the ground by Robby. 

 "Robby, stop it!" She shouted, making a move to go and intervene. Before she could, Tory shoved her forward and Jules had to roll in order to rise to her feet. The two stared each other down for a moment, Jules' chest heaving -- although a small tinge of satisfaction reverated in her stomach as she saw Tory was in a worse state than she was. 

 "Just stop this!" She yelled, gesturing around her. "You see what you did? This isn't just between us anymore, Tory, it has to end!" 

 "What, scared for your boyfriend?" She taunted, brushing her hair from her face. "Or you just can't keep up?" 

 Jules jumped to the side when Tory tried to kick her, grabbing onto the railings of the stairs and using them to steady her as she kicked her backwards with both of her feet. She then saw that she had nowhere to go, and turned to run up a few stairs, whirling around when she was back on a flat surface.

Tory kicked her back, and Jules ducked under another hit. She could feel her motions slowing, her muscles seizing due to her injuries. Jules tried to ignore it, although her adrenaline was only partially working to conceal the sharp burn throughout her torso; and the throbbing in her nose was beginning to distract her. 

 She thought of her Sensei. She thought of Johnny, and then her mind strayed to Kreese. She felt her lip curl; this is exactly what that old man wanted. He wanted her to be vulnerable, and he wanted her to loose... he wanted to see her emotions get the better of her.

 So she didn't think of Johnny. She didn't think of Miguel, or Sam, or Demetri, or anyone. She just focused on the burning in her knuckles, and that was enough to keep her going. 

 She yelled, grabbing a handful of Tory's hair and slamming her forehead down against the railing. She threw an elbow forward, but Tory caught it and twisted her arm back. 

 Fire spread through her shoulder, and Jules screamed in pain. She grabbed onto her forearm as if it would help the pain in her shoulder, but it did no good. Tory chuckled ruefully, kicking Jules backward so that her back hit the stairs.

 She opened her mouth to say something, and a cold trickle of dread seized Jules's spine. She figured her shoulder was dislocated, and the pain was making it hard for her to see a way out of this situation. Fortunately, before Tory could speak, she was kicked to the side.

 Sam spun around, kicking her in the face and making her fall to the ground. Moving quickly, the LaRusso girl grabbed onto Jules' uninjured arm, and began to gently pull her up the stairs. "What happened?" 

 Jules gritted her teeth, feeling her face turn red. "I think the bitch dislocated my shoulder." 

 Sam nodded as they finally got to the higher level, "just let me handle her." 

 Jules immediately shook her head, "Sam, no. You should just leave, this is my fault, and now it's my problem."

Tory ran up, breathing heavily, and sized up the two. She smirked, tilting her head to the side, "aw, the Miyagi-Dos stick together, huh?"

"Back off," Sam snapped, holding out her fists. "I've had enough of your shit."

 "Well bring it on, Princess," Tory spread her arms out. "I like a challenge." 

 Sam didn't move, so Tory surged forward and kicked her in the stomach. She spun around, Sam dodging her hits with ease, before punching her in the face and making her stumble back a few steps. Jules cursed, running forward and kicking Tory back, gritting her teeth and ignoring her pain. 

 Tory turned to her, managing to trip Sam, before running forward and shoving Jules back. Her back hit a pillar, sending pain up her shoulder that made her scream. She thought she was hallucinating when she heard Miguel's voice; but alas, there he was. He grabbed onto Tory's arm and practically threw her backwards, before rounding on Jules. He held out his hands, distress clear in his tone as his eyes raked over her beaten form. "Shit! Shit, are you okay?"  

 "Yeah, Miguel, I'm holding my arm like this for fun!" 

 "Shit," he repeated, putting a hand on her shoulder and gently running his fingers over the fabric of her shirt. "We gotta get to a hospital or something-" 

 His voice was cut off when his face smacked against the pillar, making Jules jump as Tory grabbed onto her hair. She shouted, using her good hand to grab onto her hand, vaguely seeing Robby re enter the scene, before her vision blurred as she was pulled down the stairs. 

 "Fuck!" She yelled, turning and taking a step backward. She tried to calculate her actual probability of winning, and decided that perhaps she could do what she does best: bitch her way out of it. "You're crazy! Actually fucking crazy! I swear to god that this isn't what Sensei would want!" 

 Tory didn't say anything, so Jules continued. 

 "Karate isn't supposed to be about revenge, you get that don't you?" She swallowed thickly. "Nothing will be fixed by this, okay? Nothing! You won't get glory, all you'll get is a step closer to being a washed-up, drunk loser who has nothing to show for themselves! You don't win by fighting dirty!" 

 Tory eyed her, and Jules could feel goosebumps rise on her arms. She had malice in her eyes; pure hatred that Jules never thought could be directed at her. 

"You think I'm gonna stop, just because you hurt yourself?" There was a mocking edge to her tone, as if she was speaking to a child, before it hardened back to it's steely timbre. "This isn't a tornament..." she reached down, and Jules clenched her jaw when she saw that she had her spiky bracelet wrapped around her knuckles. She thought she saw blood on them, and felt her heart stop when she realized that she couldn't see Sam. "There are no rules." 

 All Jules could do at this point was defend. But she was so disoriented that she couldn't do it properly. She saw a glint of the deadly metal on Tory's fists, and felt her gaze harden. 

 If Tory wasn't going to play by the rules, than why should she?

 She grabbed onto the girl's leg when she tried to kick her, shoving it backwards and making her fall into the rails. She jumped up sluggishly, punching at her with her spikes, which Jules just barely dodged. 

 She ducked under her arm, and with a burst of adrenaline, twisted it so that her stomach was pressed against the railing, her arm against her back. Jules felt her own shoulder burning, and tightened her grip so that Tory whimpered in pain. 

 She leaned down, lowering her voice. "I would let you go, but no mercy, right?" 

 And then she took a step back, spinning around and kicking her in the back. She fell over the rail, landing on the next set of stairs with a grunt. 

Jules relaxed. She brought her hand to press on her arm, trying to diminish the pain as she groaned quietly to herself. She could feel her injuries now, and her body was incased in such a dull pain that she wasn't quite sure where all of them were coming from. 

 She bowed her head, shaking her head as she squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't believe what just happened, so much had happened; and was it her fault? If she had just shut Tory down sooner, then so many people would have been better off. 

 She rose her head, shaking lightly, and felt time slow. 

 It was Miguel. He was falling from the highest level of the staircase, and Jules couldn't even open her mouth before his back hit the railings with a sickening crack. 

 Someone was screaming, and Jules didn't even register that it was her until her senses slammed back onto her at full force. She ran down the stairs as fast as she could, dropping to her knees next to Miguel's unconscious form and cupping his face with her hands. 

 "Miguel?" She said, her tone raising in hysteria as she brushed his hair away from his face, only to see that he was completely unresponsive. "Miguel? Miguel please answer me, Miguel-" her voice broke, and she sobbed, leaning her head onto his chest. She could feel a heartbeat; although that didn't do much to console her. She felt the pain in her body triple, and tears streaked down her face as her hands clutched onto the fabric of his shirt. "M-M-" she felt a hand on her back, and rose her voice, "do not fucking touch me!"

Sam's eyes widened, although she wasn't deterred. Kneeling down, she gently pulled Jules away from Miguel as the paramedics burst open the doors. She pulled her close to her body, pressing a hand to the back of her head as Jules wrapped an arm around her middle and sobbed. 

 She couldn't even process how she was feeling. She felt as if her world was crumbling to dust, like she was feeling the brunt of all the pain this fight had caused. She sobbed into Sam's shoulder, shaking from head to toe as the girl embraced her tightly, muttering incomprehensible words in her ear.

 Jules couldn't hear anything but the sound of Miguel's spine cracking as it hit the railing. She couldn't clear her head enough to hear anything else, and her pain -- which was once consuming, felt fatuous.

 Miguel was hurt. Badly. So badly that his eyes didn't open, even as police officers and paramedics swarmed the building. he was hurt so badly that his eyes may never open ever again.  

 And it was all her fault.

A/N:

robby better watch his fucking back.

also, this broke me - so bye y'all.