did i hurt anybody? did i hurt anybody? from devon! ( screwdecorum )
you're single-mindedly, entirely hellbent on getting devon out of this fucked up situation... preferably, entirely unscathed physically, so long as you can help it. the last thing you'd ever want is to have her blood staining your hands, resting underneath your fingernails, unable to be scrubbed clean no matter how many times you wash your hands, which is followed by the ashy taste of rot resting in your lungs. for as long as you've existed, you know by now that its never preceded by it. the rot leads to guilt, which sticks to your already heavily traumatized mind like tar, infecting every inch of both your waking & sleeping minds - human & not.
YOU'RE NOT GOING TO LOOK BACK. YOU CAN'T. LOOKING BACK WOULD MAKE IT ALL TOO REAL THAT COBRA KAI IS GAINING GROUND, THAT YOU'RE LOSING IT. there's not enough time to look back, either. every passing second counts, & you need to take advantage of it before it gets you or devon hurt, or cornered. shit. not good. there's strength in numbers, & numbers are not on your side — neither is time.
all the world will be your enemy, & when they catch you, they will kill you… but first they must catch you.
your existences have always felt the way sickly-sweet, choking, syrupy-thick honey does — persisting in the roofs of esurient mouths, overwhelming the tastebuds, clogging the throat & sealing the lungs. how fitting that this lifetime is no different.
you wonder if you'll eventually see this situation play back to you in the form of a nightmare, with more & more gruesome outcomes, whatever the reality will be. it wouldn't be the first time it's happened, it won't be the last. there will never BE a last time. not with your immortal existence. your creators will never grant you reprieve.
such is the curse of your unending existence, ethan wilson !
with every step you take away from the pack of brainwashed teenagers, they close the gap with two steps, taunting you, calling your name, & devon's, telling you that you're losing ground, that it'll be over soon. ...whatever the hell that means. nothing good, obviously. the twisted look in kenny's eyes upon cobra kai's approach had been enough for you to INSTINCTIVELY grab devon's hand in yours, in preparation to run. then nolan, your own karate rival ( in a similar vein as sam is to tory, as miguel had been to robby ), suggested they hunt you down. their reasoning involves something about getting revenge for your boyfriend ( robby ) abandoning them.
❝ go, go, go ! ❞ you shout over the burning in your lungs, over the anger & sadistic delight you can clearly sense from the cobra kai students, even without needing to use your abilities, ❝ don't stop, devon ! keep running ! ❞
the thrill of the hunt & revenge keeps cobra kai going. it backs you & devon into a corner.
you hadn't been anticipating an all-out ambush with devon by your side, spearheaded by none other than kenny... but the seeds had to have been planted by silver or that newcomer, sensei kim, no doubt. there's no other explanation, as far as you're concerned. if you were alone, that might be better so you can give into your... darker impulses... but with devon here, you have to make sure she's safe. scaring her is out of the question, too. so is revealing your eldritch secret.
you half-push, half-yank @screwdecorum forward, so she's in front of you, watching her back while she runs forward on the sidewalk, feet pounding on the pavement. you force your legs to move faster despite the semi-faux burning in them. you barely remember that you need to breathe around her to keep up the illusion that you're human.
you run through the dark, thankfully empty streets of the valley, cursing softly as you hear cobra kai follow the two of you, hot on your heels. you need to figure out how to lose the group of at least ten cobra kai students, for devon's sake more than your own. HER SAFETY MATTERS MORE THAN YOURS, just like with all of your friends/karate allies, & boyfriend. but what worries you is that there has to be more students on the way. ten versus two seems hardly fair, but because you're pretending to be human, you can't single-handedly fight them & win. besides, you don't know if you'd be able to stop yourself from using less than a fraction of your genuine strength on them - you might wind up killing one of them on accident, & then where would you be ?
you'd be no better than terry fucking silver.
❝ did i hurt anybody? did i hurt anybody? ❞ she asks. you shake your head slightly but don't verbally reply - not yet, at least. it's not exactly safe to reply yet.
if anything, you're glad at least one of you is terrified of the outcome of hurting a human... even if it falls under self-defense, because you're literally being chased by cobra kai right now. you glance sharply at the back of her head as you exhale heavily, dark brown hues widening slightly when you hear kyler laugh from somewhere behind your current position. if you were human, you'd have felt fear. but all you feel is anger. the mounting bloodlust makes a jarring reappearance, anger broiling underneath your skin, setting every neuron in your brain ablaze. them going after you is expected. it's obvious. it's pretty much routine, at this point. YOU'RE THE ENEMY OF COBRA KAI. you always have been, being a member of miyagi-do. you're fucking dating the prince-cobra-turned-enemy. but devon is different. or so you thought. but the thing is, she hasn't hurt anyone ! why are they going after her ? is it because she left the dojo ? that doesn't make it okay. NONE of this is okay. how dare they go after her. devon is your friend, your little sister figure.
it makes you furious, & that much more determined to protect her from them.
you turn a corner into a dark alley, pulling devon onto the ground & crouching next to her - one side leads to another street, so it's not an enclosed space. your backs being literally to the wall wouldn't be good. sweat makes your brown hair limp, sticking to the sides of your face, which you stubbornly push back with your hand. your whole body seems to burn from the inside out, supernova bright, twice as intense. you exhale heavily, raising a hand to settle on devon's shoulder, attempting to comfort her from where you're crouched in the dark alley. you can't sense the enemy nearby - you think they'd gotten lost, the shadows had worked in your favor. they're getting further away, now, you think. you jump on the opportunity to speak.
❝ no, you're okay, you're okay. it's not your fault. ❞ you reply, referencing her earlier question. ❝ if anything, it's purely my fault. i d-didn't know they'd come up to us like that. i'm sorry. ❞ you're downright miserable, always so shockingly quick to take the blame for situations outside of your control. it's as instinctual & unconscious as a human needing to breathe. you quickly shove your earplugs back into your ears because they'd started falling out. you keep your eyes on hers, blinking rapidly as your mind races a hundred miles a second, faster than your heartbeat screams in your ears. you try to comfort her despite the circumstances, because of the circumstances.
❝ i swear to god, i won't let that happen. but i need you to do something for me, devs. ❞ you start, reaching a hand into the pocket of your jeans. you retrieve your phone, unlocking it, scrolling to your emergency contact list. robby is first on your list, your dad & mom are second & third respectively, sam fourth, miguel fifth, hawk sixth, mr. larusso & johnny seventh & eighth respectively... so on, so forth. you push the phone into her hands before she can speak. your hand removes itself from devon's shoulder to cup the side of her face gently, so she can look back up at you. your brown eyes are full of an intensity that you've rarely displayed before around anyone. you're dead serious.
❝ call robby, call sam. let them know what's going on. do you think you can do that for me ? ❞ you don't wait for a reply before gently squeezing her shoulder. you rise from the pavement, breathing heavily as you take a step forward. ❝ i'll lead them away. ❞ you tell her. your voice is alarmingly steady; you're not intent on leaving room for her to protest. you've already made up your mind on what you're going to do. ❝ i'll be fine. ❞ you can't guarantee that.
