whatever.

crowd cheering when lewis overtakes max 🔊

The torturer stepped back instinctively. Not out of mercy. Out of surprise. The prisoner laughed. Not loudly. Worse than loudly. Softly. Like he had just remembered a private joke older than civilization.

“You still think pain is a language,” he said.

Another blow. This time across the mouth. Teeth cracked. Blood sheeted down his chin in long ribbons.

The interrogator hissed through clenched teeth. “Tell me where God went.”

The prisoner turned his head slowly. There was blood in his smile now.

“There are organisms,” he said, “living beneath Antarctic ice that have never seen the sun and have still learned how to eat.”

The room had gone very still. Somewhere in the dark, machinery groaned.

The interrogator grabbed him by the jaw hard enough to bruise bone.

“You think this makes you immortal?”

The prisoner spat a clot of red onto the floor between them.

“No,” he whispered.

“I think it makes you temporary.”

The torches flickered.

For one impossible second, the interrogator became aware of his own pulse. The heat in his veins. The soft wetness of his eyes. The damp animal electricity inside every living thing. The prisoner watched realization bloom across his face and smiled wider, blood running between his teeth.

“You cannot threaten a creature from the dirt,” he said, “with returning to the dirt.”

Nature Offers a Violence series by strawhat_star - an excellent series focusing on this trope, and fits this prompt almost perfectly. Explores Shane’s lifelong struggles with racism and homophobia on and off the ice, having to learn to fight because people are determined to pick one with him. Later on in the series shows him protecting the rookies of Ottawa, and someone Shane fought in his rookie year panicking when one of his new rookies gets mouthy with Shane.

Shane Hollander Doesn't (not to be confused with Can't) Fight by RedDragon11133 - Shane’s first game against Montreal with Ottawa, he attempts to take the high road. Montreal’s new hire, who’s served time for assault, refuses to let him.

Make your white hoodies red series by mrbusinessman (ifyoudo) - Shane has MMA training, things do not go well for people who harass him off the ice. By part 2, opposing teams stop engaging with Shane out of fear of getting their shit rocked, including Montreal.

don't blame me, love made me crazy by writinginasnowglobe - Shane’s first game with Ottawa against Montreal. Montreal plays dirty. When their newest center crosses the line by bringing up Ilya’s mother, Shane finally throws hands.

squabble up by casdoms (moffwithhishead) - part of a series exploring AuDHD Shane. Ilya gets taken down on the ice, and Shane loses his shit.