Stage 14: Sparring with a Rat!

A month later, Tracer had managed to get along well with Pharah and Zarya. She explained things to Zenyatta with Zarya's permission, and he seemed to understand perfectly. But with each passing Hal-Fred Glitchbot movie night which kept occurring every Thursday, Tracer saw Zarya peek out of her dorm for longer periods of time.

Maybe she'll warm up and sit with us someday, Tracer hoped.

"Tracer!" Reinhardt barked.

"Um, yes?" Tracer said sheepishly as everyone looked at her.

"If you are done daydreaming, I'd like your full attention," Reinhardt said folding his huge arms.

"Sorry," Tracer apologized, standing straight.

Satisfied, Reinhardt nodded. "Now that we've covered some basic fighting moves, I will assign each of you a sparring partner that is close to how you've been practicing thus far. Your task for the next few weeks will be to practice together until you're both able to best each other. Any questions? Speak now or wait till after class."

D. Va attempted to raise her hand, but a brief glare from Reinhardt made her lower it. Ever since the first day, D. Va made a habit of asking useless or obvious questions regarding class rules and activities. So after a while, Reinhardt got irritated whenever D. Va raised her hand.

"Is this a legitimate question, D. Va?" Reinhardt asked.

"Why can't we pick our own sparring partner?" D. Va said nervously. "It doesn't seem fair for you to decide how good we are when I think we're more than capable of deciding that for ourselves at this point."

"Ja, but you're still beginners," Reinhardt said calmly. "Tell me: would it be more beneficial to spare with someone who's on the same level as you or an opponent who isn't?"

"What do you mean?" D. Va asked.

"A stronger opponent, for example, or a weaker one," Reinhardt answered.

"How can you tell them apart?"

"You can't. Not until you fight them, that is. But I am a decorated soldier. I've seen how each of you fight individually, and can automatically tell how strong you are. Therefore, it would seem in my best interest as well as yours to decide sparring partners for you instead of letting you decide for yourself. Otherwise you might end up with a weaker opponent and not learn anything, or one you can't hope to overcome. Eventually, we will talk about dealing with stronger opponents. For now, though, you need to grow with your same-leveled peers. Does that make sense, D. Va?"

"I guess," D. Va sighed, glancing over at Tracer briefly.

She must think I'm going to be her sparring partner, Tracer thought. It would make sense considering we're both not very strong.

But when Reinhardt announced the sparring pairs, D. Va and Tracer were both surprised. While D. Va was paired with Lúcio, a dark-skinned boy with dreadlocks tied into a long ponytail, Tracer was assigned to be Junkrat's sparring partner. Neither of them looked happy when they met to spar.

"Just my luck to get stuck with you, Omnic lover," Junkrat said irritably.

"Spare me the trash talk," Tracer said getting into a fighting stance. "Now let's fight!"

"Bring it on, limey tart!" Junkrat got into a similar stance and made a taunting gesture.

Angered, Tracer attacked with her fist. But Junkrat blocked it with his hand while grinning.

"Is that the best you've got?" Junkrat mocked. "I barely felt a thing."

Tracer growled and attempted to use her other hand to punch Junkrat. He blocked it too, and so Tracer resorted to kicking his feet to trip him. His feet didn't budge, and he pushed her down onto the floor. She tried to move her hands, but he pinned them underneath his.

"What're you going to do now, wench?" Junkrat taunted.

"This," Tracr replied and used her knee to kick Junkrat in the chest.

He fell backwards, allowing Tracer to get up. She glanced at the Chronal Accelerator's back part and was relieved to see nothing broken.

Thanks for the extra metal plating, Winston, Tracer sighed.

Before Junkrat had the chance to stand, Tracer put a foot on his chest and grabbed his wrists with one hand.

"Now be a gentlemen and admit defeat," Tracer said leaning down toward Junkrat's face.

Junkrat chuckled. "I may be a Junker, but I'm certainly not a gentlemen."

Then Junkrat threw something that was clenched in one of his hands. Tracer immediately reacted by activating the Chronal Accelerator to move backwards in time till she was just kicking Junkrat off of her. As she did so, Tracer knelt on top of him and grabbed both of his wrists till he dropped a small hand-grenade from one of them.

"Oi, what do we have here?" Tracer said, noticing the hand-grenade. "Thought you could sneak a weapon into class, eh? Would be a shame if I called Reinhardt over."

"You wouldn't dare!" Junkrat exclaimed.

"Excellent maneuvering, Tracer," Reinhardt said passing by the two. "Keep up the good work."

When he was gone, Tracer got off Junkrat allowing him to quickly put away the hand-grenade.

"It says in the student handbook that weapons aren't allowed in classrooms unless the teacher permits them for a lesson," Tracer said. "Did you know that?"

"Yeah, but I don't care," Junkrat muttered. "How'd you know I was carrying a grenade in one of my hands?"

"Lucky guess," Tracer shrugged. "Now we may have had a rough start, but I want to pass this class just as much as you do. So if you agree to not cheat in future spars, then I won't tell Reinhardt about you bringing weapons to class. Sound like a deal?"

Tracer held out her hand to shake, which Junkrat looked at in disgust. He glanced over at Reinhardt, who was monitoring other pairings including D. Va and Lúcio who didn't seem to be doing so well. Then he gritted his teeth and shook Tracer's hand.

"Fine," Junkrat grumbled. "You got me this time, but I'll be back with a vengeance tomorrow without using weapons."

"Sounds good," Tracer said, pulling off a fake smile.

To be continued…