"Hey!" a voice screamed over the speakers. Everyone stopped moving, startled. "Wait for us," the voice said. Kids ran to the field from all directions. Football players, cheerleaders, hockey players, soccer players…kids from the Math Club, kids from the Spanish Club, A/V kids; kids that didn't belong to any club at all. Soon they surrounded the group that was surrounding Finn, Rachel, Sam and Mike.
"Now while you've been getting your crazy on," the voice said, "we've been watching. And you know what? This shit ain't happening. We're tired of the bullying. We're tired of the bunch of you acting like you're the only ones that matter. And me? I'm tired of worrying about which one of my friends you're going to hurt next." Mercedes stepped out of the announcer's booth, microphone in hand. "Our town may be falling down around us, and every adult here may have lost their damn minds…but we're not giving up."
Tina rolled Artie onto the field, the rest of the girls behind them. "If you want to fight, you have to fight all of us!" Artie yelled.
Josh looked towards his friends. They'd spent the past few days preparing for this. They wanted blood. "Kill them all!" he screamed.
Finn, Sam and Mike put their backs to Rachel to protect her the best they could. Rachel felt like she was in a movie; everything was surreal. None of this could really be happening. People weren't really trying to kill them. That just didn't happen.
Finn hit the first boy that ran up to him with the shovel, dropping him. He swung the shovel back around, hitting the guy closest to him, but not as hard. More guys came and Finn held them off as much as he could, but he could tell it was a losing battle. The idea of any of them hurting Rachel kept him fighting.
Santana and Brittany fought their way through the crowd, trying to reach Rachel and the others. A boy hit Brittany in the face and she fell to the ground. Seeing red, Santana jumped on the boys back, wrapping her arms around his neck. She held on until someone hit her across the back with something hard. She fell to the ground, moaning. She looked up to see the boy who'd hit Brittany move to kick her. Brittany tackled him, knocking him to the ground. Santana smiled as she got up slowly. They were just getting started.
For 17 years of her life, Rachel had made sure to never hurt another living creature. She went out of her way to avoid physical conflict. When Mike went down and the guy who'd hit him started kicking him in the ribs, Rachel swung the bat she was holding as hard as she could without a moments hesitation. When push came to shove, Rachel discovered that she would fight to protect her friends.
Someone knocked Artie out of his chair. Lying on the ground, he refused to give up. He grabbed the legs of their attackers, slowing them down. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he bit several of them. You gotta do what you gotta do.
The battle waged on. Mercedes had made her way to the field and was swinging a folding chair she'd found in the announcers booth at anyone who came near her. A boy ran up to her and stopped. Mercedes cocked her eyebrow at him, chair pulled back. He shook his head and ran off.
Lauren ducked her head, ramming into any and everyone in her way. A cheerleader jumped on her back and she chuckled. "You're a brave little bitch, I'll give you that," she said, reaching for the girl's hair. "Too bad I have to break you." She pulled the girl over her shoulder and slammed her on the ground. The girl looked up in horror. Lauren just smiled.
Tina was fighting two girls she'd never even met, but it was obvious they hated her. "Freak!" one of the girls screamed, slapping her.
"I don't even know you!" she yelled, tackling the girl and hitting her. The other girl grabbed her by the hair, pulling her off of her friend.
"We don't have to know you to know you're a freak!" she said.
Lauren ran up behind the girl and hit her, knocking her down. She winked at Tina. "Beat their asses." Tina smiled, nodding.
They weren't winning, but they weren't losing. They were holding their own. And then it happened.
"No!" Rachel screamed, her voice echoing across the field. Many of the kids fighting looked up.
Zeke was holding Rachel as she kicked and screamed, trying to reach Finn. Finn was on his knees, shaking his head and trying to figure out what had happened. Tom had picked up Mike's shovel and swung it at Rachel. Finn, seeing the movement, had pushed her out of the way, getting hit in the side of the head.
Josh moved in front of Finn. "Looks like we do win," he told the boy. He looked out into the crowd. "This took longer than I thought it was going to, but we got what we wanted." He looked down at Finn. "We got you."
Rachel fought harder than she had in her life. She couldn't stand by and watch them hurt Finn. "Bring her here," Josh told Zeke.
Through pain glazed eyes, Finn watched Josh jerk Rachel's head back. "Hold her still," he told his friend. "You see this?" he asked Finn. "This is mine." He leaned over Rachel and bit her neck. Rachel screamed in anger and in pain, trying to kick him. Josh smiled. "Just imagine the fun she and I are going to have." He slapped her, watching Finn's face as he did so. "Doesn't that look like fun, Hudson? I bet there's been a time or two you've thought about slapping her." Looking back at Rachel, he backhanded her. "I sure do enjoy it."
"Rachel!" Santana screamed from inside the crowd.
Finn tried to stand up but didn't make it. Josh laughed, moving closer to him. "You lose," he said, punching Finn. Finn fell to the ground.
"Stop!" Rachel screamed. "Finn!"
Taking the shovel from Tom, Josh looked at Rachel. "Finn!" he mocked, swinging the shovel and hitting Finn. Hitting him again, Josh laughed at Rachel. "He's a hero, right?" Again and again he hit the other boy.
Rachel sobbed, unable to move. "Finn," she moaned.
Josh leaned down, looking at Finn. "Get up, hero," Josh told him. "You hear her calling for you, don't you?"
Finn blinked, pushing himself up shakily. His arms trembled and he couldn't breath. Josh laughed and kicked him in the stomach. Fire spread throughout Finn's body and he fell back down. His eyes met Rachel's. He could feel her fear.
Rachel closed her eyes and slumped forward, limp. "Damn, Josh, she fainted," Zeke said.
Josh turned around to check on Rachel. Finn spit blood out of his mouth. Using every ounce of strength he had left, he jumped up. He reached for the shovel Josh was holding; in his surprise, the other boy had loosened his grip. Pulling it back, Finn swung with all of his might, hitting him. Josh dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Falling back on his knees, Finn looked at Zeke. "Let her go," he said.
Zeke looked down at Josh, then back at Finn. "Fuck you," he said. "You can't even stand up."
"I can," Sam said from behind Finn. "Let her go."
Before the boy said anything, Rachel's head flew up and hit Zeke's face. "Fuck!" he screamed, dropping Rachel and holding his nose. "She broke my nose!"
Rachel landed hard on her hands and knees. She crawled to Finn. "Finn," she said, reaching him. Finn wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. The world was spinning, but Rachel kept him centered.
The fight continued around them. Tom hit Sam from behind, almost knocking him down. Mike slowly rose, certain he had at least one broken rib. When a boy ran at him, Mike just sidestepped him, bringing his knee up into the boy's stomach. Watching that guy drop, he moved on to the next guy waiting to attack him.
Someone kicked Artie in the face, breaking his glasses. Unable to do anything but crawl around blindly, he still tried to trip as many people as possible. Eventually a boy realized what Artie was doing and straddled him, hitting him in the face until he was unconscious. Mercedes ran to them, swinging her chair at the boy on top of him, knocking him off. While she bent to check on Artie, another boy ripped the chair out of her hands. Mercedes turned to look at him. "I'm gonna remember you," she said as the boy swung the chair towards her, knocking her over.
"No!" Sam yelled, running towards them. He hit the boy with his shovel, knocking him down. "Mercedes," he said, bending over the girl.
Mercedes looked at him. "Did that motherfucker really just hit me with a chair?" she asked, holding the side of her head.
"Yeah," Sam told her. He would have laughed if he hadn't been so worried.
"You better beat his ass," she said.
"I already did," Sam assured her.
"Hand me my chair," she said, slowly getting up. "They've done messed with the wrong woman."
Knocking Josh out didn't stop his friends from wanting to hurt Finn. "Rachel," Mike called, tossing her the baseball bat she'd dropped.
"Thanks," Rachel said, turning to face the two guys who'd been circling her and Finn. "Just leave us alone," Rachel told them, "and no one has to get hurt."
One of the boys snickered. "It's not going to be us that gets hurt," he told her, lunging towards her.
Rachel moved back, swinging the bat. "We'll see," she said. She didn't look down at Finn, who was fighting to stay conscious.
The other boy ran for Rachel and she swung again, connecting with his arm. "You bitch!" he howled.
The first boy saw an opportunity and moved to grab her. Before he could, Santana jumped on his back, hitting him in the side of the face. Rachel looked up and saw Brittany fighting off a large football player. Rachel ran to them, hitting the football player in the back of the head. He fell down. "Thanks," Brittany said, running to help Santana.
Lauren was fighting with one of the larger football players. She kept trying to get close to him but he kept backing up. She knew that if she could get close enough, she'd be able to put him down. Mercedes ran behind the boy, hitting him in the back with her chair. Screaming, the boy moved closer to Lauren who did the Lou Thesz Press, landing on top of him. "Thanks!" she called to Mercedes.
Rachel looked around them. The scene was a lot like the one she'd briefly witnessed in the factory today…just bigger. She looked down at Finn, who was sitting up. "Should you be sitting up?" she asked him worriedly.
He grimaced. "I'm feeling better."
Rachel stared at him. "Yeah, I'm sure you're fine."
Finn sighed. "I'm getting up, Rachel," he told her.
She looked into his eyes. "I just love you, is all," she said quietly.
Finn smiled softly. "Help me up?"
Rachel gave him her hand and helped him up. He swayed a little and she put her arm around him, steadying him. "Got it?" she asked him.
Finn nodded, not answering. He looked around them. "I can't believe this," he said.
"What should we do?"
"Tina!" they heard Mike scream. They looked in the direction the cry had come from and found their friend sitting on the ground rocking his girlfriend.
They ran to the couple. "Mike, what happened," Rachel said, falling to her knees beside them.
"I found her like this," Mike said, crying.
"Let me see," Finn said.
Mike brushed Tina's hair out of her face. Finn leaned over the girl, gritting his teeth against the dizziness he felt. "Look there," he told Mike, pointing at Tina's head. "She's been hit with something."
Mike pulled her back to him and continued to rock her. "Help will come soon, right?"
Finn nodded and prayed that it was true. He looked around the field, searching for his friends. Sam was carrying an unconscious Artie from the field. Brittany and Santana were still on the field fighting, as was Lauren. Mercedes was walking towards them. "I wish Puck was here," Finn said. Rachel squeezed his hand.
"I don't even know some of these kids that are fighting with us," Rachel said. "How did they all know to come?"
"We called them," Mercedes said, stopping beside them. "We called, texted, IM'd and PM'd every kid we could think of and told them what was happening. They're just as sick of this mess as we are. This is their fight too."
"How did you know where we were?" Rachel asked her.
"Saw the lights come on."
"Thank you, Mercedes," Finn told her. "You guys saved us."
Mercedes looked out onto the field. "It's too early to be thinking you're saved," she told him. She looked down at Tina and shook her head. "None of us are saved yet."
Rachel nodded. She started to say something when she saw Lauren go down. "Lauren," she said, standing up. Three boys stood around the girl, kicking her.
Finn rose slowly, taking the bat. Mike stood as well, laying Tina gently on the ground. "Will you stay with her, Mercedes?"
Mercedes nodded. "I'll watch her."
Rachel, Finn and Mike reached Lauren, swinging at the boys that were kicking her. Two were knocked down and one ran off. Lauren got up slowly, hurt. "Damn, they had me," she said, staggering. Mike stood by her, steadying her.
Sam returned from laying Artie on the bleachers and joined them. "I'm ready to go back to video games," he told them tiredly.
They moved to the middle of the field to join Brittany and Santana, exhausted and worried about their friends. They all knew help would come. They just didn't know when…or if it would be too late.