5: The Fight

Icescar was unprepared for the sudden attack, falling back and colliding with Jadeclaw's bed as Redstripe's punch made impact. He tried to block it with his arms, but was not quick enough. Redstripe punched him again in his left arm, very hard.

Meanwhile, Jadeclaw had come up behind Redstripe, and kicked him violently on his back, sending a sharp jolt of pain through his body. He whirled around, bringing his fist up to try and whack Jadeclaw on the side of his head, but wasn't quick enough. Jadeclaw used the short time in which Redstripe was vulnerable to duck under his fist and throw a hard punch at his chest. Suddenly, Icescar appeared next to Jadeclaw and kicked him in the balls, causing him to fall to the floor and make a small whimpering sound. Redstripe was thankful that Jadeclaw was temporarily down; he had a couple seconds to recover from the sharp pain in his back and in his chest. But Icescar didn't stop. He then pounced on Redstripe unexpectedly, giving him no time to dodge or block his attack. Icescar was fighting like a maniac, clearly desperate to win as he threw several wild, random punches at Redstripe. Although his attacks were random and not very skillful, Icescar punched fast and hard. Redstripe took at least ten blows to his face, chest, and arms before he had a chance to react. His whole upper body stung, but he had to keep going. He needed to win this fight. It was all he could think about, he was in a state of pure desperation. If he got grounded, he'd never be able to go to that party Baloneystar mentioned.

Finally, there was a small gap in between Icescar's punches, and Redstripe pushed himself up off the floor as quickly as possible. At the same time, Jadeclaw was also getting up, and heading straight for Icescar. Now that he was distracted, Redstripe had a chance to recover. He took a few breaths and watched as Jadeclaw beat the shit out of Icescar, meowing triumphantly when blood started leaking out of one of Icescar's wounds. Redstripe didn't want to help him, but he had to make sure Jadeclaw lost; the gray-furred catperson was vulnerable right now. Redstripe quickly planned out his attack and then leapt at Jadeclaw, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him down to the ground. He then proceeded to aim a hard punch at Jadeclaw's face, but Jadeclaw blocked the attack with impressive speed.

Icescar, meanwhile, looked like he couldn't go on much longer. He'd gotten punched nearly everywhere, and blood was pooling up around him, trickling out of his nasty scratches. Two of his fingers had been broken. Now, Icescar had broken his finger bones before, but not in a fight like this.

Turning back to the fight, Redstripe threw a punch at the side of Jadeclaw's head, bringing his fist outwards and quickly slamming it into his skull, right above his ear. Jadeclaw winced and tried to get up, but Redstripe had him pinned down, and he needed time to recover. Redstripe laughed at his "friend" triumphantly, feeling very good that he had pretty much won this fight.

But suddenly, he felt a hard push from his side, and the breath was driven out of him as he clumsily tumbled onto the ground. Icescar, although he'd almost lost the fight, had him pinned down.

"Fuck you, bitch." Redstripe snarled into Icescar's face. Icescar seemed unaffected by his words; he continued his attack.

Icescar suddenly brought Redstripe up onto his feet. Redstripe saw an opportunity to strike, so he aimed a blow at Icescar's face. But it was no use. Icescar grabbed him by the shoulders, and threw him against the wall, his back slamming against it. He cried out in pain, it was unbearable.

Redstripe found himself sinking to the floor, in too much pain to realize he was conceding.

Icescar kicked him once to make sure he was done, and then leaned down to say something to him.

"You were the one who got us into this, bitch." He snarled. "You were the one who begged me for those damn vapes. You were the one who traded with me most of the time. You even started this fight, goddammit. You were fucking reckless. No wonder we're caught. You got us into this mess, Redstripe. It's only fair that you should suffer the consequences."

Then Icescar walked away.

The next day

Redstripe didn't know where he was at first. But when his vision cleared, he recognized his room, at his own house.

Man, I must have got beat pretty bad if I couldn't even recognize my own room, he thought.

He tried to get up, but he was too tired still, and he probably shouldn't when he still had so many injuries. He looked around the room and outside of the room, at the small portion of the rest of the house he could see out of the half-open door. There was nobody else here, or in this area of the house, just Redstripe. But there were three things on his desk: a note, a Ziploc bag, and five hundred dollars.

Redstripe took the note first; it was probably meant to be read first.

It was a piece of paper folded in half, and on the front it said "I'm sorry."

He unfolded the note.

Hi, Redstripe.

Jadeclaw won the fight.

I just wanted to say I'm sorry. About everything. About what I said in the fight. About getting you into vaping. About all the things I did wrong.

You probably saw the other things I left for you. I want you to put those vapes in the Ziploc bag and return them to me tonight, or mail them to me. The money is for any medical stuff you need.

Don't turn yourself in. I'm doing it alone. I'll find a way, I promise.

But, I am sincerely sorry for all of this bullshit.

-your friend Icescar