Edward had a martial arts competition today. To help him out, Eddie was sparring with him. Once again, the two were evenly matched, but their competitive spirit prevented either of them from giving up. Rather than being defensive and waiting for his opponent to tire themself out like he usually did, Eddie employed an aggressive offensive style.
"Wow man, I've never seen you fight this ruthlessly" Edward noted, the split second distraction allowing Eddie to connect with a punch right to the face.
"That's because I was holding back," Eddie signed. "Never stop for anything that isn't life or death"
That allowed Eddy to return the favor with a back fist blow.
"You need to listen to your own advice" Eddy said, being taken off his feet when Eddie grabbed him by his leg and flipped him over.
"Still haven't learned, I see" Eddie signed only to have the exact same manuever done to him.
Eddie, determined to keep Eddy on his toes, attacked with a flurry of punches and strikes. Eddy managed to dodge a hook and jab, and barely had enough time to catch another punch from Eddie. Eddie, fast as lightning, attempted a butterfly kick but Eddy was quick enough to block. Moving in, Eddie went for a hip toss takedown, but Eddy managed to counter.
Eddie ducked underneath a blow from Edward and tried for a swift kick, but Eddy caught his leg. Eddie swung his other leg around attempting a kick, but Eddy ducked. Danny walked in and was accidentally kicked in the face.
"Ow; hey Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan you mind watching out" Danny said, rubbing his nose.
"Sorry man, Eddie was just helping me practice for the upcoming martial arts competition" Eddy explained.
"Maybe you guys should rest or at least try out for the lead role in an action movie" Danny said.
Eddy turned around and was met with a judo takedown from the psychotic halfa. He was quickly back on his feet though and managed to hit Eddie with a side kick. The kick caught Eddie right in the chest. Eddy, taking advantage quickly hit Eddie with a spin kick to the face. Eddie was stunned for a few minutes. When he got back to his feet, he took up a fighting stance and it looked like he was going to strike. Instead however, Eddie bowed respectfully, acknowledging that Edward had bested him and won their sparring match.
"You'll do great" Eddie signed.
"I don't know, the competition will feature martial arts from all over the state" Eddy reminded him.
"Don't talk like that," Eddie signed. "Listen, you've got a black belt in two different martial arts and you just managed to beat a "serial killer". If that's not enough to prove you're ready, then nothing is"
"Yeah, but still" Eddy tried to say before getting bitch slapped by Eddie.
"Listen here, you're probably going up against people who think they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. They are going to be ruthless. And if they think you have doubt, they'll think of you as an easy target. Suck it up" Eddie signed.
"But" Eddy said, again getting bitch slapped by Eddie.
"OK, OK; just stop hurting me" Eddy said, rubbing his face, getting another slap.
"Don't ask me to stop, make me" Eddie said telepathically before slapping Eddy again.
When he tried to slap him again, Eddy caught his hand and twisted it around behind his back.
"That's what I'm talking about" Eddie said telepathically before headbutting Eddy.
This action started another sparring match. The two fought for over an hour with neither one of them stopping. Eventually the others gathered around to watch.
"This is better than any action movie I've ever seen" Tucker said. "Hey, pass the popcorn"
"How long do you think this'll last?" Dani asked.
"More importantly who do you think'll win?" Sam asked.
"Wait a minute this is just a martial arts competition, it's not going to involve all this is it?" Danny asked.
"This is Rock City, a martial arts competition here is the equivalent of an underground cage fight" Ryan said. "The fighters are going to be trying to maul my brother"
Eddy palm striked Eddie in chest, performed two quick slaps and went for a tornado kick but the telekinetic caught him by his leg and tossed him over his head. Eddie then used a throat strike to briefly daze the younger martial artist. Eddy came back with an uppercut, making Eddie stagger back. When Eddy got close enough, Eddie floored him with a roundhouse. Eddy, seeing stars got back up and threw a punch at Eddie. Eddie easily ducked; Eddy threw another punch and once again Eddie ducked. Eddie, knowing Eddy was still reeling from his brutal roundhouse kick, simply flicked the younger fighter in the head.
Eddy shook his head to regain his composure and when Eddie reached out his hand to help him up, Eddy instead flipped him over. Eddy then grabbed Eddie's head and performed a knee strike, knocking him out briefly. When Eddie came to, he looked Eddy in the eye and telepathically said "If that doesn't prove you're ready, nothing will".
Eventually, it was time for the martial arts competition. As Ryan had said, the competition was structured more like a mixed martial arts championship tournament. The first round involved had Ryan going up against a big guy with a long beard.
"You're my competition?" The big guy asked as if he was insulted about having to go against Ryan. "You look like you need to eat more porkchops"
"You do know this competition is for teenagers right?" Ryan replied, still staring at the girth of this kid.
"I'm 15!" The kid said.
"Uh, well listen, what'd you say your name was?" Eddy asked the kid.
"The name's Billy" The kid declared before attempting a cheap shot on Eddy.
Eddy quickly dodged and surprised Billy with a quick jab. He tried to punch him, but Billy managed to dodge and land a quick combo. Eddy managed to come back with a tiger claw, palm strike, and back fist.
Billy, despite his size, was surprisingly nimble and agile. He managed to dodge a lot of Edward's blows and moved around like a ninja. Billy attempted a punch but Eddy grabbed his arm and karate chopped him in the neck. The chop knocked Billy down, giving Eddy the win.
"Great job, Bro" Ryan congratulated his brother.
"Thanks" Eddy said, taking a drink of water then preparing for his next opponent.
The next fighter was a blonde teenage girl named Amanda.
"Remember, it's wrong to hit a girl!" Tucker shouted at Eddy.
"However, nobody said anything about kicking" Eddie pointed out.
Amanda mostly used her feet to attack. She kept Eddy off guard with multiple kicks. Eddy waited till she left herself open and kicked her in the ribs. Amanda grasped her ribs and tried for a roundhouse kick, but Eddy ducked and countered with the same move, disposing of Amanda.
Finally Edward made it to the finals. His final foe was a kid around the same stature and build as him. His name was Troy. Troy fought a lot like Eddie and was focused, never getting distracted.
"Give it up, you're out of your mind if you think you can beat me" Troy gloated, punching Eddy in the gut.
Eddy doubled over in pain but surprised Troy with an elbow strike. Troy barely flinched so Eddy kicked him in the leg. Troy dropped to one knee. Fearing he'd lose the advantage and subsequently the fight, Troy countered with an eye poke.
"He can't do that; that's cheating!" Dani stated.
"In a normal martial arts competition, maybe so" Ryan said. "But here, anything goes"
"Not only that but the eye poke is a legal martial arts move practiced in many martial arts from karate to kung fu" Eddie signed.
"So there's nothing stopping that guy from mauling him?" Sam asked.
"Well I wouldn't say that" Eddie signed before creating a fireball resulting in a huge flash that temporarily blinded Troy.
That was exactly what Eddy needed. He legsweeped Troy before leaning over him and punching him in the face, knocking him out and giving Eddy the win.
"I did it, I wn" Eddy said, excited he had won.
"Hey, that's not air, that mute kid blinded me" Troy protested to the referee.
"There's no rule against what he did" The referee said before walking off.
Troy tried to attack Eddie but the mute instead broke his arm. Afterwards the gang quickly left the arena with Ryan and Eddie carrying Eddy on his shoulders. Eddy held his trophy high and proud. That night, Eddy celebrated as if he were world champion.