- -7- - -
December
VAV
Romania
V
"You know, it's a crying shame really." Arslan said
"Well if you're going to whine about it, I'm sure we can turn up the heat in here. Thermometer must be here somewhere."
"I live in the mountains three months of the year, don't worry about me. Though I don't know if you can handle having a climate that's not eternally wet. Look, even the floor is dry."
Fox didn't rise to the bait either, his tone just as lighthearted as Arslan's. "I know, now groundwork will be so much easier. I might have to keep things standing just so I don't get bored after all my submissions."
"I wouldn't worry about boredom. I'm the one who's going to be disappointed anyways, no way for me to put this down on my record."
"Why do you want to drag it down like that?" Fox paused his stretching to toss over to Arslan her absent headgear. "And put on the gear at least before you say that."
Arslan's voice kept that confident grin, even as he heard her working the velcro. "Scared?"
"I just don't want my insurance to go up if I have to pay for your hospital trip."
"Look at you acting all grown up." Arslan stood up, and with that Fox's senses became enflamed by the vibrations of her footfalls running through the floor mats. Rock steady and feet spread, she had a stance that was designed for sole purpose of being immovable, and one he knew she practiced more than any other person he'd ever met. This was his first time feeling it for himself, and already his mental calculations were having him double check his own safety gear.
Standing up to face her, his body was already flickering awake and into it's ready state. Not tense, just so pointedly relaxed that at any command his body would react with zero resistance or hesitation; a coiled serpent his coach had always described it. "Remember, headshots kept to a minimum, no sucker punches. One of us calls stop, we stop. Three minutes rounds, and we'll see if we want to keep going after 10."
"Got it. Any seconds thoughts then?"
"I'll be fine." Fox said.
"Then lets do this." Arslan responded, but without any bravado. The lighthearted tones replaced by a calm that came from years of training, mental and physical, so they could stay relaxed and focused on the spar ahead. Both fighters falling naturally into stances that became routine from daily repetitions, so that they could cautiously advance towards the center of the room. Lifting the toes of their front foot to step forward so that the rear could follow in sync. Opening and closing the stance, without ever breaking it or the stability it provided.
Already though Fox could feel the differences in their training and preferences. Arslan kept her weight centered and more balanced, whereas Fox had always trained to keep the weight slightly forward so he could better lean into his strikes. He also kept his shoulders squared up and both feet pointing forward for greater versatility, while she clearly preferred a more bladed stance. Her body angled against his and the rear foot pointing to the side, which usually meant more defensive, since only her off-side would be hit, but with her Fox gambled that it was likely in favor of a more power for her right hand's strikes.
They inched another half foot closer before anything proper happened. His only hint being the softest squeak of the mats and a slight vibration as Arslan pivoted her foot for a strike. She was still too far for any of his strong counter attacks, other than maybe a blind jab that he knew better than to rely on, meaning his options were limited. Falling back instead on instinct, Fox stepped in and swam with his elbows, keeping his arms still tight to his body, to try and deflect the strike away from whatever its target was.
A fact which saved him from a straight punch to the kidney, in favor of his gut instead. It was also the hardest gut punch he'd ever received.
Cowed by the strike, he kept his head low and only came up from the bow alongside two uppercuts. Each giving him a clearer view of how screwed he was and how far away she was as they clipped her arms while she deflected them. Put on the back foot, they also gave him the chance he need to step in and get his first grip on the rough material she called her robes.
Arslan responded immediately, clearly aware the risk she faced from that first hand, slamming an elbow down on his hand to clear it away. But this was his comfort zone and he didn't miss a beat in throwing an elbow strike and regaining his grip. There wasn't time to let her get in a strike of her own, all it would take is one of her punches to the head and he would be out entirely. Forcing Fox to drive in farther so he could get his second grip.
Wrapping both hands around her neck, he started throwing knee strikes. Slow, by his standards, and still hard enough that he knew they were payback enough when Arslan was forced to block the hits on her forearms. Still, better than knocking her out on accident. But boring, and he wasn't keen on her getting a hold of one of those knees.
Switching grips, he swam down one arm to grip a wrist and collar together. It gave her the chance to retaliate with a couple strikes from her free hand, but with his freshly numb bicep also came an interplay of pushing and pulling that was the signal for any grappler that a takedown was coming. She was fighting it in her own way, and his first push could have had more effect on a wall than on her. The only downfall being a lack of experience in grappling and the push she gave him in return quickly turned into a seoi-nage. His two grips staying tight on her robes, and continuing the momentum she provided to send her over his shoulder. Felt flailing through the air as her instincts did their best to remember how to break what promised to be painful impact on the padded floors. Anyone else and that could have been the end of the fight. Either they would be unconscious form the throw, or he would have continued down with them to the floor where could go for a pin. Instead Fox was left to hope that Arslan wouldn't realize just how damaging that push had been, even with most of the first having been redirected into her own downfall.
If nothing else, she was able to recover quickly, getting up from the ground with eyes never leaving her opponent as she took a few steps back. His own breath finally returned, Fox shook out his arms and faced her once more. "Guess that was round one. Need water?"
"Yeah right."
"Well then, ready?"
"Go."
V
The rounds quickly developed their own pattern. If Arslan attacked first, Fox would eat the first hit and respond with strikes that minimized distance as much as possible. If Fox attacked first, Arslan proved more capable of deflecting but left herself open to grappling in the process. And as long as Fox could keep the fighting at close range he minimized Arslan's superior strength and let his experience win out.
It was definitely a painful lesson. One that left him on the ground with his back to the wall, dripping in sweat so thick that even he doubted he could have gotten a grip if he wanted to. Arslan was next to him, sprawled out with her head a foot away from him. A fact he knew less from her tremors, and more from the exhausted heaving she hadn't quite been able to stop. Her training had focused on endurance from the beginning, learning how to stand even when her legs had stopped working. His only advantage was that he had the experience to minimize his own energy, and a few years of maturity to reach for his physical prime. Together, those facts had given him the slightest of edge in terms of his dignity right this second.1
"You alive?" Fox asked
"Gahhhh…" Arslan's tongue just managing to stay in her mouth.
"What?"
"I just realized I still have a tournament to fight."
He didn't bother to keep himself from laughing at that. Or at least it would be a laugh if he could actually get enough air into his black and blue chest. "Yeah, that's gonna suck."
"Why did you convince me to do this again?"
"Because you need the experience and your parents would kill me if you got it the way I did."
"I do plenty of sparring."
"During the summer, but during the school year your back home and most of your training is just katas. Your sloppy after you get hit, you let me lead to much when it comes to timing, and your reaction time needs work. All stuff that you're not going to improve on without experience."
"Yeah, but why did you have to convince me to do the tournament today?"
"Why, tired?"
"Yes, God, yes."
"Oh good. We burned out your fast-twitch muscles. I wasn't sure how true it would actually be, but most of your training is for slow-twitch endurance muscles. Like the kind you use for chewing, or most people would for walking."
"Really? That's not even a wheelchair joke. Plus, I don't believe for a second that's your only reason."
"Hell, it's not even my first reason. I just needed an excuse so that we could actually meet up. Given my boss subsidizes my showcase matches and competitions for PR sake, this was the only way I could come up with."
"I suppose that's reason enough." Arslan went silent, fumbling with what little energy she had for her water. Batting it over to her, she did her best to drink despite her laid out position on the ground. After half of it spilled out on the ground in the process, she figured the job done and went back to silently staring at the room's mirrored walls. "Hey Fox?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are we doing this?"
"And you wondered why I said you should watch Red vs Blue."
"Well, yeah, but I mean seriously. We just spent an hour beating each other up, and it's not like any of this going to get famous or rich off it. No way anyone is going to let the 'blind bandit' or some girl in a wheelchair fight pro. Half the people we meet don't take us seriously as it is. It's just a hobby."
"You've been talking with Coco too much."
"I started waking up earlier for workouts."
Fox took a second, absentmindedly noticing that not all the stuff streaming on his face was sweat. Arslan's elbow strike had apparently cut his face when it hit. Probably a bad sign that he was so used to being hit, he wasn't even sure where on his face and he was used to tasting his own blood. "Me too."
"What?"
"I've hit a plateau. I don't know what's next. And I know for you this a hobby, but this is my job. Not one that pays well, can't even pay for my own vacation to visit a friend. And hell, freaking gold medal in the Paralympics. Not much else I can go outside there. I tried wrestling, but too many years with jiu-jitsu makes it almost impossible to understand that whole back to the mat thing. So that's it. No idea what's next, because no matter what it becomes a matter of persuading other people to let me try and I don't know how. So I wake up a little earlier, train a little harder, take the train to Romania just so I can get punched by my best friend because she's one of the best fighters I've ever met."
"Thanks. You know your face is bleeding right?"
"I've had worse."
"Fine, your face. What do you want to do then?"
"You first."
"I want to go win a tournament, break that plateau, prove I'm not the sick kid who can't even leave a chair without a fear for my own safety. Then I want to ask out Reese, hang out with Bolin and Nadir. Maybe go for Shawarma later."
"What about after?"
"Wake up at some ungodly hour, chat with my friends and train. You?"
"I think I'm going to go do the impossible."
"Like what?"
"No fucking clue."
V
Leaving their little corner of the gym and making their way back towards the main event, Fox wasn't even going to lie. They looked like hell. He had convinced Arslan to stay in her wheelchair and rest properly since she only had less than an hour before her next bout, but she was covered in sweat and bruises to the point that she already looked like she had lost before going in. He wasn't much better, leaning heavily on her chair as he pushed it, with a face that was covered in blood that he already could feel the rapid-fire vibrations of someone sprinting to get him a first aid kit. Too tired to yell out to them it was just a cut eyebrow, bleeding plenty but nothing to worry about other than another scar.
"Fox, you look like crap."
"And you smell worse. Who's that walking towards us?"
Arslan shifted in her chair, before calling out. "Nadir, Bolin! What are you guys doing here?"
"Your parents paid for some train tickets so we could come and watch you compete since they couldn't make it. But apparently we already missed everything."
"I thought they said Women's competition would be in the auditorium on the East Wing? How'd we miss it, we just came from there looking for you?"
"What, this? No, this was just warm up. Meet my trainer slash pen pal I've been telling you about, Fox. Fox, this is Nadir and Bolin. Friends from school." She said.
"Hey guys, nice to finally meet you." Fox holding out his hand for the two guys in turn, and chuckling a little at how tense they were around him. He wouldn't be surprised if Arslan never mentioned his eyes, and between them and the blood he probably looked intimidating. "Who's your friend back there?"
"What do you mean…" Arslan's voice trailing off as someone walked out from behind Nadir and Bolin.
"Hey, hope you don't mind but I tagged along with these two when I heard you would be competing today."
Fox didn't have to be a genius to realize who hit was. The wheelchair he was leaning heavily against was starting to shake, and Arslan had locked the wheels through the disparity in strength which now clutched her wheels in a solid death grip. "Well then. Bolln, Nadir, how about we go hit up concessions. I need food."
"You sure you don't want someone to look at your face, first…"
Fox didn't bother to hide the sigh that escaped his lips. If he didn't know already that he would need her advice in the near future with Coco, he wouldn't even bother. Grabbing the two teens by the scruff of their necks, he twisted his hold to lock them both off balance, making walking a much easier affair as he escorted them away from the two girls. "I'm thinking milkshakes. Or maybe smoothies; and while we're out I need to stop by the pet daycare." Lacking even the effort to hide his cover story. It still gave Arslan the space she needed. Worst comes to worse, he would spend a couple nights helping out some teen heartbreak. Something he had figured was inevitable either way given he now had friends to worry about.
"Hey Reese. I didn't think you would come…"
VAV
Midsomer, England
V
"Ah, Ms. Adel, please come in."
Professor Oobleck ushered her into his office, spacious for one of the history teachers and packed with books until it felt beyond just cramped. Coco was frankly surprised, and more than a little thankful that there was still room enough for two chairs and a desk. Even if the latter was hidden beneath more clutter than her and Velvet's combined. Taking the seat across from him, she took the requisite second to ensure her posture was proper before asking him. "Did you get my email with the literature reviews."
"I did indeed! Fascinating work my dear, absolutely fascinating. I can't begin to tell you how much I look forward to reading the final paper. I am however curious how you plan to structure your paper given these source. I'm finding it difficult to follow your train of thought."
Coco managed to keep a straight face in light of the professor's, infamous, way of speaking faster than could be comprehended. "Sorry?"
"Your outline, if you please."
"Of course. I'm not sure quite how my introduction will go just yet, but I know I'm going to have to explain topic, and it's complicated."
"Quite. How would you describe it then?"
"That in a few extraordinary cases, individuals have been noted to overcome physical disabilities through the use of vigorous training. Having attained a level of mastery in this training, they have also been noted to be capable of performing certain feats that should be impossible and no one knows why. But like I said, that's complicated, because even with the people I've interviewed we haven't been able to explain why or how."
"Why do you think that might be?"
"Partly? Because none of them really care. They're gym nuts, and if you ask them about their training they'll talk for hours, but the whole superpower thing doesn't really affect them that much. The forum I told you about? It was started because one guy's girlfriend wanted to prove to him he wasn't crazy and seeing things. The girl I didn't get to interview, she flat out said she never even uses it in one of the group chats. And I know for a fact the other two guys that I interviewed prefer not to as well, because they whine about how it makes training too easy. And I think it says something, that the girl who admits to using hers regularly is the youngest and frankly the most impatient"
"Then why write the paper? Just because it's interesting doesn't necessarily mean it deserves this much effort."
"Because it is important. Look, by in large in engineering, we never make anything new. That's not how you get most problems fixed. Door jams, you shave the wood a little and presto it fits. Your car is having issues, usually just means that a part is loose or broken. Find it and fix it or replace it, simple as that. Ninety percent of the time you don't design stuff from the ground up. Gears and screws haven't changed much over the years. Martial arts are a lineage to people who figured out the nuts and bolts of body mechanics, figured out the basics for stuff that we still use to this day. Want to put someone in handcuffs? You use a wrist lock that Fox swears would have been around in the iron ages. Basically every martial art works on balance, which just happens to be useful for dancing, tripping, or high ledges. Maybe you want to be a little more flexible, these were the people who learned how to stretch everything out properly because they had need. But they are also the people who will tell you how you can lift something just a little bit easier because you shifted your leg for better support, used your hips to throw a little bit more muscle into the work. These arts are basically the ninety percent of designs that we already have, and yet in the modern age their restricted to sport venues, action movies or little holes in the wall where people show up for a few years as a kid and never learn the real lessons. Not the worst of legacies, but, given all of this, I think a lot of them are starting to ask if there's something more."
Professor Oobleck leaned back in his chair, letting his eyes glaze over a little, but leaving his only response as a soft "hm."
"English"
1: The argument here is basically, that Fox is the better fighter because he has a high pain tolerance and more experience with distancing. Arslan has her form down perfectly, strength to back it up, but is more likely to startle or clench up. A more than fair weakness given the age difference, and one that could very quickly be lost.
2: Joking, nothing more here, I talked enough already without more footnotes.
VAV
It's actually kind of a shame that ABRN gets so little screen time, because I have a very clear idea of the Altan family. I figure her dad would be like my Econ Professor, the real reason she's Turkish (the name was semi-coincidental), and I wanted DBB's sequel to be about teen's trying to grow up in a part of the world that is different culturally, and one that would likely frown at the lot of them. Frowning which in turn makes for better stories.
VAV
I actually gave up on DBB a few months ago. I like the idea of superpowers coming from the willpower to overcome limitations, but the implementation was too flawed since it only showed a few very specific examples without any alternatives. I could have balanced this out if I showed more people outside my main characters, like a outlined character who would have been a deaf fencer who wouldn't go anywhere because he already thought himself the best and left it at that.
Pacing has also been an issue, most of my fan fiction that I write or read is very fluffy, so it was hard to break away from that. Which meant plot was often sidelined. Some parts were also more difficult than others, MercxNeo is harder to write than I expected, and 8 never got far off the ground because of that.
And final issue is by how preachy the entire thing comes off as. I believe in the importance of what I wanted out of this story, but there was a lot of tell and not near as much show. On the other hand, reading it again after a few months off reminds me that when all is said and done, the message wasn't wrong, only the implementation. I would love to know how I can fix this story instead of binning it, and any comments in regards to this would be greatly appreciated.
