[ WP ] `` Not all strength can be seen ''

He lost the fight. 
 
 It lasted one minute, four seconds. I know because I watched the footage of it later on youtube, where some scum had posted it. A minute and four seconds does n't sound like long, but when someone is punching you constantly only pausing to kick your ribs and arms and chest, time stretches into eternity until you're almost convinced that that moment is all life is. 
 
 Stupid thing was, John knew he'd lose before he began. The one punch he threw to start the fight was all he had, and it was weak. His balance was horrendous, his arms were so thin you could practically see through them, and his fist had his thumb tucked into it. *Into* it. John broke his own thumb with that first punch, and the other guy, my ex, hardly blinked from the contact. 
 
 The punch glanced off my ex's cheekbone with only a red spot to mark the hit. He actually smiled before he punched John back. His perfectly executed cross-hook smashed into John's jaw and sent him staggering back. I knew he'd pulled his strength a bit, because John stayed conscious and his jaw stayed whole. It was n't out of kindness. 
 
 `` John, do n't!'' I shouted, knowing the disdainful challenge for what it was, but John shook his head to free his vision from stars and stepped forward again. John *knew* what would happen. He'd seen my face, the size of my ex, and his own diminutive height. He was n't stupid. He was just -- 
 
 On the ground, with two jabs and a broken nose, standing up and swaying, catching a punch on his skinny arm, then another on his eye. Groaning as a fist closed his left eye and another broke a rib. Slamming into the sidewalk, rolling, and standing to take more. He was -- 
 
 Amazing. 
 
 I did n't sit there stupid and helpless, like I had when my ex first hit me. But at five-foot-nothing, I was a gnat buzzing at his ear. A casual swipe sent me into the nearest store's brick wall with enough force my vision went dark. Then it was John's turn to yell, with what little he had in his lungs, and throw himself at my ex. 
 
 The next punch knocked him out, and another kick rolled him over. My ex sneered at the two of us, sprawled below him on cracked concrete. His breaths were even, his eyes mocking. `` Pathetic,'' was all he said before he spit and walked away. 
 
 I did n't bother to respond, just half crawled, half lunged towards John, and no one helped. 
 
 One minute, four seconds. Five of those were me sobbing as I begged John to open his eyes. 
 
 John did -- well, one of them. `` Stupid,'' I said, choking on tears and relief. `` That was so stupid.'' 
 
 His cracked, bloody lips turned up at the edges. `` Yea,'' he said with a groan. `` But stupid was right.''
