Disclaimer: I don't own Blade or any of its characters. I do Max, Xavier, Rev, and Cam, so no stealing!
Thanks to SkyWarner!Chapter 10: A Lesson in Manners
"Okay, fuckhead, make it better."
King had to smile as he sauntered over to her. Max may have been one pissed off woman, to him anyway, but she knew when she was doing something wrong. And, as much as she hated to admit it, she need help if she was going to improve and she didn't dare ask Blade. He'd probably think she was crazy or something, and there was no way Whistler could help her. Like it or not, King was her only option. God, how Max hated her life as he moved around and placed his hands on her body, positioning her into the proper position of the kick. His hand brushed her thigh, and was expecting two reactions: a shudder, or for her to bite his head off.
"Keep your fucking hands to your fucking self!" she snapped, and slapped his hand away.
King grinned. He couldn't resist. He loved throwing off strong women, whether he was attracted to them or not. Danica was a fine example of the latter. As he ran his eyes over her body and face, he came to the conclusion that Max was attractive, without a doubt. Her red hair falling onto her bare shoulder, her green eyes hard with concentration. Her chest wasn't that impressive, but substantial like Abigail's. The leather she was wearing was enough to drive any man over the edge, too – especially with her flat, toned mid drift shown off.
What King didn't know was that Max knew he was checking her out. His roaming eyes both pissed her off even more, and made her stomach jump. That same feeling she had in the lab was back, and she wasn't sure if she hated it or loved it. Shaking it off for the moment, Max narrowed her eyes when his gaze fell on her chest. Males! She knew he was interested, or pretended to be at the very least, but she could only assume it was a trick to throw her off.
"Kick," she said loudly to see if he had descended completely into male shallowness or if he was still going to help her.
"Hmm? Oh! Right! Um, turn your heel out when you kick then rotate it back when you bring your leg in," he instructed simply.
"That it, or should I really feel it, too, Master Kenobi?" she asked sarcastically.
"Just try it," he ordered, becoming both annoyed and impatient.
Max sighed and did as she was told. She moved the back of her foot with her leg and brought it straight back. She felt the difference and was surprised, to say the least. She hadn't wavered on her feet like usual. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the smug look on King's face. She tried to ignore him, and performed a few more kicks just to make sure. When she stopped, satisfied, she looked over at King. The smug bastard had his arms crossed as he leaned against a wall with that same smug look on his face.
"I stand corrected. You are good for something, fuckhead," she commented, moving her eyes to the floor.
"That hurts," he retorted, a hand over his heart, and started to walk back over to her. "Where did you learn to fight?"
"Why do you care?" she countered defensively.
"Because I am just a curious cuddly little Care Bear, here for you to cry on should you need to, and you owe me for helping you out," he replied, and she gave him an odd look but he just shrugged. "So?" Max looked over him once before nodding.
"I used to be a Vampire," she admitted, and pulled back her hair to show him the glyph at the base of her neck. "My sire, Snowman, he taught me. Every time we'd finish a spar, I'd feel like I should bow to him or have honor." This time, King gave her an odd look. "He was Chinese."
"Oh," he said with a nod. "You know, I used to be one, too."
"Don't lie to me. If there's one thing I hate, its liars…and circus freaks, but that's a whole other thing."
"No, seriously! Here, look." King walked closer and pulled down the rim of his pants to show her his mark on his left hip, and smirked proudly when he saw Max raised her eyebrows and smiled appreciatively. "Danica Talos, the biggest cock juggling bitch this side of the Western Hemisphere."
""Talos"?" she echoed, staring him straight in the eyes. "You were turned by Danica Talos?"
"Yeah," he told her, not really sure what she was getting at. When Max cursed, his eyes widened. "Oh, have you had the misfortune of meeting her, too?"
"No, not yet," she replied. "My brother, he was turned by Snowman, same as me, but we were cured and separated. I just found out he was turned again, but one Ms. Danica Talos. He's currently missing from her group, supposedly working for another head vampire. Sciver something or other. I'm not to sure."
"Damn. I'm sorry," he said sincerely, his voice getting a little quiet.
"I don't want your pity," she retorted quickly.
"Good, 'cause you don't have my pity, you have my sympathy. Or my condolences, since he's dead again. I'm not really sure how that works." Max simply shook her head, giving him a withered look. "You know, what? You need to blow off some steam, and all that pent up sexual frustration you have for me." As she moved to hit him, King held up his arms in defense. "Fight me," he demanded seriously.
"What? No!" Max retorted, looking at him like he was crazy.
"Oh, come on! What are you afraid of?" he taunted.
"Paying the bills after you're hospitalized!"
"Ha ha," King responded dryly. "No, I'm serious! Come on! If you could do it in the lab, you could do it here, right?"
"Fine, you persistent bastard," she growled, his taunting getting on her nerves. "I can't believe how annoying one man can be."
"All part of my charm," he told her and moved back towards her, who lashed out with her fist first, catching under the chin. King reeled back in shock on inside but on the outside he launched a kick at the same time her fist was drawing back to hit him again. Before she could even punch him, he kicked her on the side. Max backed away and bent over, clutching her side.
"Lucky shot," she told him, eyes narrowed.
"Oh, I haven't even begun to get lucky, sugar butt," he told her cockily. "We're just getting started."
"Shut the fuck up and fight!"
The first few attacks they threw at one another got through their opposite defenses. Both were just trying to discover the other's fighting style. King could tell that Max wasn't packing anything too serious. She moved fast, and he noticed that when he expanded she contracted, and when he contracted she expanded. It was little things like that, which helped her gain the upper hand quickly.
It also helped her to gain a quick understanding of King's fighting techniques. She recognized him as a heavy hitter, but still somewhat quick on his feet. She could tell though, just by the way he moved that he was like Xavier and preferred weapons to hand to hand combat. The two were almost the same, and she knew she could beat him if she just kept using her agility and Snowman's moves.
He tried to punch her, but she ducked under it and kicked his legs out form underneath him. King went down, and saw her bring her right leg up all the way to her head. She was going to slam it down into him, and he couldn't have that. So, he used one of his own legs to kick her leg balancing her and brought her down, too. As soon as she was down, he used his body weight to roll away from her and stand. King watched her as she pushed herself to her feet by her arms, like some Kung Fu martial artists.
The mats on the floor had thankfully broken both of their falls. But now they both stood, and were on very different ground. Abby had trained King after she'd saved him, and they still sparred every now and then. A professional martial artist had trained Max, not to mention she was a vampire at the time and was training with Blade at the moment. She was skilled and disciplined while he was a street fighter, a dirty fighter. What King didn't know what that she could not only throw a good punch and kick, but could jump as well. Yes, Max could jump really far.
She had started at a run towards him, which threw him off. Max noticed his sudden hesitance and smiled as she picked up he speed. She continued her run until she leapt off the mats and towards King. He was stunned, frozen, and it wasn't until she had flipped over his head, placed her hands on his shoulders, and a foot in his back, all while still in the air, that he knew what she was about to do. Max's free foot landed on the ground and she pulled King back with all her momentum, and he flew over her shoulder and onto the mat.
"Ah-ha-ha-ow," he gasped painfully, and moved to stand up when Max suddenly pounced and sat on top of him, hauling her arm back to punch him. "Bitch."
"Perv," she retorted.
"Thank you," he said kindly before catching her off guard.
King grabbed her by her waist and pulled her over his head so she was on the ground, than flipped over so he was on top. He established a hold down quickly, placing her hands above her head and the weight of his legs pinning down her own. There was no way Max could get out of this with strength, or some crafty trick Snowman had taught her about pressure points. Hell, she couldn't even knee him in the groin in his position!
"I win," King proclaimed, but Max just glared up at him. She didn't think she'd get beaten so easily, especially not by King. She was so mad – both at herself and him – that she started to struggle against him. "You know, squirming around like that, underneath a guy like me, not so smart," he told, meaning every word of it. Max stopped her struggling and he loosened his grip. As he stared down at her, that old familiar feeling rising up, and King suddenly leaned down so he was an inch from her face.
"If you wanted to be on top, all you had to do was ask," she told him, and leaning up to meet him halfway and kissing him castely. When she moved to push him off of her, King grabbed her by the back of her neck and to kiss her fully. Max struggled at first, but finally caved and returned the kiss. King preceded to grab her waist and pulled her into a roll to she was straddling him again.
"I've gotta go," she exclaimed urgently, pulling herself away from him and clumsily rose to her feet.
"Uh, wait! Hold on, Max!" he called in alarm as he stood as well, chasing after the now jogging woman. "Hold on a minute," he demanded, grabbing her arm as they stepped out of the gym. "What was that?"
"Um, I, uh…I don't know," she admitted shakily.
"I didn't mean for that to happen," he told her honestly. "I swear, I just want to see how good you were. At fighting," he added quickly, as not to offend her. "At the fighting, not the, uh…the other thing."
"And now you know, for both," she replied with a cheeky smile, and he chuckled, glad that the awkward tension was slightly gone.
"I'm, uh, I'm sorry," he said sincerely, and Max looked at him in a whole new light.
"Don't be," she replied, and leaned up to kiss his lips teasingly before pulling away. "See 'ya around, King," she said and ran out of the hideout to her motorcycle, driving off to the docks.
"Why is she running out here? She doesn't hate you now, does she?" Abigail asked behind him, not having seen a thing. "We might need her help later on, and we can't have you two fighting like you were before."
"No, she doesn't hate me," he replied with an exasperated tone. "In fact, we're on much better terms now," he told her with a smile as he walked past her. Abigail watched him with a worried look in her eyes before falling in step beside him.
"How much better?"
"Scale of one to ten, I'd say Max and me are about an eight," he replied, and sighed when he saw Abigail raise an eyebrow at him. "We just realized we have more in common than we first though, that's all."
"Such as?"
"She used to be a Vampire, for starters."
"Great. Looks like you may have met your match."
"Yeah, a match made in heaven, that's Max and I." As King walked on ahead of her, Abigail wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or serious.
P.S.: Six pages total.