Walk Tall

“Come on hero, walk tall don’t ya!” Peanut growled at the two preppies that stood in front of him, his seething rage evident by his tone.
“Oh what’s the matter old chap?” Gord purred mockingly, “Did I insult your boyfriend?” Both he and Tad exploded in a fit of laughter at the remark, Peanut on the other hand grew even more furious by their amusement. He knew he stood very little chance of winning a fight against two preppies but there was no way in hell he was about to let either of them go unscathed after their taunting remarks about the boss, his boss!
With his jaw clenched and anger boiling over Peanut lunged at Gord first since he seemed to have the loudest bark today. A wave of relief and justice washed over him when he felt his fist connect with Gord’s jaw, a sickening crack echoed throughout the nearby streets as Gord fell backwards onto the ground. His act of ‘justice’ however didn’t last long as he felt Tads elbow make contact with the back of his head. Stumbling forward towards a whimpering Gord who was still lying on the ground, he didn’t even have time to think before he tripped over his own feet and found himself lying on top of Gord. Feeling dirty and disgusted Peanut quickly made an effort to rise to his feet only to receive a helping hand in doing so from an unexpected source. Unfortunately though, the helping hand wasn’t lent for his sake, feeling Tads fingers entangle in his perfect hair he found himself being drug backwards off of Gord. Peanut was now beyond livid! First these two parade into their territory like the own the damn place, then they go about insulting Johnny when he’s not around, and now they have not the courage, not the nerve, but the audacity to mess up his perfect hair! Despite Tad still dragging him across the pavement Peanut managed to roll himself onto his side a little, ball up his fist and deliver a low blow to the young heir of Spencer’s Shipping family jewels. A blood curdling scream rang out through the borough of what was New Coventry as Tad promptly released Peanuts hair and collapsed to the ground cradling his babies with tears welling in his eyes. Peanut quickly jumped to his feet and wasted no time in delivering a flurry of kicks to Tad.
“Somebody should do something!” a voice cried out nearby, looking up and pausing from his assault on Tad, Peanut hadn’t realized that a large crowd had gathered at some point during their scuffle. Knowing it wouldn’t be long before the cops showed up, but still outright furious, he slowly began to back away from a whimpering Tad as he ran a hand through his dis shelved hair. Suddenly Peanut found himself lying back on the ground with the side of his face blooming in pain. “Filthy Grease Monkey!” he heard Gord snarl. Now seeing stars Peanut shook his head and began to stand only to be stomped back down to the pavement by more than one pair of feet. Trying to find a way out of his handicapped match with the trust fund fairies he cracked one eye open while shielding his head only to catch a momentary glimpse of an Aquaberry loafer being swung towards his face. With no time to react Peanut cringed when Tads foot landed square up against his jaw and he felt a tooth pop loose in the back of his mouth. Mere seconds later, he was promptly yanked from the ground by his arms only to be forced down on his knees with both limbs painfully twisted behind him.
“I suppose you think you’re rather clever, don’t you Greaseball!?” Tad spat venomously as he prepared to land a punishing assault on a restrained Peanut. Peanut struggled to free himself but his efforts proved to be fruitless. For the first time since their fight had started Peanut got a good look at Tads face. Very little damage had been done to it but faint traces of tears were visible on the rich boy’s perfectly manicured and pampered mug. Evidently his golden boys had taken the brunt of the abuse Peanut had dealt earlier as Tad had done a poor job of hiding his pain. Despite his life threatening ordeal Peanut couldn’t help but to smirk and suddenly burst into laughter at the appearance of Tads face. Tad furrowed his brow at the others laughter, “Looks like Mr. Rich and perfect’s boys are still underdeveloped!” Peanut managed to get out in between his fits of amusement. The look on Tads face was priceless, but Peanut was only able to enjoy it for a brief moment before Gord swiftly released his arms only to throw him directly into a headlock. Peanut gasped for air and flailed around trying to break free but Gord had a death grip on him completely restricting his airflow. “This is what you get for damaging my clothes you disgusting oil slick!” Peanut could tell by Gords tone that he was furious! Suddenly but not surprisingly he felt a hard blow delivered to his gut, and it was a painful one too. With what little wind he had left knocked out of him his legs went limp as he momentarily lost the strength to even stand. Releasing him from his chokehold Gord was quick to restrain the Greaser a second time by his arms. Right on cue Tad went about pounding Peanuts face in showing absolutely no mercy. With each blow delivered to his body Peanut found himself growing weaker and weaker but his anger and hatred towards the two preppies didn’t hinder in the least bit. Rapidly losing his ability to think straight, images of Johnny flashed into his mind. Each vision he saw of him represented the many times in the past that Johnny had rushed in to save him from an assault from members of another clique, with the rest of his friends and fellow greasers mere blurs in the background. All he saw was Johnny, his Johnny like a guardian angel who had come to save him from the imps of hell. Peanut was suddenly snapped back to reality when he felt his arms released and he dropped to the ground like a tree that had fallen over. Still locationally challenged and with his head throbbing and spinning he managed to catch the faint sounds of what sounded like a scuffle when he heard both Tad and Gord let out cries of agony. Allowing his eyes to drift shut Peanut knew that today’s violent ordeal was over. He heard the all too familiar sound of footsteps rapidly approaching him and then stopping mere inches away, Peanut struggled to keep himself from smiling as he felt large hands rolling his body over followed by a pair of strong arms cradling him.
“Larry!.... LARRY!!! Wake up talk to me! Say something!” Johnny shook his second in command desperately trying to get a response from him. Peanut cracked one eye open and closed it again only to open both his eyes and blink numerous times in an effort to clear his vision. Once Johnny’s face was clearly visible Peanut felt his heart flutter and butterflies dance around in his stomach as he stared up at his boss. This was why Peanut fought, this was why he constantly allowed himself to be put in situations where he was outnumbered and going to lose. It was all for this rare moment, and every ounce of pain, every bruise, cut, and drop of blood was worth it, it was all worth it just to be where he was now. Gazing into the worried yet angry eyes of Johnny Vincent, Peanut couldn’t help but to crack a smile as he struggled to find his voice. “Come on my hero…. Walk tall don’t ya” Johnny released a sigh of relief knowing his best friend would be okay as sirens could be heard approaching and the crowd that had gathered earlier began to rapidly disperse.