Disclaimer: The Among Us universe belongs to InnerSloth LLC and PlayEveryWare. This is a work of fanfiction and is not intended for profit or copyright infringement. I do not own the rights to Among Us or its setting/universe.
Whimpering, Zale slowly shuffles away to join Osiris at the door, which is now open a crack.
"Ah, I thought I might find you here." Kenzo's brogue voice fills our ears and I feel my heart drop into my stomach. He doesn't know yet. Zale is going to have to smooth this over somehow without alerting him to the fate of the professor - not yet, anyway. "Dinner is ready and there's not a soul to be seen. Is everyone here? What's going on?"
Zale moves to the side to prevent Kenzo from having a full view of the room.
"Right. Thank you for alerting us, Kenzo. I'm sure we will all be there shortly. Just give us a few additional minutes to finish up some, er...tests...and we'll be on our way. So if you don't mind -"
"And what's that you're testing, then?" Kenzo attempts to push past Zale. Zale is tall but not nearly as strong as Kenzo, so Osiris steps in, which is a mistake. As soon as Osiris blocks his way, Kenzo's placid expression turns to stone. "What's this about? What's going on? What are you hiding from us this time?"
"It is not our intent to hide anything," Zale says in a rush, still trying to restrain Kenzo with Osiris's help. The two of them barely keep him at bay. "Trust me, it's nothing you have to worry about, so please go back to the Cafeteria -"
"And since when do I take orders from you, lad?" Kenzo says angrily. With one last shove he manages to break through their ranks and into Medbay. He pauses when he sees the rest of us: me, with my cracked and bleeding hands; Quill, with his pale terrified expression; Del, shirtless with a wounded shoulder. "Where's the professor?" he demands. "Someone tell me what's going on here!"
"Kenzo, I must ask that you keep your voice down." Dr. Barnett steps out from behind the curtain, adjusting his glasses. "This is a Medbay. All will be explained soon, if you would please -"
"No! You always do this!" Kenzo growls, balling his hands into fists. "You think I don't have just as much right to know as anyone else about what happens on this ship? You kept us all in the dark with Warrick's death and I refuse to let that happen again! Where is O'Connell? Let me talk to him!"
Silence fills the room like a suffocating cloud. Everyone looks away from Kenzo, unable to bear his expression and too afraid that he will read the truth in ours. Someone clears their throat and I look up, startled to find that Zale has pulled himself to his full height and steps up to Kenzo in a no-nonsense manner that I've never seen from him before.
"Actually, I'm the commander now," he says crisply. "Anything you need to talk about you can come to me."
"You?" Kenzo's ruddy face turns redder. "Are you taking the mickey? There's no way O'Connell would hand down the title, unless -" He stops, a look of horror dawning on his face. He glances at the rest of us for confirmation. Our glum, tired expressions are all he needs. "No." He shakes his russet head. "No, it's can't be true. Not again. Someone tell me it isn't true."
No one does. Kenzo's fists clench and unclench. A popping vein throbs in his neck. His teeth grind against each other and it looks like he's trying to decide whether to shut down or throw something. I almost wish he decides to throw something if it means I can actually feel something, myself. I accept this loud interruption without complain. It jars my sense back to reality and grounds my spiraling thoughts.
But Kenzo neither shuts down nor throws something. Instead, to all of our surprise, he grunts and, after taking a deep breath, says in a level voice, "I understand. And...if you don't mind me asking, how did he die? Was he bitten in half?"
Zale opens his mouth to reply but all that comes out is a nervous burp. He claps a hand over his mouth and shakes his head.
"His neck was snapped," Osiris says. "Sage and I found him in Admin."
Kenzo releases a string of loud and colorful curse words, half of which I don't even recognize.
His reaction is justified. Not only does a second death mean we're all in danger, but the method of killing confirms that these deaths were intentional and carried out by somebody on board. Each of us has a target on our backs and regardless of what Del says to the contrary, it would seem that those in a position of power are more likely to be picked off first. If the killer was acting indiscriminately, I surely would have been killed in that hallway while I was following the noise.
This was calculated.
What I still can't wrap my head around is how someone or something could be small enough to climb through the ventilation system but large enough to take down two full-grown men with apparent ease. And what was that strange, putrid black substance I found near the vent?
None of it fits, and I'm going to drive myself crazy trying to make sense of it all.
"What do we do now?" Lenna asks, playing nervously with the ends of her curls. "Do we have another funeral? What if it happens again? What if we're all going to die?"
"Lenna, take a deep breath," Dr. Barnett says, stepping forward to place a hand on her shoulder. "I know it seems like things are hopeless, but we don't have all the facts yet. We're going to take this one day, one moment at a time. Right now another man is dead. In an ideal world we would embalm the body and preserve it for a proper burial. But we do not have such resources in space, so we will have to give the professor a similar sendoff. I would like a bit more time to inspect the body before doing so, if you all don't mind. Commander Zale, I will be needing your assistance as well."
Zale jumps, unaccustomed to being addressed thusly. He puffs up slightly. "Whatever you need, doctor." Then, as if testing out his newfound leadership, he turns to Osiris and says, "Return to Weapons and bring Lenna with you. Minka and Ebba are the only two who don't know what happened. Find them and bring them back here. We'll meet and discuss what to do moving forward."
"Okay...why am I taking Lenna with me?" Osiris looks equally unaccustomed to taking orders from Zale.
"Because it's no longer safe to go anywhere alone. From now on we're enacting the buddy system, as Dale - er, Del - recommended."
"Why Lenna?"
"Why not Lenna?" Lenna says, looking hurt.
"No offense, I just -"
"It doesn't matter who you bring, I just thought Lenna would be helpful company," Zale says, somewhat snippily. "Pick whoever you like, I don't care, I just need everyone back here in ten minutes. Preferably alive. Think you can manage that?"
The words visibly wound Osiris's ego. He throws his shoulders back and glares reproachfully at our new commander. "Sir, I used to be a US Marine fighting on the front lines. I think I can handle escorting a small group of people from one room to the other. Come on, Del, let's go." He turns on his heel and Del makes to follow him but Zale puts up a hand to stop him.
"Ah, pairing up our top two security officers is not such a smart idea. It leaves the abandoned groups too vulnerable. Perhaps take someone a little less-trained in offensive tactics who you could easily protect."
"Wouldn't it make more sense to bring someone who can easily protect themselves?" Osiris is becoming visibly more irritated at Zale's ridiculous tactics. He no longer looks him in the eye and instead trains his gaze on a nearby saline drip, his jaw working furiously.
"Not if it means the rest of us are trapped here without a security guard," Zale tuts.
"Fine. Sage, let's go." He spins more aggressively and stomps towards the exit. I open my mouth, wanting to argue that I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself, but Zale beats me to it.
"Actually, Sage needs to stay here with me and the Doctor so she can help us inspect the body and prepare it for sendoff."
"FINE!" Osiris barks. "Lenna! Get your ass to Weapons STAT!"
"Yessir!" Lenna squeaks, running after Osiris, who stalks off without bothering to wait for her. The rest of us are left in an uncomfortable silence. Zale wears a smug look of pride that is really quite disgusting.
"Well, now that that's settled, I'm going to need everyone to find a seat while I figure out the best way to get this buddy system rolling..."
While he talks to himself I take this opportunity to join Dr. Barnett behind the curtain. The body is covered with a white sheet but the image of Professor O'Connell's bruised and splintered neck and staring eyes haunts me wherever I go. I've confirmed in my mind that not being able to see the face is much better than staring at the mutilated corpse of a familiar friend.
"What's the matter, Sage?" Dr. Barnett asks, reading my expression. He's setting up a bloodwork station to siphon some of O'Connell's blood and run tests on it. I slide onto a wobbly spinning stool and bite my lip, staring at my toes.
"I wanted to tell you about something I found in Admin after we discovered the body," I say slowly. "There was a weird sticky tar-like substance on the floor near one of the air vents. It was too dark to be blood but too strong to be food-related, and there was simply too much of it to be any other bodily fluid."
"Interesting. Perhaps a chemical spill or pipe leakage? Did you see it, Quill?"
I give a little start as I realize that Quill, true to his word, has remained right by my side and followed me without me realizing it.
"Not yet - I haven't been in Admin at all. You should show me, Sage. I may be able to determine what it is."
"Maybe...but it was so strange. It didn't look like anything leaking - more like someone spilled something and started dripping all over the carpet. I dunno. I just wanted to tell you in case we wanted to run some labs on it."
"That may be wise indeed. Would you be willing to take some samples for me once Zale's, er...buddy system is put into place?"
The pneumatic hiss alerts us of the door opening. The scouting team has returned, plus one subdued Ebba and one highly irritated Minka. Her hackles are raised and her dark eyes glitter dangerously, one hand resting on a holstered blade, the other pointing accusingly at Osiris, who's whole body is tense and rigid like a two-by-four. We all listen haltingly as Minka chews him out at the top of her lungs.
"-don't care what you or anyone else says, nothing is more important than combat training, especially for the weak pacifists on this ship! You know it, I know it, and so does everyone else! I've already forfeited too many students today due to 'mysterious circumstances in Admin,' and now I'm being told my classes are canceled altogether? That's bullshit."
"Nobody's cancelling anything!" Osiris bellows. "For MIRA's sake, pull yourself together! No one is hiding anything, no one is setting you up, and no one is trying to sabotage your classes or your parole!"
"Oh yeah? Prove it!"
"By all means! The proof is right here. We brought you here so you wouldn't miss out, so if you have questions or want to see the dead body, knock yourself -"
"Wait, dead body?" Minka halts, her expression one of having just been slapped. "No one said anything about a dead body."
"I believe I mentioned it several times, actually, but someone was blathering on quite loudly and failed to hear me!" Osiris spits out.
"It's true," Lenna says, her quiet voice like a soft caress on the ears after Minka and Osiris's grating tones. "Professor O'Connell is dead."
"He can't be dead," Minka retorts, slipping her shock behind a mask of calm and rationale. "If he's dead then that means Zale is commander, which means we're all dead."
"Minka! Ebba. Sweethearts. So glad you could join us," Zale says stiffly, slapping on a wide toothy smile that looks more painful than usual. Ebba stares at Zale with a mixture of awe and confusion while Minka looks ready to filet him alive for calling her sweetheart. "Now, if we could all stop jumping down each others' throats and settle in we can get started on -"
But Minka either doesn't hear him or doesn't care because she sees Dr. Barnett and I poke our heads curiously around the curtain, followed by Quill, and makes a beeline straight toward us. No on stops her, not even Osiris. At this point I doubt anyone even cares. Failing to follow all sanitation, bedside manner, and privacy rules, Minka jerks the curtain back to find the body beneath the sheet. Apparently this isn't enough to convince her. With a soft gasp of shock from myself and several people around me, she pulls the sheet back and looks into the bloated, purplish and very dead face of Professor O'Connell.
Breathing heavily, she drop the sheet back over his face and turns to look at the nine pairs of eyes watching and judging her every move. Her reaction is not to cry, yell, or complain. Instead, she catches my eye and, with the firmness and finality of death itself, says, "It wasn't me."
"For MIRA's sake, woman!" Osiris grouses. "No one said it was!"
I tune out his voice and the angry, confused mutterings of the people around me because Minka is staring straight at me. She doesn't pay attention to anyone else and seems to be waiting only for my reaction. I open my mouth and wait for a lull in the noise to say awkwardly, "Er...no. Of course it wasn't you."
She nods and looks at Dr. Barnett, who has been watching the whole scene unfold with his hands clasped placidly behind his back, head bowed slightly, eyes warm and curious.
"Tell them it wasn't me," Minka demands.
"My dear," Dr. Barnett says kindly, "you've done a wonderful job of that already, don't you think? I hardly think my opinion will change anyone's mind. No one here has reason to believe you've murdered either Warrick or O'Connell, despite your skillset. You are the only one on this ship who has taken the time to defend themselves when no offense has been thrown. We are all shocked by the tragedies of the past several days, but that does not mean we are throwing out accusations. So please - step aside with the rest of the crew while Sage and I run some blood tests on the professor."
"I'm helping," Quill interjects.
Dr. Barnett gives Quill a baffled look, but stranger still is the way Minka obeys Dr. Barnett's instructions without hesitation. Looking pleased with her alibi, she marches over to the nearest bed and sits down heavily, collapsing onto her back and crossing her arms over her chest like a bright bubblegum-pink mummy staring at the ceiling.
"I changed my mind again," Lenna says to Ebba in a whisper that carries. "I think Dr. Barnett should be our new commander."
Ebba catches my eye and winks. I share a small, private smile with her in turn. Zale takes this moment to draw attention back to himself, which isn't very difficult when he leaps onto a vacated bed and jumps up and down, waving his hands in a very un-commander-like manner. "Okay people, listen up. I've called this meeting to discuss two things. First, I just want to confirm that yes, Professor O'Connell is dead. And, like Warrick, it looks as though he was murdered." He pauses here for dramatic effect, letting the words sink in. "Second, given the events of the past several days, it's clear no one is safe anymore. With the knowledge that any one of us could be brutally murdered at any moment -" he pauses again and I roll my eyes "-I've decided that we will enact the buddy system. What is the buddy system, you may ask? Well, I'll tell you what it is. From now on, each of you will be assigned another member of the this crew to stick with at all times. You will not let this person out of your sight and you will go everywhere together - this includes the bathroom, meal times, work times, and bunk times. Any questions?"
"Yeah, I've got one," Kenzo raises his meaty fist into the air. "What happened that made you think you can treat us like kindergarteners?"
"Um, you mean besides the two people who are dead?" Zale blinks at him. "All due respect, Kenzo, if you're going to ask questions don't waste my time with dumb ones."
"If anything is dumb it's the buddy system," Osiris agrees, crossing his muscled arms over his toned chest. "I mean, think about it! All of us have completely different jobs to do around the ship. Some people are mobile, others are stationary. Some people require overtime while others have more lenience. Some of our jobs are a full-time commitment. Take Quill, for example. If he leaves the engines for even a little while they go completely bust! No offense."
"None taken," Quill shrugs. "It's true. If this is going to work I'll need to be paired with someone who can stay in one spot for most of the day. And someone who doesn't mind a bit of grease and grime."
"This is codswallop!" Kenzo yells.
"None of it is reasonable -"
"What if it doesn't work?"
"Like any monster is going to be afraid of two people..."
"Think about it!" Zale shouts over the complaining. "If you're with another person at all times you're far less likely to get picked off! And if at least one of you is specially trained in combat and self-defense, then it's even less likely that you'll find yourself in a life and death situation. That's why I think it's also important that we make weapons training required for everyone. If you're comfortable with a weapon it could save your life!"
More angry outbursts, and this time my voice joins the cacophony.
"My job is to heal, not maim! How can I possibly fight off a monstrosity with a tiny pocket knife, anyway?"
"I'm terrible at weapons, too!" Lenna wails. "Minka says my noodle arms are useless at keeping a gun steady."
"Okay, enough - ENOUGH! Please, will everyone just stop complaining for one second?" Poor Zale has lost his charismatic sheen and instead has taken on a light sweaty pallor. "I'm sure this can all be handled if we agree to speak in a civilized manner with each other. I already have an idea of who to pair with who, so -"
"I'm with Sage!" Quill says immediately, welding himself to my side. "I promised myself I would never leave her and I intend to keep that promise."
"But neither of you can use weapons, and, quite frankly neither of you have that much muscle mass. How are you going to protect each other?"
"I may not be able to throw knives but I know my way around wrenches and hammers and clamps and a whole bunch of other tools that can do some serious damage."
"You're not going to scare off an alien monster with a screwdriver, Porcupine Boy," Minka scoffs. "You need to be paired with an expert - someone with years of practice to hone and polish the art of weaponry."
Zale cocks an eyebrow at her. "Someone like...you?"
Minka must not have realized she basically volunteered herself to protect my brother because her face turns an angry shade of red. "N-no way. I'm not being paired with someone like him. I want someone actually competent, like Del. He's my parole officer anyway - he has to keep an eye on me and make sure I don't -"
"Fuck parole!" Zale shouts, effectively silencing the entire room. "Two people are dead, Minka - murdered. I think we're past caring about parole. If pairing you with Quill means that's one more life saved, then it's worth it."
Minka levels a dangerous gaze at him, staring for an uncomfortable amount of time as though trying to find a crack in his shiny veneer. "So what are you suggesting?"
"I'm suggesting you forget about parole, gather up as many of your deadliest weapons you can find, and kick some alien monster ass. The more people you can teach in the meantime, the better. Thoughts, Del?"
"I'll allow it," he says with zero hesitation. This surprises me. What surprises me even more is when he adds, "I'll pair with Sage."
"What?!" Quill and I splutter at the same time. He and I look from Del to each other and back again. "If I'm paired with Minka, what makes you think you're the best candidate for protecting my sister?" Quill demands. I sigh and try to refrain from rolling my eyes. Del opens his hands, palms upward, in a surrendering sort of gesture.
"A fair question. My height and weight aside, I trained in the military for over four years and have licenses in a wide range of weapons, as well as a black belt in three kinds of martial arts. It's my job to protect people - I figured, between myself and Osiris, you would want one of us to pair with Sage if it can't be you. Am I wrong?"
Quill looks like he wants to argue, but even Minka can't find a hole in Del's reasoning. So Quill, rather begrudgingly, allows Del to pair with me while he pairs with Minka. All the while no one bothers to ask my opinion. I don't mind Del, of course, but I do wish people would stop treating me like I'm completely helpless just because I'm small and won't carry a gun. But then Del catches my eye and smiles and I'm suddenly feeling okay about the whole thing.
"I can't believe I'm saying this," Kenzo begins, "but if we're doing this then I'd better stick with Ebba. I'm the only one here aside from her who knows ASL." He looks to Ebba, who nods in confirmation and signs something additional. Kenzo blushes lightly. "Oh, Eb, that's kind of you to say. I do like gardening, it's true. I'd be honored to help with your plants."
"Okay," Zale says, appearing satisfied. "So that leaves myself, Osiris, Lenna, and the Doctor. I was thinking -"
"Dibs on Osiris!" Lenna says quickly, earning looks of confusion from everyone. "What? Look at his muscles compared to mine!" She tries and fails to flex. She pinches Osiris's bulging bicep and snickers and he shakes her off. "And no offense, Zale, but you're commander now - you really shouldn't be cooped up in Navigation all day. If Dr. Barnett does rounds with you he can have a mini med cart and be like a hospital on wheels! It's perfect. I'm a genius!" Lenna gives herself a high-five. Then she tries to convince Osiris to give her a high five, which he blatantly ignores.
"Fine, I'll pair with Lenna, as long as she keeps her hands to herself."
Lenna sheepishly lowers her hand.
"If I may, commander?" Dr. Barnett speaks up, looking pointedly at Zale. "I will of course do what you ask to the best of my ability, but what happens when there's an emergency at one end of the ship and I need to get to a different emergency at the other end? Would it not be best to switch off with another pair so we can effectively address anything that arises? I would hate for you to be stuck in Medbay when, let's say, MIRA finally manages to contact us and we have no one there to take the message."
"Fair point," Zale admits. "I suppose, if such a situation were to arise, it would be prudent to switch with the nearest pair, though I would warn against leaving two vulnerable people together."
Vulnerable. Weak. Little. I'm sick and tired of people treating me this way, assuming I don't know how to handle myself. True, I refuse to use a gun, but if attending Minka's self-defense classes and learning how to use a weapon will make everyone shut up about me, then perhaps it's worth it.
"Okay, you know what?" I turn away from the group to look at Minka, who raises a pierced eyebrow at me from her reclined position on the bed. "I'm in. I'm down with the buddy system and I'm down to learn how to defend myself. When is your next class?"
The second eyebrow raises to join the first and she sits up, her back stock-straight. "Are you sure about that, Little Red?"
The ridicule hits me like a slap to the face but I take it, refusing to back down. "It's like Commander Zale said. Two people are dead. It could very well have been me - it still could be me, or any one of us. It's time to take that step."
Minka smirks. "Well then. If that's the case, class is in session. Follow me."
After discussing it with Dr. Barnett, he and Zale agree to let me attend Minka's self-defense lessons instead of inspecting the body and preparing it for sendoff. So that's how I find myself in the round, spacious, well-lit space of the Weapons training room. The tiled floor is covered in thin black rubber mats and the walls are lined with all sizes and shapes of firearms, tools, knives, daggers, and many other pointy lethal-looking things that frankly scare the hell out of me. A softer-looking tumble mat sits in the middle of the room, surrounded in a semi-circle by a collection of sturdy dummies made of canvas and wood. The dummies are pock-marked with holes, burns, and stray bits of stuffing and strings, clearly having been used and mutilated many times. I stand between Del and Quill, flanked also by Lenna and Osiris, who agreed to attend the session with us. Of the six of us, I'm the only one who doesn't carry any sort of weapon. Even Quill agreed to carrying a small knife as per the request of his new buddy, Minka - though I suspect it was more of a demand than a request.
"Alright then." Minka paces back and forth in front of us, not unlike the way a lioness stalks her prey. Her shiny black boots clap sharply on the tile, her many piercings glittering menacingly under the fluorescent lights. I swallow a lump of apprehension and straighten my back, trying to show her that I'm ready for anything. "Given the way things have been going so far, it's clear that we're not quite ready to graduate to guns, so we'll start small." I try to pretend not to notice the way her dark eyes linger on me when she says small. "So let's say someone is coming at you with a knife -" She whips a particularly sharp-looking one from out of nowhere. "What do you do?"
"Run away and hide," I blurt without thinking. Quill and Lenna stifle giggles but Minka nods, which makes me feel pleased with myself.
"It's true that, if you can't avoid the situation or mitigate the threat, your only option is to take flight and get away as quickly as you can. Either you control the threat or it controls you. But let's say you find yourself in a situation where your only way out is to fight. What do you do?"
"I shoot him with my gun faster than he can stab me," Quill offers. I snort. He may be an engineering genius but his reaction time sucks.
"Hm." Minka purses her lips, stopping in front of him. His eyes flick back and forth nervously. "Well, if you're aware that you're the target and you can see your assailant, make the decision to shoot, draw your gun from concealment, and deliver precise multiple effective round placements, all in 1.5 seconds or less, then sure. You can just shoot him."
Quill blushes and I have to avoid looking at Lenna to prevent myself from bursting into a fit of hysterical giggling.
"Weapon gods like myself have an average reaction time of .25 seconds, so it may be possible for someone who practices six times a week, but for the rest of you mere mortals you're much better off learning how to face the attack head-on. Especially if you're built like a scarecrow," she adds to Quill for no reason except to injure his ego. "Remember, people. Any non-ballistic weapon, like a knife, requires close-distance contact to be effective. The less space between you and the threat, the less time you have to react. Time is a critical factor. The quicker you can take control of the situation, the greater your odds are of keeping control and gaining initiative.
"Now..." She flips her knife into the air and catches the spinning blade by the handle flawlessly as she resumes her pacing. "As Little Red so kindly pointed out, the best defensive option against a knife attack is distance. But you aren't always able to back up and create space, especially in close-quarters, which we have a lot of on this MIRA-forsaken ship. Your next best bet is to place objects between yourself and the threat. Obstructions like cars, trash cans, furniture, etc. On this ship these things might include carts, boxes, crates...whatever is available."
"Furniture is pretty sparse here," Lenna says, raising her hand timidly. "What do we do if we're in an open hallway with nothing to put between us?"
Minka points her knife at Lenna, who shrinks away slightly. "Good question, Chatterbox. The second component of controlling any fight is position. Failing to create distance or use obstructions, you have the option of changing your physical position relative to your threat. Del - come here so I can demonstrate this."
Del steps forward and Minka positions him so they are directly facing each other. She hands him a knife and says, "We call this Position Zero, which is not a very good place to be because you're already at contact range and he's got a knife in one hand. He can punch, grab, or kick you all without needing to move his feet, as so -" Del pretends to punch, grab, and kick Minka as she explains, all with one hand and without moving his feet. "Position One is when your waist is even with the threat's weak side -" she scootches Del over a bit so she's face his left hand. "This negates the reach of his dominant hand and leg. Position Two is when you're standing directly next to your attacker facing his left shoulder, like so. Ultimately, you want to be in Position Three, which is when you stand directly behind your opponent." She swings around and stands behind Del, who is graciously playing along. "If all else fails, stay mobile. A moving target is a lot hard to hit than on that is stationary. Alright, people...questions?"
About a million. How do I avoid the knife as it's coming towards me? What if none of these options work? How do I defend myself if I'm already wounded? What if I don't have anything in my hand and am unarmed? Whatever killed Warrick and O'Connell is clearly a lot stronger than anyone here on board, even Del and Osiris, and there's no way I'll be able to get out of a situation if I'm caught. I'm about to bring these questions up but Minka, taking the silence as understanding, jumps back in without waiting any longer.
"Right. Enough talk - now we're going to practice. I'm about to demonstrate how to immobilize a target if they are attacking directly at Position Zero and how to take them down." She stands directly in front of Del again. "Then you guys are going to practice with each other."
What Minka does next is so complicated I can barely track her movements. She and Del stand on opposite sides of the tumble mat, Del with a knife in his dominant hand and Minka completely unprotected (that I can see). She instructs Del to attack her head on without holding back. He does so, expertly wielding the blade. "Remember the most important thing is your basic physical strength!" Minka shouts as she pivots and dodges, grabbing Del's arm and back of his uniform and spinning him around, slamming him into the ground. She grabs his wrist and twists it, forcing him to let go of the blade. I have no doubt that Del is feigning weakness. I'm not sure which of them would win in a real fight, but he certainly knows what he's doing. "Okay, let's do that again, this time slower for you newbies."
We watch Del and Minka run this exercise again, three, four, five times. Minka demonstrates how to side-step and dodge by planting her leg on the ground and using it to pivot. "Once you're in an optimal position, simultaneously grab the assailant's back and dominant hand by the wrist to take them down - this is where the physical strength bit comes into play. Once the attacker is on the ground, twist their wrist to force relinquishing the weapon and send it spinning away."
We clap and clap each time Minka throws Del onto the mat. One time they swap, with Minka holding the knife and Del fending her off. I raise my hand before I chicken out again.
"What if I'm not strong enough to take down my assailant? What if they're much bigger than me?"
"Small doesn't necessarily mean weak," Minka says. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm a lot smaller than Del and when he attacked me I was able to duck and use my core to stabilize myself and attack from a lower vantage point." She bends her knees slightly to demonstrate. "Once I'm in Position Two or Three, it will be a lot easier to use the force of your body to grab and trip."
"If all else fails, you can always kick him in the balls," Quill offers helpfully. Minka rolls her eyes but doesn't disagree.
"Don't worry, Little Red - I'll pair you with Chatterbox, who's about your size, so you guys can practice the movements until it becomes muscle memory. Del and Osiris will go up against each other and you're with me, Porcupine Boy - don't worry," she rolls her eyes as quill blanches. "I'll go easy on you."
And so we begin. Lenna and I start with the rest watching. I don't want to be the first to go but Minka insists so we face off across the tumble mat. Thankfully Minka decides to begin with a prop knife instead of a real one, but when she hands it to me it still feels heavy and foreign in my hands. All I have to do is run at Lenna straight-on and pretend to stab her while she fights me off, but it all feels so unnatural and the look on Lenna's face tells me she feels just as apprehensive. Without any warning, I dash at her, my bare feet pounding across the mat, and lift the prop knife into the air, bringing it down toward her shoulder. She squeals and pushes out with her hands, making contact with my chest and I stumble backward, arms windmilling before I lose balance and fall onto my butt.
Quill's laughter fills the room. I sit on the mat, stunned, unsure what just happened. Someone is slow-clapping. I look up to see Lenna with her hand over her mouth, looking horrified at what she's just done, and Minka, pinching the bridge of her nose in dismay. Osiris leans over to whisper something in Del's ear. Del smirks.
"What the hell was that?" Minka demands as I slowly get to my feet. "Chatterbox, where was the pivot? Why didn't you dodge? If you don't dodge, you won't get in optimal position for takedown!"
"S-sorry!" she says sheepishly, rushing over to make sure I'm okay. "I just panicked and did the first thing I could think of! I'm so sorry. Are you okay, Sage?" She reaches out a hand but Minka slaps it away.
"What are you doing? She's your enemy! You don't ask your assailant if they're okay - that'll get you killed for sure! And you, Little Red, what kind of attack was that? Your arms and legs were all over the place - you almost fell over before even reaching your target! And tighten your grip on the knife or you'll lose it even easier." She sighs heavily, apparently just now realizing how much work she has cut out for her. "Okay, we'll try again but this time I want you to begin standing directly in front of each other, no running start. We'll start with the pivot and dodge technique as the knife comes toward you. Remember to plant your foot for the pivot so you don't loose your balance. Okay? Let's go."
We do it again. And again. And again. Each time Lenna manages to plant her foot and pivot, but when it comes to grabbing my wrist and back to take me down she's not strong enough. All she can manage is to make my wobble and she keeps twisting my wrist before I'm on the floor, doing nothing but making the skin red and irritated. After about thirty iterations of the same thing, she has the basic moves down and has finally managed to pin me, but it's only because I'm going easy on her for the sake of learning. Still, Minka sees this as a success and some of the fire has returned to her eyes.
"Okay, now we're going to switch. Chatterbox will attack Little Red. Again, no charging, just face each other head-on."
I'm nervous. I look over at Quill, who gives me the thumbs-up, but it does nothing to quell the butterflies. I pretend that Osiris and Del aren't even in the room. I'm sure they've done this kind of training many times in their lives and it's like second nature to them. I'm sure that, to them, this is nothing but entertainment. I plant my feet like Minka showed us and get ready for the attack, sure that Lenna will take it easy on me like I did for her. But I assumed wrong. She moves so fast it's like lightning. One moment I'm standing there, waiting for the attack, and the next moment I'm on the ground, prop knife stuck in my shoulder and Lenna on top of me, a triumphant gleam in her eyes.
The room goes quit. It takes Lenna a moment to realize what just happened and when she does she gasps and removes the knife, quickly pulling me back to my feet.
"I'm so sorry!" she blubbers once more. "I don't know what came over me, I just...I just went feral! I'm sorry!"
"Quit apologizing!" Minka snaps. "Lenna, somehow that was amazing. Flawless." The use of her real name isn't lost on me and I realize that Minka is actually impressed. "Little Red, we need to work on your reaction time."
I want to collapse on the mat and take a nap, never to wake up.
It's a grueling session, and by the time Minka finally allows Lenna and I to step off he mat, I'm sore all over. Minka insisted that I be the target for the rest of practice and I've gotten down the pivot and dodge move, but only if Lenna is moving really really slowly, which turns out is rather difficult for her.
I hobble over to stand next to Quill, who looks concerned but mostly amused.
"I need ice," I tell him grumpily and limp off to corral Del into going to Medbay with me.
"Okay, but you're going to miss me getting pummeled by the Weapons Goddess!" Quill calls after our retreating forms. I wave a disgruntled hand in the air in response without looking back at him.