A few days later
when David stepped out into his yard to toss the garbage, He'd barely taken 5 steps past the crooked gate when a familiar, voice cut through the quiet street.
"Hey!"
David turned slowly, There, standing at the edge of the cracked pavement, was Mark, but this time he wasn't alone, More than thirty boys were lined up behind him, faces half-hidden under caps and hoods, baseball bats and pipes, Some smirked, others cracked their knuckles like they'd been waiting for this chance all week.
Mark's grin was wide, too wide for his face, His lip was still swollen from the last time, a faint bruise painting the corner of his jaw, But his eyes burned with Hatred.
"Didn't I say you were finished?" Mark barked, He spread his arms as if to show off the army behind him "Today you're done, David, You hear me? Finished."
David didn't move, He didn't say a word, He just looked at them, at Mark's trembling rage, with that same dead calm in his gaze.
Mark's grin twitched, "What?" he sneered, trying to fill the silence. "Too scared to talk? I bet you're holding your piss right now, huh? Hahaha!"
He turned to the gang behind him and roared, "Boys! Break him! Make sure he doesn't have a single bone left unbroken when we're done. Go!"
They came at him, metal pipes clanging against open palms.
David let out a slow breath, He slipped off his jacket and let it drop to the ground behind him, The cold breeze prickled at the fresh bruises on his arms, His fists clenched.
"I wasn't satisfied last time," David muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing at the oncoming mob "But I'll make sure I am this time."
The first one swung wide, a fist aimed straight for David's face, He sidestepped, caught the wrist, twisted it until he felt the tendons strain, crack!, and drove his own fist into the kid's jaw, Teeth rattled loose, The boy crumpled with a muffled groan.
Another came in from his side, David pivoted, lifted his knee, and smashed it into the attacker's thigh, The kid buckled, David followed up with a punch straight into his chest, sending him sprawling back into two more behind him.
But there were too many.
One caught David's shoulder from behind, jerking him back, A boot slammed into his ribs, once, twice, the pain blooming deep and sharp, Another swung a pipe, catching him across the back, The impact dropped him to a knee, breath hitching in his throat.
David spat blood onto the dirt, feeling the Blood from his tongue. He tasted his own heartbeat.
Another came charging, David surged up, ramming his shoulder into the guy's gut, lifting him off the ground, and tossing him over his hip, The boy landed hard, gasping for air.
A fist clipped David's temple, Another cracked against his ribs, sending him staggering back into the peeling fence of his yard, He wiped a line of blood from his nose with the back of his hand.
One boy rushed him, swinging a bat clumsily overhead, David stepped in, too close for the bat to arc, he buried an elbow in the kid's stomach, then slammed his head forward, The sharp crack of skull meeting nose echoed across the street, The boy dropped with a pitiful whimper.
Two more came at once, David ducked under a swing, caught another by the collar, slammed his knee into his face, and spun to backhand the second, Another fist landed in his side, pain flared hot, stealing his breath but he pushed through it, driving his elbow back to silence the attacker with a grunt.
He didn't stop, Couldn't stop, Every swing that landed on him sparked something, Every blow he returned carried all the years they'd stolen from him, all the fear they'd carved into his bones.
He slammed one boy against the fence so hard the old wood cracked, He dropped another with a vicious kick to the knee that buckled his leg sideways, He caught a pipe mid-swing and wrenched it free, tossing it aside before burying his fist into the last boy's gut.
When it was done, the yard was littered with groaning bodies, some curled up, others sprawled out cold, David stood in the middle of it all, chest heaving, sweat and blood dripping from his split lip, Bruises purple along his arms and ribs, but he was still standing.
Only Mark remained.
Mark had stumbled back into the street, eyes wide, feet frozen in place, His hands trembled at his sides, The grin was gone now, all that remained was.... fear.
David stepped over a groaning boy and locked eyes with him, Step by step, he closed the distance, Each step crunched slow and deliberate, like a predator that knew its prey had nowhere left to run.
Mark tried to speak, his mouth opened but no words came, His legs twitched like he wanted to bolt but his knees wouldn't obey.
David stopped inches from him, His shadow swallowed Mark whole under the light.
"You know what the difference is, Mark?" David said, voice low and hoarse but steady. "You thought your father's money, your cheap power, your little army… you thought all of it made you untouchable."
He leaned in, his forehead brushing Mark's as he hissed through his teeth, "You forgot What i said last time… a man who has nothing left to lose, has nothing left to fear."
Mark flinched, his breath hitching.
David pulled back just enough to look him dead in the eyes, then drove his fist into Mark's gut, folding him like paper, Mark gagged, knees hitting the dirt with a dull thud.
He fell forward, coughing and choking on bile, hands clutching at the dirt.
David didn't bother looking at him again, He just stepped past him, ignoring the pain.
Behind him, Mark's whimpers mixed with the distant sound of sirens, someone must've called the cops when the fight started.
David didn't care.
He stepped over the bodies in street, grabbed his jacket off and left.