A/N: I know I said Monday and Friday but I was feeling it so here, an early release. Enjoy.

Chapter 4: One - Two

Kate's POV:

Kate watched on from the edge of the ring as Max suddenly launched himself forwards, throwing punches high and low, left and right. 'He's fast, guess this is the difference with a professional.' She thought to herself, though even more surprising than the fact that Max wasn't all talk was that so far he'd hit nothing but air. Humphrey was dodging every single blow sent his way, weaving left and right and occasionally dancing backwards and then to the side. Kate looked around after a moment and realized that everyone in the gym was watching, several of the others looked surprised that Max couldn't seem to hit Humphrey. For almost a minute the gym was filled with silence, the only noises were the gloves cutting the air, the squeak of the fighters' shoes on the ring floor and the slight rattle of the ring. The two maintained this scene, Humphrey barely dodging the flurry of punches as Max chased him around the ring and Kate couldn't help but feel that this would go on forever.

This illusion was shattered however in a sequence of events that couldn't have taken more than two seconds at most, although to the assembled onlookers it seemed like an eternity and a split-second at the same time. Kate caught her breath as Humphrey dodged a wild but powerful swing that Max had thrown in frustration. As he slid to the right around his fist she could've sworn she saw his eyes narrow as he saw his chance, changing his stance to a more aggressive one as his guard dropped a little and he slid his foot forwards. Kate stared intently, unable to blink as Humphrey launched his right towards Max's exposed temple. There was a flurry of movement and a sharp sound that reverberated around the gym, so loud in the silence that it almost hurt her ear drums.

By the time Kate's eye's caught up she saw Humphrey withdrawing his left fist as Max's face went skywards and he slowly toppled backwards, falling to a sitting position. 'What? I thought he threw a right? What happened?' Kate thought to herself, eyes moving back and forth between Humphrey and Max as she tried to make sense of what had happened. As Max hit the floor the remaining boxers burst into conversation, many realizing that was the first punch Humphrey had thrown.

"Did you see that?" "What was that move?" "Max went down from one hit?" "What crazy power." Kate caught a few of the phrases before her attention was dragged back to the ring by a loud growl of anger.

Humphrey's POV:

I let out a sigh as I stepped back, watching as Max toppled backwards, eventually hitting the floor. 'He'll get back up.' I thought to myself, he was stunned but by no means unconscious as I stood watching him, lowering my gloves but making no move to leave the ring. Despite a year or so without practice since I'd learned the move I'd manage to execute the rather unique one-two that Varg had taught me, the memory of those days making me smile slightly. There was a buzzing in my ears from the burst of chatter as our onlookers discussed what had happened but I couldn't make out what exactly was being said. Whether from the adrenaline or just the fact that they were speaking over each other I didn't know as I glanced over at Kate who was looking between Max and I, a perplexed look on her face.

A loud growl of anger interrupted my thoughts as I returned my attention to its source, namely the now furious boxer on the ground in front of me. 'As expected, he is a professional after all. He wouldn't back down from one hit.' I thought to myself, raising my gloves into a guard in preparation for the continuation I had known would come. Max quickly picked himself back up, his face flushed with anger as he stared at me and charged forwards fist already headed my way.

"That's enough!" The yell must've been loud because even Max heard it clearly enough to understand, stopping himself short as we both turned to see who had stopped us. I noticed two men were standing near the door to the gym's office, the shorter of whom appeared to have been the one to shout. He appeared to be in his sixties or seventies, slightly shorter than average height but with a stocky build. His hair was all grey and beginning to recede and I realized from his attire that he must've been the owner of the gym. The other man who stood with him was taller and a bit thinner but appearing in good shape. He wore a black, expensive looking two-piece suit and would've appeared to be in his early forties if not for the that that his black hair, though by no means receding, was beginning to grey. 'Why is there something familiar about him...?' I thought to myself, unable to pin down what it was exactly. My confusion was short-lived however as Kate exclaimed, "Dad!" and quickly crossed over to him, giving him a hug. I made an inaudible sound of understanding as I saw the resemblance.

"Tsch." I heard Max click his tongue in frustration beside me as turned back to see him giving me a look that seemed as though he was debating whether or not to continue. After a moment he just sighed, turning away and raising his arms in an exaggerated shrug as he walked over and exited the ring.

"I don't have any more time to play with amateurs," He said, walking away into the locker rooms. I stood and watched him as he left the room, only moving once the door closed behind him. Pulling off my gloves I exited the ring passing through the dispersing crowd towards where the elderly gentleman was standing. I saw Kate talking quietly to her father off to one side as I approached the owner, who was looking at me with an unreadable expression.

"So, are you going to explain what that was all about?" He said, clearly angry though he controlled his tone. "Impromptu fights are not permitted in my gym."

"I'm sorry Mr. Um..." I replied, lowering my head in a half bow and holding out the borrowed boxing gloves. I kept my head down, lowering my hands to my sides as I felt him take the gloves from me. I heard him grunt as he took them but unable to see his face I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"It's O'Malley. Now never mind apologies, stand up and tell me what happened." He ordered sharply.

I straightened up slowly, "Well sir, Kate and I were waiting for her father and yourself to finish your business." I began, gesturing towards Kate slightly as I spoke. "Your boxer, Max, approached us and ordered us to wait outside, claiming that we were interrupting." I paused for a moment, gauging his reaction as he frowned and looked towards the locker room for a moment. 'I think he's probably already guessed what happened next.' I thought to myself.

"Despite his... er... aggressive attitude we tried to avoid a confrontation but he said some things that I could not ignore, leading to our spar. My apologies." I finished, lowering my head again for a moment. When I straightened up I say that Kate and her father had approached and were standing next to us.