Hello to my wonderful readers. Hows it going? Been while huh? Well yeah...
Life decided to screw me over and as of now I've not really got a device to write on... So yeah... Hopefully I'll have something ready soon but I cant promise that there will be a new chapter this month other then this. Who knows maybe I'll figure out a way to get all my lost data back. So read and enjoy for those of you who make it this far. Do review any feedback you have. Good or bad I wont mind.
He didn't think he could describe the place in front of him. Not in one word anyway.
The outside resembled one of those old school English pubs but from what he saw inside it looked more like a restaurant for the rich and famous.
His mind was extremely confused as to whether he was under-dressed for the occasion or over-dressed. The other two folks next to him didn't seem to be bothered with the implications in the least. Nano and his bright orange tie making a statement to all the people around them while Richard and his monochrome attire gave an extreme sense of formality that only hurt Lex's mind more when he addressed his previous issue.
He rubbed the relatively new bruise on his cheek as he contemplated his choice in clothing further.
Previously
A dojo stood in front of him. Well he assumed it was a dojo. It had the whole, 'pay respect to those above you' aura he'd expected from a dojo and when he opened the door he saw Richard brutally preying on a punching bag. So brutal was the punishment the bag took that it had started to rip and a small flurry of punches followed by a heavier slug rung out across the padded floor. As did a series of claps as Lex walked inside. He waved as Richard took a small towel and whipped down his face. Lex took a bottle of water from the table next to him and drank some.
"So this is where you disappear to after practice?"
"It is. What about it?"
Lex shrugged.
"Didn't really strike me as the place you'd be. You look more like a bookworm."
"We're taking about looks are we?"
"Sure I guess. Why?"
He saw Richard walk over to one of the tables and pick his phone up off of it.
"I found a video of you."
"Oh joy? What's it about?"
"Why don't you tell me Mr Champion of Tae Kwon Do for two years running?"
"..."
He looked at the video. Two people stood on opposing sides of a large circle. One was significantly smaller then the other. The larger man pushed forwards and broke into a run. Three steps was all it took for the man to reach his smaller opponent. He sent a flying kick as he leapt and the boy moved his body to the side. The kick sailed past him and he ran to the other side of the ring as the taller man recovered. The boys stance changed as he relaxed and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the larger man was on him. The boy took a step back before slamming his foot upwards. The kick connected with the underside of the man's jaw and he slumped to the ground as the boy retracted his foot.
Lex stared at the video before rubbing the back of his head.
"Would you believe me if I said that was an accident?"
Richard stared at him blankly.
"How do you accidentally knock someone out with a kick to the underside of the jaw?!"
Lex laughed awkwardly.
"He came at me so I reacted. Well... More like I took the stupid route and avoided injury.. if you don't count the sprained ankle."
"How's that accidental?"
"I didn't mean to do it. I just kinda did."
He swore Richards eye twitched momentarily before he shook his head.
"Spar with me."
Lex started coughing on his drink.
"Wait... What!"
"Spar with me."
"Why the hell would I do that?"
"Because I want you too."
Lex opened his mouth to retort but saw Richard moving away towards a large red circle with a white centre. He sighed as he put the water bottle down and stripped off his jumper. He stretched a couple of his muscles and rolled his neck as he walked over to his side of the circle.
"You sure you want to do this? Especially with no equipment?"
"Trust me. I can take a hit."
Lez sighed again.
"Don't haunt me if your head cracks."
He let out a breath as he relaxed his body. A few seconds passed before the match started. Richard adopted a guard protecting his face and stood in place.
Okay then... Boxing stance. He's taller and has longer arms then me. High kicks won't do much good with the guard so aim for the lower half... Or finish this with a strong blow... Sternums maybe... First thing first. Burst momentum.
He took the inaction by Richard as him letting him get the first strike and so he took the opportunity. He sprinted forwards and with a small hop added more momentum to his strike which came in the form of a flying kick using both his feet. Richard blocked the strike with both his hands in a protective cross pattern before pushing back and sending him flying. He used his hands to turn his fall into a backflip and landed on his feet. He let out a breath and relaxed his body.
Strong defense... Lets do things a little differently then.
He blinked and saw Richard cross the distance almost instantly. A jab came for his face and he moved to the side to dodge. He didn't waste the momentum he built up and swept at Richards legs. The silver haired teen stepped back and avoided while Lex kept the rotation going and converted the failed sweep into a roundhouse kick with all his motion behind it as he came up. Richard stepped forwards and grabbed his foot as it came straight for the teens midsection.
Oh shit.
He felt his body get torn off the mat as Richard threw him across the ring. He used a hand to flip himself and made used of his backwards momentum to coil up his body by ducking down. He sprung forwards and felt something heavy impact the side of his cheek with enough force to send him to the floor. He let himself stay down as he closed his eyes and reset his focus while letting out a breath to relax his muscles which he noted were burning quite intensely.
He opened his eyes and saw a hand above him which he took and let himself get hoisted to his feet. As soon as he was stable he felt two hands go to his face.
"That's going to bruise."
Lex shrugged.
"Eh. I fell down the stairs this morning."
He saw Richard smile as he stepped back and threw him some water.
"You think anyone will accept that?"
Lex took a sip from the bottle.
"They'll have to. Cause I'm not making any other excuses." He tapped the sore spot on his face "Oww my face. Did you have to hit my face?!"
"Did you have to start with a flying kick? My arms are still numb from the force behind it."
He laughed as he walked over to the small fridge tucked into one of the corners. He reached in a pulled out an ice pack that he put on his face. He hissed at the burning sensation before turning to Richard.
"So what exactly was the point of that?"
Richard shrugged.
"Wanted to see if you were any good..."
Lex waited for him to go on but he remained silent.
"Annnd?"
"You're okay I guess. Good enough stance that I'm guessing prioritizes rapid reaction over stability. Fast strikes that emphasize retaining momentum and you follow up a missed strike with an attack most opponents wouldn't expect. Your attacks are too flashy though. "
"Flashy is good. More points during competitions "
"In a fight though it's bad to be flashy. You attract unwanted attention and you specifically telegraph your moves. It was easy to see where you'd attack."
Lex nodded.
"I'll keep that in mind. "
"That's good. Who knows. We might spar again."
Lex winced at the idea.
He winced as he sat on the table. His cheek refused to settle down and so whenever he moved his mouth a burning sensation seared his face. That contributed to the slightly annoyed expression he'd adopted so far. Nano's silent snickering wasn't helping and neither was the occasional glance from one of the three girls sitting across from him. A myriad of colour had washed over his vision when they'd entered.
One was in a purple dress cut low enough to preserve her modesty but still appeal to the whole 'give them a peek' ideology that Nano seemed to adore while another of the girls wore a skirt so bright he swore the sun had invaded his eyesight. A bright yellow that blended well with the black blazer covering her top half. The third had a dress on as well. One that was a tone of green that reminded him of a led light. He hadn't looked at the cut. Instead her blond hair had caught his attention. Tied into a pair of twin tails that went down to the centre of her back and swayed as she walked. He leaned back in his chair as he felt the ice around the group thicken and with a quiet sigh he started talking.
"Why don't we break whatever tension we have ey? I'm Lex."
He tapped Nano's foot with his own.
"Nano over here."
Richard took the natural cue.
"Richard."
The girls smiled with a sync that scared him before purple relaxed.
"Well I'm Tess. "
She nodded over to the black blazer clad girl.
"Sera."
He noted how she was glaring straight at him like she was trying to kill him with her eyes.
He shivered slightly before something brushed past his leg. His brain stopped before the leg pulled back and he traced it to the girl in the green dress. A smirk bordering on sultry covering her face for a second before it morphed into a smile. Tess looked in her direction and her smile grew.
"I'm Annabelle. Pleasure to meet you fine gentlemen."
Her leg brushed up against his again and he felt his cheeks light up for a second. He reset his calm with a quick blink and reached for his drink. A bubbling concoction of two different soft drinks that gave a sour yet strong taste that numbed his tongue and hurt his teeth. He heard Richard start talking while he enjoyed his drink and tried to ignore Annabelle's leg that was slowly climbing higher on his own.
"Any questions? You three did call us out here for a reason I take it?"
Tess smiled as she relaxed on her chair.
"We did didn't we? You're tank seems pretty interesting. I can't say we've ever seen anything like it."
Richard shrugged as Lex took a small sip of his drink.
"It's not that special. A simple light tank with no armour. Only defense we gave is our speed."
Nano interrupted
"And our gun"
"That too. Though that's only as good as it's gunner."
"I nailed a Luchs from over a kilometre. It say that's pretty good "
"Meh it's okay. I've seen better. "
"From who?"
The girls seemed to lean in slightly.
"Hana. She actually hit me."
Nano stopped what he was going to say and Lex could see the gears in his head turning.
"...damn it."
"Cheer up. I'm sure you'll hit me in... About four weeks at this rate."
A competitive glare encompassed Nano's face and Lex shook his head as he finished his drink and glanced at his watch.
"Next question girls. We're on a schedule tonight so sorry to rush."
Annabelle seemed to smile at him and he felt a shiver travel down his spine.
"It's no problem. How about yourselves? You don't seem too downbeat for men in a field mainly for girls."
As Lex had expected, Nano took the initiative and so he quietly tapped his fingers against his thigh as he felt Annabelle's foot crest his knee.
"Of course we're not. Who do you take us for? I personally am loving being surrounded by as many girls as I am."
Richard took his own swipe at Nano.
"The exact number hovers around zero."
"Mate. I hang out with more girls then you "
"Yeah. But I have the number of every girl on our team. Do you?"
A small silence worked it's way way across the table as Nano received everyone's attention.
"... Damn it... Fine you win this one."
"I shall take your cheesecake as my reward."
Nano begrudgingly passed his frosted delicacy to Richard while Lex rolled his eyes. His irritation grew as Annabelle rested her foot on his knee and when he noticed that it was reaching his thigh he made his move. He grabbed her foot and earned a teasing smirk. He slowly moved his hand down and found a very specific spot. He then jammed his thumb into the sensitive area. Her foot recoiled and he released his hand when her knee bumped into the top of the table.
"Hey Lex say something. You haven't said anything yet."
He looked over at Nano and sighed.
"Fine fine. What's the question?"
Sera spoke up as she moved some of her hair after stretching.
"Interesting story about yourself."
Lex nodded.
"Hmm..." He saw his vision flicker and he shook his head as he held back the memory. "I've been slapped by a total of twenty people over my lifetime."
He could hear Nano choking on his drink as he started laughing.
"What? Why?"
Lex rolled his eyes.
"Apparently my phrasing when I talk to women occasionally gets... Suggestive. Like extremely suggestive... Mainly when I enter my extremely calm state of mind."
Nano started laughing harder while Lex felt the heat center on his cheeks... He couldn't tell if it was due to him being embarrassed or angry. He opted to go with the second alternative and lightly punched Nano in the shoulder. It had the opposite effect and made him laugh more as Lex kept shaking his head. Eventually Nano calmed down and Lex appealed to his inner calm which responded by cooling down his cheeks. He coughed lightly and looked over at Richard.
"No comment."
He blinked.
"Really?"
"You can press the issue but we'll be sparing again as payment."
Lex though it over.
"I'm against pain that I can avoid so I think we can leave that question there."
He felt his phone start vibrating in his pocket and he closed his eyes for a moment.
"Times up guys. We've got to go or else we'll miss our ride."
Richard nodded while Nano stared at him.
"I'm gonna guess you're trying to do that puppy dog eye thing that a few of the girls do so for your own self esteem I'm gonna say this." He opened his eyes and stared straight at Nano. "It doesn't work. Never has. Never will."
He saw the look from Nano that basically expressed the sheer pain in his heart at having a rather well made technique completely rejected and laughed somewhat. He saw Richard moving to stand up and followed suit he saw one of the waiters walking over and Richard offered to pay which earned an incredulous look from Nano while Lex only shrugged.
Once they were out the door the cold air hit him. He felt a portion of fatigue melt away and he closed his eyes as he navigated the streets on pure muscle memory. His mind whirred as he tapped his thigh in thought.
Next opponent... Saunders. The Americans. Main tank will probably be some Shermans... Maybe a Firefly... isnt that British? No wait. American sherman with a british gun... Wonder if Gloria has any... Bah focus! They'd probably want the bigger gun. Nano can nail the Shermans from range so the question is what else they'll bring... A jumbo would augment their armour but something lighter would give them more adaptability... would they have priest i wonder... If they do then that becomes a problem.
His mind stopped for a moment when he thought he heard something behind him. He glanced to the side and looked out of the corner of his eyes. Nothing appeared and his quick analysis likened the noise to a cat or animal in general. He referenced his mental map and took a shortcut back to his apartment. No other noises invaded the calm night and he let out a breath as he sat down in the larger section of his apartment. The springy recliner in the corner offered enough resistance for him to sit in as he thought again.
Main target... It'll probably be the Stugg if it's an elimination match... Probably. It has the biggest gun in our rag tag group... Need to make a note to get Nano teaching those girls how to shoot from range... Secondary target will probably be Miho... Yeah she's the commander so if she gets taken down we'll be without a leader... Maybe we should ditch the lone-wolf strat for this battle... run as escort detail or high speed support... Need to get that private comm channel set up...
He tapped away on his phone as he mentally began working on battle plans. An idea settled in his head and he scrambled around in search of a large enough piece of paper. He eventually gave up on a physical drawing and op-ed that he'd remember it tomorrow. A wave of fatigue hit him and he felt his balance wane for a second as his leg wobbled as a burst of pain ran through his thigh.
At my limit for today huh... Right sleep first. Plan later.
With that thought he let himself hit the bed.