no killing

But suddenly she arched her back, snarling, throwing me off hard. On her feet again, she kicked my chin, cracking my head back with so much force I almost blacked out. Then she was straddling me, like I had done to her a moment ago. She grabbed my throat with both hands and started squeezing. With blood running from her nose, she looked murderous, unstoppable. One of her eyes was swollen shut, but she still had a choke hold on me. I grabbed her arms, trying to pull them away, but couldn’t budge her.
“Max?” I heard Gasman say again. We both ignored him. “Kind of important . . .”
Oh, my God, I thought, struggling, vaguely surprised. She’s going to win. It had never, ever occurred to me that she could. In every scenario I’d ever run through, every training exercise, I had always won. But amazingly, I was getting tunnel vision, and my world was going dark. I tried to buck her off with all my strength, but she was stronger than I was.
“There can be only one Max,” I dimly heard Jeb say. It came from a distance, floating over my head.
This . . . is . . . it, I thought hazily. This . . . is . . . the . . . end.
Suddenly the pressure around my neck released.
With a huge, sucking rush, air poured into my lungs. Light filled my eyes, and I was gasping, wheezing, gulping in air.
The old Max got off me. I coughed, my hand to my throat. I was struggling just to sit up.
“I’m stronger,” she yelled to the scientists. “Stronger than you. Because I’m not going to kill this girl for you. I won’t sink to your pathetic level.”

School’s Out — Forever Chapter 138