Zell strolled into the practice court, whistling jauntily. He winked at his group friends sitting on the sidelines, and waved. Alia nodded briefly from where she was sitting on a tall chair at the other end of the court, and raised a megaphone to her mouth.
"Zell Dincht, SeeD Rank A, unarmed combat specialist!" she announced. Squall, Rinoa, Seifer, Irvine, Quistis and Selphie cheered loudly. Selphie wolf-whistled shrilly and winked at the blond man, who was preening in the middle of the court.
A tall, wiry figure entered, wearing a pair of white and orange military- style cargoes, and a white tank. Her short brown locks were secured back from her face with a thin white head-band. Iris merely glanced at her friends. Her mouth twitched as she saw Zell acting like a complete idiot, bowing, running around and generally showing off. Iris turned and glanced at Alia. The brunette inclined her head, and raised the megaphone again. "Iris Bardok, SeeD Rank A, unarmed and sword combat specialist!"
The two fighters were given a few minutes to warm up, a chance often used to show off skills and intimidate the opponent. After having finished his stretches, Zell promptly did several flips, back and forth. Iris simply smiled and continued her stretches, only lashing out a few short sharp kicks and punches of the most basic style.
Zell bowed once more, and turned to face his opponent. Iris's lips curved in a mischievous grin, and she returned the bow. She stepped forward and the pair shook hands.
"You will have ten minutes until time-out," Alia announced.
Back on the sidelines, a certain Galbadian cowboy and the commander of Balamb Garden had a pen and some sheets of paper between them.
"Well, Iris has the obvious advantage in armed combat, Zell's skills with a sword aren't too good," muttered Squall.
"Yes, but the problem is unarmed combat. Have you ever seen Iris in action?" asked Irvine.
Squall shook his head.
"Neither have I, but I would be inclined to think that Zell has the advantage there, although her height may make things trickier for him," Irvine continued.
"Okay, so the odds for Zell winning in unarmed would be - "
"What are you boys doing?" asked a stern voice over Squall's shoulder.
Irvine hastily covered up the papers.
"Er, nothing, Instruct - Quistis," said Irvine guiltily.
Quistis pursed her lips in disapproval. She knew well what those two were up to, but... let them have their fun, it's the first time they see Iris in action for a long time, she excused herself. She walked away, pretending she hadn't seen a thing.
As soon as Quistis had left, Irvine hurriedly whispered his proposal to Squall.
"I'll bet you a soda that Zell wins," he murmured next to Squall's ear.
Squall nodded slowly. He had a hunch that Iris wouldn't be that disadvantaged, he remembered that in her sword-work she had been quick and light on her feet, and her endurance was also good. Plus she had more macho pride than all male SeeDs combined. Zell would have a handful to deal with.
The commander watched his half sister walk up to the pair. Both Iris and Zell had assumed a fighting stance, and Squall couldn't detect any openings in either of their blocking arms. Good start. He continued to watch as Alia leaned forward and held her hand between the two. Then she withdrew it in a lightning-fast upward cutting motion and ran away, signalling the two combat specialists to begin.
For several seconds, neither of them moved, obviously intending to out-wait each other. Finally, Zell covered the short distance between them in a few short quick steps and threw several quick jabs which were equally quickly blocked. He withdrew once again. Squall seemed to detect a smirk on both of their faces.
Iris mirrored his attack. Just when she was about to move back, Zell lashed out a lightning-fast punch. Iris seized the opportunity and grabbed hold of his wrist with her left hand, then used her hold on it to move in closer with high momentum and deliver an knife-hand strike just below the base of his neck. In real life it would have been the neck itself, but it would have caused too much damage in this case.
The tall brunette quickly disentangled herself from her opponent and moved back, leaving him with just enough time to flex his sore neck muscles. From then on, they kept circling around each other, exchanging the occasional punch and kick, growing more elaborate as they went along.
Suddenly, Zell found the opportunity to seize Iris's right wrist with his left as she had done to him before. Keeping her arm aligned with the rest of her body, he moved her hand skywards and her head down in a diagonal swing, causing her to bend over in a perfect position for him to knee her in pretty much every vulnerable part there was.
Zell's kneeing motion was blocked with a quick downwards chop with Iris's left hand, and immediately followed by a hook punch in his stomach. Not enough to do any damage, but just enough to catch him off-guard and give her the opportunity to bend back up and deliver an inward knife-hand strike to the side of his head. Another technique which would have gone to the throat in real life. Iris moved a little further away and used the moment Zell was off-guard to throw a flurry of quick jabs at him which pelted him on the chest. In full contact, a broken rib would have been a possibility.
The timer showed 5:39. They broke apart once more. The mutters of approval subsided.
Now the battle turned more energetic. The fighters moved further away from each other, a sign that they would be doing more kicks than punches now.
Suddenly, Iris charged in Zell's direction, not at all like the conservative fighting style she had demonstrated so far. She launched herself in the air, her right leg extended to hit Zell's head in only a few split seconds' time. Zell dodged to the side just in time, now behind his opponent. Iris rammed her elbow backwards, and almost hit Zell in the stomach. Zell had just managed to block the strike. A flurry of kicks and double-shifts followed. Their grunts of effort could be heard, and their sweat was soaking their clothes.
7:23.
From then on, their battle was filled with lots of small snapping kicks, as well as several feints. Finally, after Zell had just finished a short combination with a punch, they moved to close quarters once more. They kept exchanging punches which were only indestinct blurs to the viewers.
9:30
Zell's punches became more frequent and powerful. Iris managed to catch him by the wrist with her left hand, and levered him to the ground with her left leg. Standing over him, her right leg swung up as high as it could, just about to come chopping down on Zell's ribcage. Zell already held his hands in position to smother the kick.
"Time out!" Alia yelled into the battle.
Iris's head snapped up, and her leg gently came to rest on the floor again. She grinned and bent down to offer Zell a hand up. Zell considered for a second, then grinned evilly and pulled the brunette down on top of him.
"Why, Iris, I didn't know you cared," he joked.
Iris swatted him indignantly and got up off of him.
"If you're not careful, it won't last," she retorted and pulled him up.
The SeeDs on the sidelines broke into cheers and crowded around the fighters. Squall and Irvine stayed behind, pondering their little dilemma.
"I guess it's a draw," Squall commented.
Irvine nodded. "I suppose that means we both owe each other half a soda."
Squall shrugged and followed the rest of the group.
Iris and Zell were at the centre of the group, accepting towels and bottles of water. During their battle, they had practically sprayed each other with their sweat. Iris's tank top was soaked, but the outline of a crop top could be made out against the material where the sweat hadn't managed to get through. She towelled her face dry and gratefully took a swig of water.
"You've improved," she commented to the sweat-soaked blond man next to her.
"What, do you think I've just been sitting on my lazy hindquarters?" Zell gasped in return, still tired from the battle.
Iris shrugged. "Maybe."
Zell glared at her indignantly, which provoked an apologetic grin from Iris.
"No offense intended," she added.
Squall and Irvine quickly moved away from the group, and returned with four glasses and two cans of soda. They set the various utensils down on the floor, and both opened their cans.
Iris watched with mild interest as they started to do their best at filling exactly half of each can into each glass. She didn't remember Squall as so prone to doing strange things like that.
"What exactly are you doing?" Quistis demanded incredulously behind Iris's back.
"We owe each other half a soda," Irvine explained and went back to his precise measurements.
Selphie danced up to him and hugged him from behind.
"Can I have the other half? Please please please?"
Irvine grinned at his girlfriend. "Only if you're very very good."
Selphie promptly sat down cross-legged in as prim a manner as possible, which unfortunately failed miserably by the fact that her dress was too short. In the end, she just settled for kneeling. Rinoa grinned and followed Selphie's suit.
"And what about us?" Zell demanded indignantly. "Do we have to watch you enjoying your half-sodas while we go thirsty?"
"Go get your own," Squall said calmly and toasted Rinoa with his glass.
Iris jumped up. "I'll go get 'em." She winked at the two betters and strolled off.
Iris made her way down one of the familiar corridors, gratefully noting that her tank was drying. Just a few meters before the canteen, a tall cargo-clad dark-skinned figure carrying a pair of katals blocked the way. She was about to ask him to move aside when the young giant turned around, revealing a fine-chiseled dark-eyed face.
Iris stopped dead in her tracks. The man dropped his katals, and only choked out one word.
"Juniko?"