Damian stared at the captain in shock as he felt the eyes of everyone in the stadium suddenly focus in on him. He began to wonder how he had gotten himself into this predicament:
He had initially wondered why the captain had led him to the front of the arena next to a bunch of large and muscular crew members to watch the fight. He had quickly assumed that they were the contestants for the fighting, and though he found it odd that the captain decided to go into the same area as them, he merely supposed that she just wanted get right up to the action in order to get a good view. He never expected that her reasoning behind getting right to the front was to participate herself.
The fight they watched was brutal, the lizard lady mercilessly destroying the tall security guard. Once the round was over and the loser was escorted out of the arena, he began to worry about the next contestant who would have to face the razor sharp teeth and long claws. The captain had mentioned that whoever wanted to fight just had to step into the ring, and when he had examined the faces of the other contestants as they stared at the blood being cleared from the mat, he doubted that any of them would willingly be the next challenger. He was completely caught off guard when the captain herself had leapt into the ring to fight the winner, despite the sight of fresh blood still covering the claws of the winner's scaly toes. He was terrified for the safety of the captain, wondering why she would risk her health when they had such an important task at hand, though of course she had no idea if she would have a bigger role in saving the universe other than transporting him to the Time Gate.
He had watched nervously as the captain fought her dangerous opponent, her movements precise and controlled, her posture relaxed. She hadn't even been hit once as she dodged attacks and knocked the lizard lady to the ground three times before pinning her for the required ten seconds. The fight was astounding; he had expected her to be destroyed but instead she had seamlessly won without hardly even breaking a sweat.
Now as he stared into the arena the captain wasn't even breathing hard; she stood with a hand on her hip as her blue eyes dared him to enter a ring with her, a wide smile splayed across her lips. Damian glanced away from her and looked at the crew members around him, who were all staring at him with expectant looks on their faces. He knew that when the captain asks you to do something, you do it. Though, he supposed that since she had given him the a captain's uniform, he could say no to her if he wanted to because everyone there assumed the two of them were of the same rank. If he said no the crew would realize that he had just as much power as she had, but at the same time, he was itching toward beating her at the fight.
Though he had just watched her easily defeat the last contestant, he knew that he had a good chance at beating her. He had never been beaten by a girl before, not that he ever went out of his way to fight them, so he supposed that he wouldn't let today be any different. She didn't know anything about his fighting skills, so he already had a leg up on her because he just watched her fight and had learned a few things about her stance and the way she moved. She would be shocked to learn that he was highly trained in hand to hand combat after he successfully pinned her to the mat for ten seconds; he had never lost a fight and he wouldn't let the captain ruin his winning streak.
Damian returned her smile with one of his own as he reached down to pull off his boots, much to the applause of the crowd. They had never seen him before now and must all be curious as to who he was and why he was wearing a captain's uniform, the aspect of having two captains fighting each other must be really appealing to them based on the level of their noise. After removing his boots and placing them neatly next to the captain's tall boots, he vaulted himself over the small wall and walked onto the blue mat until he stopped directly in front of the captain, her eyes beaming her approval.
"Commander," she said with a smile.
"Captain," Damian responded coolly. He glanced around the arena as hundreds of crew members jostled around the risers, each of them anxious for the fight to begin. He hated being the center of attention, but the captain had given him no choice. He could pull rank on her and turn down the offer, but seeing as he was already in the center of the ring…
"Shall we fight?" she asked as the crowd screamed in excitement.
He didn't want to. He thought the games were a waste of time, especially considering what their true mission was. How could they spar and run the risk of hurting themselves when the entire fate of the universe rested in their hands?
The captain apparently had no issue with putting aside their ultimate goal as she balled her hands into fists and held them in front of her face.
Seeing no choice in the matter, Damian responded by taking his own fighting stance, one foot in front of the other, his fists held in defense. He knew she was a good fighter after watching her completely annihilate her last opponent. However, he knew he would be victorious. Losing was not an option, and there was no way that he would let the captain defeat her superior officer—though he did regret having to hit a woman. He decided to do the nice thing and give her a chance before he completely destroyed her.
Without warning the captain suddenly leapt in the air, her leg flying toward him in a powerful roundhouse kick. Damian jerked back and narrowly escaped her bare foot. He stumbled backwards, shocked by the abrupt move. The crowd's roar was deafening as they cheered on the violence.
Her feet barely regained contact with the ground before she lunged, jabbing her arm forward in a quick punch. He managed to knock her hand away before another one of her blows came out of nowhere. Her punches were lightning fast as she continued to assault him.
He did all he could to keep from getting hit as he was pushed backwards. She left no room for him to retaliate. Finally, he saw an opportunity. He brought his knee into her side and cut off her attacks. He swung a punch, but she ducked and turned, sweeping her feet under his legs. His feet flew into the air, and before he knew it he was lying on his back.
The high ceiling stretched before him. A thought went unbidden into his head as he wondered why the captain would find it necessary to devote so much space of her ship to a fighting arena. It was simply ridiculous—his mind returned to the present as he realized he was in a compromising position and unprotected. He prepared himself for an attack, waiting for her to make the first move. He couldn't believe that he had been knocked down so soon into the fight. Humiliation began to nag him, but he had no time for regret. From the corner of his eye, he saw the captain soaring through the air to pounce on him. He quickly kicked her to the side, wrapping his legs around her and twisting until he sat on top of her.
He scrambled to pin down her arms, but one of them escaped as her fist slammed against his cheek. Stunned, he blindly reached for her arms and held them above her head, trying to pin her down for the ten seconds. He blinked his eyes to clear them as his cheek smarted in pain. This was going to be easier than he thought. She hardly even struggled against him.
"That's probably going to leave a bruise." The captain sarcastically lamented from beneath him, her blue eyes sparkling in amusement.
He glared down at her and pinched her wrists tighter, adjusting his weight slightly as he pinned her legs to be certain that she wouldn't be able to escape him. He was slightly remiss that was going to be over so soon. The cacophony around them intensified as the crowd shouted their disapproval. Buoyed up by their cheers, she began sliding downwards. Confused, he leaned his weight forward, knowing that only a few seconds remained before he won.
Her legs suddenly lurched into the air to wrap around his torso; freed when he had leaned forward. She pushed him with her legs, successfully jerking him off of herself. The shouting intensified within the arena, the crowd ecstatic at the sight of their captain's dexterity. He cursed himself for his stupidity as he rolled over and quickly leapt to his feet, just as the captain jumped to hers.
He took the offensive, his pride hurting. He let his body take over as he aimed practiced punches even the most advanced fighters couldn't block. To his dismay, her arms flew swiftly and, somehow, she deflected every shot. He moved extraordinarily fast, amazed to find that the captain kept up with him and anticipated every attack, knocking them to the side as she tried to hit him with a few of her own.
They continued their sparring, neither side landing a punch. Damian began to believe that he had met his match. He had never combated against anyone who could be considered his equal. While he enjoyed the challenge, he was anxious to get it over with and defeat her.
Taking a different tactic, he unclenched one fist and sent a sideways blow to her shoulder, but she suddenly grabbed his wrist with both hands and lurched past him, wrenching his arm behind him. His arm seared in pain, and he blindly stomped down onto her bare foot in retribution. She released her grasp and pushed him off of her. He stumbled forward and shook out his arm. It was sore and tight, but it hadn't been sprained.
He turned, keeping his attention on his opponent as she began circling him, her right leg noticeably limping. Damian bounced on the balls of his feet to mock her injury and he rolled his shoulders back, preparing to attack. She narrowed her eyes at him, keeping a safe distance away. The crowd began to quiet, the room taking in a breath of anticipation as the two fighters circled the mat.
He felt guilty for hurting her, but even more pleased that he had gotten the better of her after his embarrassing fall. "Do you need to sit down?" Damian teased when she carefully put her weight on her right foot.
She halted and cocked her head to the side. "Are you tired?" she sneered, the corner of her lips pulled upwards.
Damian clenched his jaw in response, determined to wipe the smug smile off her face. Without warning she shot toward him, but just as she neared him he swung a kick at her. With breakneck speed her hands shot up and grabbed his leg mid-spin. Using his momentum against him, she flung his leg to the side, twirling him through the air.
He landed on his forearms. He couldn't believe that he had been knocked down again. His temper rising, he rolled as he hit the mat, determined to get back to his feet as soon as possible, but he didn't expect her to attack so soon. He saw her somersault through the air, one leg extended, and realized that this is going to hurt. Pain exploded in his stomach as her heel sank into his gut.
Stars flashed and his vision blurred. The screams of the crowd echoed the air whooshing from his lungs. Though completely winded, he grabbed her leg and wrenched it off of him, faintly recognizing that it was her right leg. She had faked her injury. Infuriated, rolled onto his hands and knees. He knew he needed to get back to his feet, but he couldn't seem to get any air into his lungs. He wondered for a moment how he could possibly be losing—no one had ever beaten him in a fighting match before.
All at once, agony soared through him as he rocked onto his back from the captain's tackle, his strained arm crushed beneath their combined weight. Thinking became painful as her legs wrapped around his and his other arm was pinned between them. He was now completely unable to move. To add further insult to injury, her hand pressed down on his face to keep him from looking around.
I'm going to lose, he realized with a shock. He felt humiliated. His mind shouted at the impossibility of the situation. A mere captain—a woman, capable of defeating him? He thought adamantly against it. She might have been well trained, but no one was a match for him.
He wrenched his pinned arm upwards. She flew back, barely managing to keep her legs entwined with his own. He sat up, freeing his arm that had been immobilized beneath him and dug his fingers into her shoulders. He threw her to the side and rolled his heavier weight on top of her.
One of her hands flew up to his face, but he anticipated the attack this time and caught her wrist and slammed it to the mat; completely immobilizing it. Her left arm came swinging up, but he easily grabbed that arm and wrenched it above her head in an iron grip. She squirmed, her eyes widening as she realized her situation. Damian finally took the moment to suck in greedy breaths of air. A victorious grin spread across his features as her movements became more desperate; their roles reversed.
His grip tightened around her wrists as the seconds ticked by. Suddenly, she stopped moving. He peered at her quizzically, wondering if the buzzer had sounded. The crowd booed and hissed, though a few supportive cheers could be picked out from the deafening roar. He knew he wasn't their favorite; he didn't belong on their ship. She was their captain—he was just some stranger, a nameless authority.
She began to smile up at him. He was utterly confused—even though she was going to lose, her face was bright and exultant. For a brief moment, he couldn't help but to be enamored by her smile, though it was off-putting.
Unexpectedly she lifted her head upwards, closing the small distance between the two of them as her lips planted firmly against his mouth. His eyes opened wide with shock… was she kissing him?
He jerked backwards and loosened his grip on her wrists, completely forgetting the reason why he was pinning her to the floor. His lips were still tingling as she slid out from beneath him and disappeared behind him. An unseen kick bashed into his temple; it felt as though he had been hit by a battering ram. He fell to his side, completely dazed.
The captain jumped on him, knocking him onto his stomach. She wrenched both of his arms behind his back, her knees painfully digging into the back of his thighs. His thoughts were blurred, his ears ringing as a fire raged in his head from her powerful kick.
The screams were deafening as the crowd cheered on their captain. He weakly squirmed beneath her, but couldn't free his arms or legs from her tight grasp. The predominant thought running through his mind was focused on whether or not he had just been kissed by the captain. A massive buzzing emanated around him, either from his thundering headache, or it from the signal that announced the round was over.
The buzzing began to subside, but herds of elephants continued to race through his head. He realized that the round was over as the buzzing could only mean one thing. He lost.
"That was fun." The captain said cheerily, her voice almost lost in the ecstatic cheers of the crowd.
He wondered if she referred to the fight or to the kiss, unsure whether or not he felt the same. It certainly was… memorable, though his emotions were conflicted. The pressure on his back was released as she stepped off of him. Damian remained where he was, frozen in place. Reality dawned on him. He had been cheated—disarmed by a kiss!
He reasoned that lying in defeat was doing nothing good for him, but finding the effort to move was difficult. He slowly rolled onto his back, his head spinning as the sounds of applause reverberated through the air. Stars zoomed all around as a double image of the captain's silhouette towered over him. She extended a hand.
He shakily accepted her firm grasp and she pulled him to his feet, his head reeling from all of the noise and confusion, his lips still tingling. As he peered around him at the large stadium, completely packed with the crew members of the ship, he realized with a start that they had all seen it. They had all watched him be kissed by the captain, and then beaten. He was mortified when he saw the camera zoom out to hover in front of him, realizing that the entire fight had been recorded and broadcasted throughout the entire ship.
He turned to look at the captain, who was staring at him with a concerned look on her face. She extended her hand towards his head, her expression empathetic as she lightly touched his temple with her slender fingers, bringing her hand back to reveal bright red blood glistening on the tips of her fingers.
"I made you bleed, I'm sorry," she apologized.
Damian was still incredibly embarrassed by the entire event and stepped back from the captain, not wanting to appear weak. "I'm fine," he stated, a bit of harshness in his tone.
She peered at him expectantly until a smile slowly began to form on her lips. "Me too" she said, sending him a wink.
He stared at her blankly, completely confused. Was she flirting with him? She kisses him and then bashes his head in with her foot, the mixed signals he had received couldn't have been more confusing.
Damian humphed in response and turned away from her to head back to the low wall and the other contestants, cheering and applause reverberating throughout the large stadium. The eyes of the other contestants followed him as he approached the small wall. His head was pounding from every step he took as he walked away, but he managed to lift himself over the wall with some sort of dignity.
A medical officer approached him, holding a bright red med kit. Though he wanted desperately to just wave the black clad officer away, he knew that his injury had to be looked at. He couldn't believe how strong she was, he even began to wonder if she had cracked his skull with her heel based on the pain he was in.
He glanced back at the captain, who stood in the center of the mat daring the next contestant to step forwards with her piercing blue eyes. He realized that she would be fighting again until eventually she was defeated. He wanted to stay and watch the next fight, but he figured that he could watch it on one of the transparent screens while his injury was looked at.
He bent over to pick up his boots, fireworks exploding in his head from the movement. He clenched his jaw as he crouched down to pull them on, every movement making his head scream in pain. Once he pulled them both on he followed the medical officer back up the long walkway, the crew member's eyes following his slow passage, their expressions filled with respect. He wondered if they respected him for his fighting skills, as he certainly could have beaten her if she hadn't pulled her little trick on him. Then again, they might just all be in awe that they watched their captain actually kiss someone, unless she did that often. Something about the way she had looked at him made him throw away that assumption, he doubted that she went around kissing her crew and she had never mentioned having a significant other in her life.
The medical officer led him out of the arena; he was just a regular human, short in height and sleight in build but walked rather rapidly, making Damian's head spin as he tried to keep up. Once in the hallway the crew members milling about clapped and cheered as he excited, which he thought was strange as he had obviously lost. They continued down the hallway, taking a sharp corner and heading into a quieter section of the level until they entered a sterile room with a single chair in the center, cabinets encircling the walls.