Lost in Hollywood

No Peace, No Satisfaction

For a heartbeat, Hawk froze on his feet.

The kitchen was a mess. A couple of chairs had fallen and one was in pieces on the floor. Some plates and glasses lay shattered all over the floortiles among oranges and apples that had escaped a fallen fruit basket, that someone had stepped on. There was blood on the floor, its metallic tang mixed with the scent of oranges, cloves, and Christmas spices.

"Please—" Kyler was begging, as he tried to flee his attacker by stumbling around the large, wooden table in the middle of the room. "Please, stop—!"

If Cody heard Kyler's plea, he didn't care. With one, predatory leap he flew over the table and lunged at Kyler, kicking him in the face with a force that sent blood splattering to a nearby wall. Groaning, Kyler brought up his fists and tried to block the next kick, but that one got through too, as did the sharp knee Cody aimed at his gut. More blood poured from Kyler's mouth onto the floor tiles.

There were some bruises on Cody's face too, and a fresh, bleeding cut on his lower lip, proving that Kyler must have gotten some punches through as well - but it was clear who was winning. Cody fought like he meant to kill, his attacks were so fast and ruthless that Kyler had no chance to retaliate or even block them. It didn't seem to matter that Cody was a head shorter than his opponent, or that Kyler was a lot broader and heavier. The smaller boy was swift and fierce, and he knew where to hit to cause as much pain and damage as possible.

Jesus Christ, he's gonna fucking kill Kyler—

That thought was interrupted as Cody gripped the front of Kyler's shirt, spun them around to shove him against the wall - and he noticed Hawk in the doorway. Cody's eyes narrowed, his chest heaved with fast, panting breaths.

"Hawk?" He spat that out as if it was a dirty word. "What the fuck are you doing here—?"

That broke the spell, and Hawk could move again. He burst into action, strode into the room, and hit Kyler in the face so hard that the nose cracked on the impact. Kyler moaned, spilling blood onto his chin.

"I'm here to kick his ass—" Hawk seethed to Cody. "For what he did to Sky."

Kyler tried to break free, to punch Hawk but the attempt was weak and easily dodged. Before Hawk could retaliate, Cody's kick had already landed in Kyler's gut, sending him against the wall again.

"Yeah, well I don't need your help," Cody growled. "Get lost."

But the anger was burning like wildfire in Hawk's veins. He barely heard what Cody said, as he gripped the front of Kyler's blood-stained shirt, and shoved his back against the wall making some pots and pans fall from a shelf over their heads. They clattered onto the floor, the noise was infernal but it only fed Hawk's rage. He brought up his fist, and without hesitation, hit Kyler again. Blood splattered, Hawk tasted it on his tongue, the coppery tang, the thick, rich sweetness. His fist connected with Kyler's nose, again, then his cheek, his eye—

"This is for Sky—!" He groaned, spitting the words at Kyler's face. "You fucking asshole—!"

"Stop— Hawk—" Kyler tried to bring up his hands, to defend himself, but Hawk just kept punching, hitting Kyler as if he wasn't a human at all but the punching bag they kept at the back of the dojo. And he remembered every insult Kyler had ever thrown at him, every time Kyler had pushed him down the stairs, every time Kyler had thrown his backpack into the trash, every time Kyler had stolen his lunch money, had ripped apart his Dungeon Lord comics, had laughed at him, calling him Lip, Lip, Lip—

And this wasn't just for Sky anymore, this blood on his hands, this rage that was burning in his chest. It was revenge, it was retribution that had been waiting for release inside of him for years, it was a caged beast that was finally freed, and he wasn't Lip anymore, he wasn't even Hawk anymore, he was Eli Moskowitz, and he was fucking killing Kyler for everything he had done—