Hey :)

It always seems to take me ages to get these chapters up. I can be staring at all my notes for days on end and not come up with anything new and then one day I'll sit at my computer and it will all come pouring out of nowhere.

Anyway.

Here's Chapter Nine. Hope you enjoy :)

"...Truly wrong. Not just to protect the sanctity of marriage, but to also keep the message clear: That homosexuality is despicable and not a lifestyle choice that should be glorified, or rewarded..."

Blaine was reading from his English paper robotically, occasionally stumbling and stuttering over the words, a clear sign to Kurt that he absolutely in no uncertain terms did not agree with the words he was saying. It didn't matter though; Bronson, the English teacher, was smiling in the manner of a proud parent and, even more disgustingly, Joseph was nodding his head thoughtfully, fully absorbing Blaine's words like he truly believed in them. Kurt's hands involuntarily balled into fists at the sight and he had to restrain himself and unclench them. If he got caught acting aggressively by Bronson, he might not get the chance to get to Gym today.

And boy, did Kurt want to get to Gym today. He needed to. Never a former fan of confrontation, and someone who would always use cutting words rather than his fists, he now had a complete change of heart about fighting and violence, especially towards the boy in question. Joseph had to pay. And he had to be the one to make him. He was not scared going into this fight and the thought of him losing didn't cross his mind for even a flicker of a second. Dalton had somewhat successfully managed to grind him down, but the fire in his soul was not extinguished just yet. If anything, now that he had a chance to beat the shit out of Joseph, it had been re-ignited, and he felt more energised than ever. If it took a little acting to make that happen, then so be it, although it was with much reluctance that Kurt now too started to nod along with Blaine's words and looked like he was agreeing with Blaine.

"...Since the ban on homosexual sex was lifted, the increase on AIDS and other gay-related illnesses have been staggering. Acts of paedophilia has risen by forty-three percent and the number of people identifying themselves as homosexual has risen by twenty-two percent. These figures indicate that if homosexual marriage was to be legalised, then in ten years time, we would see seventy percent of people in the United States infected with AIDS and fifty-one percent of individuals identifying themselves as homosexual. This also means that in ten years time, going by these figures, one in three children under the age of ten will be the victim of a molestation or rape from a homosexual and will most likely end up homosexual themselves..."

What the FUCK was Blaine talking about? Though Kurt obviously didn't blame him in any way - they were all forced to do these reports and had all been instructed to include the statistics that Bronson had given them, no matter how inaccurate the Dalton boys personally thought they were. Bronson may as well have plucked random percentages from a hat, which Kurt reckoned he might have done, though Bronson told them that the figures had been obtained from a reliable source. The teachers often referred to 'reliable sources' when giving lessons on certain subjects they felt they could be challenged on. Kurt didn't see the point - it wasn't like any of them were brave (or stupid) enough to stand up in class and demand to know exactly where these facts were from in fear of getting punished. The reliable source was most likely Principal Lowry, ordering the teachers to push forward his outdated and made up propaganda onto the students.

"...In conclusion, there should be no doubt in anybody's minds that legalising gay marriage is not only wrong, but a clear threat to the good and clean living society. Legalising gay marriage will bring down civilisation."

Blaine shuffled his feet in awkward shame as Bronson, Joseph and a few others clapped enthusiastically while the rest followed in their trail half-heartedly. Kurt didn't want to applaud Blaine's speech at all, though he did so all the same. Anything to get his hands on Joseph…

Kurt's eyes remained on the back of Blaine's head. They were standing in line in the corridor waiting to go into the Dining Hall for lunch. Dormitory Eleven were heading in in single file, watched by their mentor, Jason Tierney who was standing at the entrance to the hall. When the last boy had gone in, Tierney followed directly after him and then Sayeed Kahn, the mentor for Dormitory Twelve, took his place at the entrance and then instructed his own dormitory to follow suit. Everything at Dalton was done in military precision. Kurt was watching this all too familiar routine with full concentration - anything to keep himself from reacting to the taunting behind him.

"Humm-el's gonna ge-et it. Humm-el's gonna ge-et it."

It was barely louder than a whisper, but the sing-song voice was getting under Kurt's skin to the point that he wanted nothing more than to turn around and start a fight with Joseph right there and then. But he couldn't. He'd get his chance. He just had to play it cool and not react and he would get his chance.

"I'm going to kill you, Kurt," Joseph whispered hoarsely. "No holds barred. I am going to fucking kill you."

He would not react.

"My fists are going to be fucking dripping in your blood."

Kurt concentrated on the curls on the back of Blaine's head. Karofsky had taken Kahn's place now and was motioning Dormitory Thirteen, headed by William Crewe, to enter the hall.

"I'm going to stomp on your head until your skull caves in, Hummel. Your family won't even recognise you when they come to collect your body. If they bother to collect -"

At that precise moment, Kurt almost lost all inhibitions and was just about to spin around and confront Joseph, but something rushed past him and the blurred figure of Karofsky was at their side in an instant, shoulders squared back, rage on his face and his nostrils flaring dangerously. For once, it was not directed at Kurt; Karofsky drew himself up to full height and used his broad chest to knock Joseph slightly out of line. Karofsky stared down at him threateningly and it was with a twinge of satisfaction that from the corner of his eye, Kurt saw a look of utmost dread on Joseph's face at incurring the wrath of their Mentor.

"You got somethin' to say, Maloney?" Karofsky snarled. Kurt stopped himself from snickering as he heard Joseph audibly gulp.

"N-no... sir," Joseph stammered. Ugh, what a creep Joseph was; sucking up to Karofsky by calling him 'sir.' He sounded just like William. William had stopped at the entrance since Karofsky had moved from his position at the door, and was now unsure of what he was supposed to do. Kurt shot him a dark look when their eyes made contact and was pleased to see William look down at his feet in shame.

"So I'm hearing things then, Maloney?" Karofsky continued to press. "I'm going crazy, obviously. Is that what you're telling me, huh? That you didn't say anything?"

"Yes sir, I-I mean no sir," Joseph faltered desperately. "I-I mean yes, I did say something, sir."

"So what did you say, fucker?" Karofsky never let things go. He pushed and he pushed until he got an answer. And even sometimes then, he would continue to push until he got the answer he wanted to hear.

"I - I was just telling Hummel I was going to make him pay in Gym class today... Banks has arranged for us to fight," Joseph admitted nervously. His eyes were fixated onto the floor, not daring to meet the disgusted gaze of Karofsky. Though Kurt was praying beyond belief that Karofsky wouldn't haul Joseph out of line right there and then, thus taking his chance away at destroying him after lunch was over, he still felt like celebrating at the sight of Joseph cowering away under the pressure of Karofsky.

The burly Mentor appraised Joseph for a moment, before the look of disgust slowly started to fade. He glanced at Kurt, his lips slowly forming into a smirk before he looked back to Joseph. A surge of anger rushed through Kurt's body as the realisation hit him, but he did not react and instead did his best to swallow it down. But it was unfair. The anger disappearing from Karofsky after Joseph had told him what he had said was an obvious signal to Kurt that Karofsky approved of this and would no doubt be willing to let Joseph off the hook for talking without permission - which was usually punishable by anything from being swatted on the bare ass with a cane to being beaten to within an inch of your life. Evidently, it seemed that Karofsky would be willing to forgo both of these punishments and any punishments in between, after having learned the topic of conversation from Joseph.

Karofsky dismissed them both with a single nod of approval toward Joseph before he made his way back to his position at the door and backhanded William right across the face, angrily telling him to get inside and berating him for 'just standing there like some stupid sonofabitch cocksucking faggot.'

The rules of Dalton, Kurt mused to himself, had to be obeyed at all times, but only except when they didn't.

As if this place couldn't get any worse. But it was all part of Dalton. The hostility he felt towards Joseph was not just down to circumstances or clashes of personality and it wasn't just down to the fact that Joseph was a sneaky, two-faced bastard either. All these hostilities, all of this general uneasiness and not knowing what was coming round the corner, all of these injustices and regular and irregular punishments were all carefully orchestrated to keep Dalton remained as a highly toxic environment to live in. Not only was there resentment towards the establishment; the teachers and the mentors, but also resentment within the students themselves. Some were relentlessly beat down while others had a blind eye turned and when this was coming from the same member of staff for the same rule break, it was inevitable to cause some friction within the students. Late night dormitory brawling was not uncommon at Dalton. The injuries were hardly ever looked into though.

Kurt changed into his Gym clothes (a Dalton-approved tracksuit with plain black Dalton-approved sneakers) quickly and efficiently. There was nothing different nor additional he had to wear for this fight. He certainly didn't have to worry about any protective headgear, mouth guards, or boxing gloves or anything like that. Banks was old school. When he said boxing, he meant bare knuckle style boxing, and probably wouldn't allow the fight to stop until one of them was lying in a pool of their own blood, literally bleeding to death.

After he had changed (he was one of the first to do so, and was even finished before he had chance to feel uncomfortable that Banks was staring at them in unconcealed lust, licking his lips at the sight of the naked, teenage flesh) he had made his way into the Gym and walked over to wall furthest opposite to the entrance. The Gym was a decent sized space; it had a rather high ceiling and the walls were painted a pristine white, though the paint was chipping away for the most part - the result of boys bodies being slammed up against walls ruthlessly by teachers and mentors alike. Unlike usually though, the Gym today was devoid of any type of equipment in there and as Kurt walked over to the wall, the footfall of his steps reverberated around the room.

He reached the wall and was now leaning his back against it, arms by his sides and eyes locked onto the door. The students were coming in in drips and drabs, some alone, some in small groups, though none of them were talking, of course. When Blaine entered, he made his way nervously to Kurt, who caught the millions of questions that he wasn't allowed to ask in Blaine's eyes. He was so close to getting his hands on Joseph, he didn't want to lose this opportunity now, so he didn't even give Blaine a small smile, or nod of encouragement. He'd let him know afterwards that he had been fine all along.

William had entered and was looking at Kurt in pure fear. Kurt wasn't sure whether William was scared for him or of him but he didn't particularly care either way. And if he managed to give William a sly punch to the gut when nobody was looking, well, all the better...

More students continued to file in and Kurt locked eyes on each one of them, dismissing them when he saw that they were not the target he was after. Banks entered next, who stared at him with what looked like confused interest, blatantly looking him up and down, his head cocked slightly to one side as though seeing something for the first time. And then, the last to enter, flanked by his two smaller henchmen Ralph Smith and Scott Cunningham, was Joseph. And upon taking Kurt in and obviously realising that he was absolutely ready for this fight, the seemingly permanent smirk on his face and the cocky swag in the way that he walked all but evaporated before Kurt's very eyes. It seemed that Joseph had finally realised that Kurt was not a person to fuck with.

Banks looked like he was about to wet himself with glee as he shut the door behind the trio and forcefully propelled Joseph near the centre of the room.

"I know you were all expecting dodgeball today," Banks announced to the class importantly, his gravely voice echoing off the walls, "But we experienced a slight... shall we say, technical hitch. Normal service is expected to resume as normal." He glared around the class to indicate that what he just said was meant to be a joke and so they laughed, feebly and obligingly. It wasn't really funny though; the prospect of dodgeball being resumed next week was not a prospect to look forward to. In the Dalton version of dodgeball, they used golf balls and instead of throwing them, they used slingshots. Two guys were rumoured to have each lost an eye from the 'sport'.

Banks motioned to Kurt and Kurt pushed himself from the wall and made his way over to the centre of the room where the rest of the class were congregating, with Blaine following in his path. He noticed that Joseph was beginning to sweat and looked very nervous indeed. Good. He even stepped back a bit slightly when Kurt made his way over to him and stood face to face, just inches apart, never breaking eye contact with him. The coward looked away first, craning his neck up to Banks, no doubt hoping that for whatever crazy reason, the teacher would call the whole thing off.

But Banks was having none of it. Instructing the class to spread out and make a large circle, he held one of the shoulders of each boy at arms length, securing them in place as the circle was formed around them.

"You'll fight until the other one's unconscious or until I tell you to stop, you understand?" Banks roared. Kurt nodded, though he wasn't looking at him, he was looking straight at Joseph. Joseph looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

Banks nodded once more, let them both go, and integrated himself into the circle for a ring side seat. "Go!" he instructed.

For a moment, both boys just stood there, fists up defensively, waiting for the other to make a move. Kurt moved forward slightly, only for Joseph to move back slightly further. Kurt moved forward again, more of a lunge this time, hoping he would enclose him against the wall of the other boys behind him, but Joseph side stepped at the last moment, drew back his foot, and kicked Kurt roughly in the side of the ribs before the smaller boy could bring down his arms to defend himself. The sound of Joseph's sneaker against Kurt's ribs was made to sound worse than it was as it bounced off the walls echoingly, but Kurt barely registered the pain and only winced slightly, before straightening up for another go. Joseph was skipping very lightly from foot to foot, energised by the general adrenalin of being in a fight, but also doing it because he now had some of his old cocky confidence back after having got the first hit in. Joseph tried to kick at Kurt again, in the same spot as before, but Kurt grabbed a hold of Joseph's ankle and before Joseph even had time to react, used the forceful grip he had on it to forcefully pull Joseph's wobbling stature forward towards him, followed with a solid punch to Joseph's jaw, causing the taller boy to stagger backwards straight onto his ass.

He didn't even give Joseph time to get up, let alone recover, before he was on him like a shot, standing over him, raining down punch after punch to Joseph's skull. It was so silent you could have heard a pin drop. Not that Kurt was a regular at fights, but the few he had been witness to involved a lot of shouting, and a lot of encouragement, hell, sometimes even terrorised screams alongside sickening laughs, but he had never actually seen a fight where everyone was deathly quiet, let alone be involved in one.

With no noise coming from the boys or Banks, the sound of knuckle connecting with flesh was echoing around the room and made the sound of every punch more obscene than the last. Joseph, for the moment, had given up on trying to fight back and was now curled in on himself, using his arms to protect his face and head from Kurt's fast and vicious punches. Kurt stopped punching him and grabbed at one of his forearms, intending to pull it away to stop him from using it as a shield and strike him properly in the face. He succeeded in pulling his arm out of the way and was satisfied to see his right eye already looking red but quick as a shot, Joseph had reached his free arm up and grabbed a tight fistful of Kurt's hair. Joseph started yanking, trying to pull him to the floor as Kurt was hunched over, kicking Joseph in his ribs to try to make him let go. Kurt lost the grip he had on Joseph's arm and Joseph quickly took the opportunity and grabbed his hair with the other hand as well, yanking it so hard that Kurt was forced to his knees.

Joseph scrambled up from underneath him. Kurt didn't even have time to see the sole of Joseph's sneaker coming towards his face, but it did so, and did it with a sickening crack he vaguely thought might have been the bones in his nose breaking. The action sent Kurt sprawling onto his back, his head spinning with dizziness. Kurt registered that his nose felt very hot before he actually registered the pain. As soon as it registered, an overwhelming wave of nausea washed over him and he thought he was going to be sick, especially when he started to feel the warm trickle of blood seeping from his nostrils. He then let out a cry of pain as Joseph stomped him hard directly on the gut not once, not twice, but three times. It had taken the breath completely out of him but there was still enough primal instinct inside of him to not give up yet. Joseph had raised his leg up again but before he could stamp it down on his stomach again, Kurt's arm shot up and he drove a fist straight into the crotch of Joseph. Joseph reacted instantly; backing away like a wounded animal, legs squeezed together and hands over his balls protectively, his face contorted in what would have been a comical expression if the circumstances were different.

Kurt rolled onto his front on all fours and managed to stand up, though his stomach was killing him from Joseph stomping him into the ground and his bloodied nose was now so bad, he could taste his blood on his lips. He staggered over to Joseph and attempted to deliver a punch to his face, but Joseph blocked it with one arm and immediately followed it up with a punch to Kurt's face with the other. It connected, hard, with Kurt's jaw, and it made his head snap sideways at the impact. He didn't have time to turn around before Joseph repeated the action, in exactly the same spot. The second punch got him off balance and Joseph shoulder tackled him and wrestled them both to the floor. Kurt fell to the floor on his back, bearing the full weight of Joseph on top of him. The back of his skull hit the cold floor and he saw stars for a moment. The weight on his stomach shifted; Joseph was now straddling him, effectively trapping him by kneeling on his shoulders. He smirked that infuriating cocky smirk of his and, almost calmly, grabbed a fistful of Kurt's hair and used it to wrench his head off the floor before he slammed it back down again.

Involuntarily, Kurt let out a groan. His eyes were shut, trying to block out the pain and from somewhere above him, he heard Joseph laugh. He forced his eyes open and saw Joseph grinning to their circle of spectators, before he jumped up quick as a flash, stepped to one side of him, drew back his leg and casually kicked Kurt's head as if it was a soccer ball. Kurt blacked out for a moment when Joseph's sneaker made impact. He was sure it was only for a split second, but everything felt like it was happening in slow motion for a moment. He spotted Blaine out of the corner of his eye, eyes widened and mouth slightly parted in shock. He saw William, face screwed up and wincing, probably at the state of Kurt's face. He saw Banks, glaring down at them with his arms folded over his huge chest, smiling evilly at the carnage going on in front of him. The others were all looking very uncomfortable at having to have anything to do with this, with the exception of Ralph and Scott, who looked pleased for their friend.

"Get up."

For a second Kurt thought that it was someone willing him to do it to beat Joseph, but then realised it was Joseph himself that said it. Kurt felt himself being forcefully sat up; Joseph had a grip on the front of Kurt's tracksuit jacket and he stared woozily into Joseph's eyes before the other boy sent him sprawling onto his back again with another swinging punch to the side of his face. Kurt coughed out blood onto the floor. His whole body felt like it was in pain and yet he couldn't give up the fight yet. Especially as Joseph was acting so cocky now, playing up to the crowd after he had managed to force Kurt into this vulnerable position. It made Kurt sick to see him looking up to Banks for approval and a rush of anger coursed through the entire length of his body. As Joseph grabbed at the front of his tracksuit with one hand, getting ready to punch him in the face again with the other, Kurt leaned forward and sank his teeth into Joseph's arm in a vice like grip. This emitted a howl of pain from the taller boy, who immediately tried to yank his arm away but this only served to cause more pain to himself because Kurt had clamped on and was refusing to let go. Joseph started to strike him in the face causing Kurt to eventually release his grip and Joseph got his arm out of the way in a shot, nursing it towards his chest. Kurt seized the opportunity and managed to get to his feet. Joseph was standing too, teeth gritted in anger and looking at Kurt like he was going to kill him. Joseph kicked out but Kurt dodged out of the way and kicked him instead, managing to catch him on his thigh. Joseph attempted a punch but again, Kurt managed to avoid it and punched him straight him in the face. Joseph let out an angry hiss of pain and ran at Kurt like a madman, but as he reached him, Kurt grabbed his shoulders and used the grip to spin Joseph around and forcefully throw him to the floor.

Now he had him right where he wanted him. Kurt stood over Joseph, drew his leg back and booted him right in the ribs, a smirk appearing on his own face as he saw the pained expression on Joseph's face. He repeated this action twice more, his smirk becoming more evident after each time Joseph let out a groan of discomfort. He half-rolled, half-kicked Joseph onto his back and then sat on top of him, keeping Joseph's arms out of the way by pinning them to his sides and then straddling him so he couldn't move them from under his weight. From there, he proceeded to punch Joseph repeatedly in the face with both hands, one after the other. Each time his fists hit, Joseph's head was forcefully knocked from side to side thanks to the impact of Kurt's punches. Although it was painful, Kurt relished the dull ache he felt in his fists from being sore and worn out from punching him so hard. His fists had blood on them and so did Joseph's face and he wasn't sure where it was coming from and didn't care, as he just repeatedly pounded on him. Joseph had given up fighting and wasn't even attempting to shift Kurt off of him; he couldn't, he was just too dazed. Kurt had stopped punching him in a frenzied state and was now drawing his fists back fully to strike him with a full impact each time.

After one punch where he was sure he felt one of Joseph's teeth dislodge against his knuckles, he was vaguely aware of shouting behind him. He didn't stop though; he was completely in his zone, and continued to beat him in the face. Joseph's eyes were no longer open and if the idea that he may have knocked him unconscious flitted through Kurt's mind, then he certainly didn't care about that small fact as he delivered punch after punch. He thought he felt someone grabbing the back of his shirt but didn't break his concentration and continued to punch Joseph in the face with both fists, right, left, right, left, methodically and rhythmically. As he drew his right arm back to hit him again, a strong grip held it back preventing him from doing so. So Kurt started to smash just his left fist into Joseph's face. His punches were not as strong with this hand so he delivered each blow quickly, trying to cause as much damage as possible. After a few hits, he found his left arm being restrained in the same manner before he was hauled off of Joseph, backwards, into a sitting position on the floor. Kurt was squirming and he tried to break free so he could beat on Joseph some more, but the grip holding him in place was too strong.

Joseph was on the ground, completely still, completely bloodied up and completely unconscious. Ralph and Scott had broken the circle and were crouched over him looking worried. Banks was stood near them, one eyebrow slightly raised in an amused expression. Kurt glanced behind him and realised he was being restrained by Blaine and Anthony. He composed himself and instantly relaxed in their arms.

He had done it. He glanced towards Joseph again. The Gym was still deathly quiet and yet at the same time, everything seemed loud. The quiet murmurs of 'Doctor Lawrence' from Scott seemed to echo around the room and as Kurt stared at the unconscious figure of Joseph, he knew he should have felt somewhat bad (because despite everything he had been through at Dalton, he was still Kurt Hummel) but he didn't. And that unsettled him.

All the same, as Blaine patted his shoulder comfortingly and muttered into his ear that 'he'd won', he saw Scott run out of the Gym to fetch the Dalton doctor, while Ralph kneeled next to Joseph, attempting to wake him up and at that moment Kurt didn't feel like a winner in the slightest. He was turning into something he was not, and he didn't like it. And yet, if he didn't adapt, how the hell could he be expected to survive this place?

"Nice job, Hummel," Banks said, breaking into his thoughts. Kurt glanced up at him and saw Banks was sneering. "Never thought you had it in you."

Kurt swallowed hard and looked away guiltily. He suddenly didn't feel so positive about what had taken place anymore. He glanced at his hands before shutting his eyes, trying to block out the fact that they were covered in blood, just like they'd been on that particular day, the day which had led to his being transferred here...

A very abrupt ending, so I apologise. The teasing won't go on forever - the full explanation as to Kurt's transfer (and how his mom died) will be revealed, but I'm not sure when.

Thank you so much to everybody that reviewed! Those who left a signed review should have recieved their reply by now! And to those that didn't, my responses below:

anonymous: Yes, this story has been moving along quite slowly. Which is quite strange seeing as the entire timeline of this story from chapter one to nine has not been that long. I find it strange myself to write it, so I hope it doesn't seem horribly dragged out and boring for the readers. But there has been some slight revenge for Kurt in this chapter so I hope this has pleased you, and there will be definitely more retribution to come. Thanks for the review!

Loveena: I love you! You always have such nice things to say =] I'm glad the last chapter's perspective opened up your eyes (and other readers, going by the reviews) to William and Banks. I was quite surprised though that you and others felt even more hatred towards Banks. I don't think he has been even slightly redeemed, but his background story made him a little more sympathetic in my eyes, though that just might be me! And yeah, poor William :( Also, I won't say definitely not, but right now, I have no plans to write a chapter from Joseph's POV. Thanks for the review! :)

SO. Wes hasn't been seen since Chapter Seven, when he and Kurt were summoned to the principal's office after getting caught out of bed after hours by Karofsky. Kurt endured his punishment and has come back, but what of Wes? Hmm...

In the last chapter we saw the brief introduction of the Warblers through William's eyes. And although it may or may not happen in the next chapter, they WILL be making a reappearance. But is this good or bad news for Kurt?

The Ring (from Chapter One) and the man operating it (Dr. Lawrence) will also be making a reappearance. All I can say is ouch.

I'll try and update soon! And again, thanks for all the reviews and the love and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and namely, the fight xxx

Until next time

Johnny :)