He really shouldn't be surprised at this point. Johanna's violence may not be as subtle as Shiro's was at first, and it may not have come with vocal forewarning like Mickey's, months ago, when he'd beaten Beyond badly enough to dislocate his jaw, but - it isn't surprising. Not really. If Beyond had the space for analysis at the current moment, he'd recognize a similarity in her feral, frenzied anger and his own. When Misora came to the Barge and spilled all his secrets for everyone there in her too-plain words and lack of context, Beyond felt exactly the same, only he took his revenge on what became the wreckage of his cabin instead of another person. Instead of her, because she was no longer there.

Beyond didn't fight back when Mickey beat him. He only started to fight back with Shiro after it was mostly too late. Here and now, with Johanna's fists pummeling him again and again, something inside Beyond snaps, and he'll recognize it later, when he once again has the capacity for rational thought, as the moment he finally had enough of being a victim.

He is not strong, but he is stronger than he looks. He hasn't trained in defending himself for long months, ever since Furiosa stopped working with him. But Beyond is filled with a wild, vicious fury, coiled deep inside and dormant like a hibernating snake, and he has nothing left to lose.

So he fights back, with all the grace of a rabid animal, snarling wordlessly, kicking with bare feet, arms waving wildly - anything in an attempt to knock his assailant back or off balance.