Meeting and Beating

Posted on Thu Jun 9th, 2011 @ 1:54pm by Lieutenant JG Matthew April

Mission: Shore Leave 2; Picking Up the Pieces
Location: Gym
Timeline: After "A long way to get home... "

"Phew..." Matt grunted as he sat down on the bench. He lifted his arm and wiped the sweat from his brow. He looked over at the chronometer on the wall, 1400 it said. Matt still had another two hours before he went on duty, enough time to have a few rounds with the bag. He stood up and stretched his back.

Marc looked over at the grunt of exertion from the man next to him after setting his own weights back on the rack. He hadn't seen the guy around before, but being relatively new on the Arizona he hadn't had an opportunity to meet too many people. "Hey, need a spotter, man?" he asked as he got up and grabbed a towel to wipe sweat off his neck. "I'm Marc."

"Yeah sure." Matt said, turning to Marc, "I'm Matt." Matt had only been on the Arizona for a few weeks, and still didn't know many people... It was a change from what he was used to back on the Orion. "I was thinking of going a few rounds with the punching bag." he said.

"Nice to meet you. I met you on the bridge during clean up after the attack, but didn't really have a chance to introduce myself. ." He took a moment to stretch and crack his neck. "The bag isn't bad, but I prefer an actual opponent that has a chance to react. Do you know any martial arts, or hand-to-hand?" Wiping his hands off on the towel, he set it back on the bench and offered one to the man.

"Yeah that's right... I remember you now. I'm pretty new on the Arizona, I've only been around for two weeks, ever since I arrived off the Orion." Matt explained, "Well.." He laughed, "I've never had much official martial arts training, most of my fighting experience comes from many-a-barroom brawls... That and growing up on Rigel IV... You need to learn how to defend yourself pretty quick..."

Marc chuckled. "Being in Security, I had to learn something to give me an edge. I study Jeet Kun Do, which is an ancient style that was created by Bruce Lee in the early Twentieth Century. I've been in a few barroom brawls, but I prefer to stick to the more practiced forms of fighting. Although," he paused to consider something for a minute. "I can say that one of the benefits of barroom brawling has to be the unexpected nature of an attack. Tell you what..if you want, I'll teach you some moves, and you can show me some of yours. Of course, nothing that Medical couldn't patch up quick." He flashed a grin, letting the man know that he was kidding about the Medical part. Grabbing his towel, he hung it around his neck. "So...the punching bag, more weights, or a little serious training?"

Matt smiled, "I think I'm up to a little more serious training... One good skill from barroom brawling is improvised weaponry..." he said, "I'm up to learning some new skills, if you're up to it." Matt was a little uneasy, he'd seen a few Jeet Kun Do enthusiasts in action at the academy... He learned not to mess with them after one of them put her foot against his neck, wasn't a pleasant experience by far.

Marc nodded and motioned the way towards the training room off to the side of the gym. "I usually practice in the holodeck against Master Lee, but I've never went up against an actual opponent." He headed that way, looking over his shoulder. "Any time you want to stop, just let me know. I promise to take it easy on you. I'm in Security, Investigations Officer," he added as he opened the door to the room.

"Heh, I've never spared before, I usually fight until either myself or the other guy is out cold on the floor." Matt said, as he followed Marc across the floor of the gym, "Just don't break my neck... I kinda need that." he smiled. "I'm the assistant Chief Operations officer..." Matt added as they walked into the room.

"Okay...just a few rules, then. No dirty moves - they aren't sportsman like. Second, if you or I yield, the fight stops, period. The object is to learn and evolve." He said as he tossed his towel onto a bench and took a minute to stretch. "Third...best out of three and the loser buys the rounds in the Lounge. Sound good?" Smiling, he shuffled his feet back and forth across the floor, gliding smoothly as his mind and body came into sync and the words of the Master echoing in his head 'Do not allow arrogance, Student. It will cause you to fail.'

"Yeah, I'll take that bet." Matt said, he leaned down and took of his shoes and threw them against the wall, "I'll get rid of these, since well... I don't want to cheat and use them as a weapon." He smiled, "Well then Mr. Referee, tell me when." he added, as he cracked his knuckles."

Kicking his own shoes off and setting them aside, he smiled and sized his opponent up mentally. The kid looked lighter than him, but they were almost on par height-wise. He cocked his head to the right and extended his left arm, motioning with his fingers for Matt to bring it on. "Come, Student, and show me your flow." He paused, then grinned like a Klingon Targ. "If you can handle it."

"We shall see... Old man." Matt said with a smile. He darted to the left, attempting to get at Marc's right flank, but Marc was faster, deflecting his blow. Matt quickly looked around for any advantage he could find, but he couldn't find any. Marc was standing his ground, obviously attempting to wear Matt out, but Matt knew that most fights end within the first five minutes. Pulling an unorthodox move, he dove underneath Marc's legs and pushed his foot against the back of Marc's left leg. Matt pushed himself back to his feet.

As Matt came at him from various angles, Marc parried his blows; he kept his feet moving and his eyes on his opponent's instead of on the man's fists and feet. Most people tended to look where they were going to strike. Caught by surprise when the lighter man dove low, he went into a forward flip when he felt the pressure to the back of his leg. Balancing on his hands, he twisted his body and did a split, his legs windmilling around in an attempt to catch his opponent off guard.

Matt spun around and threw a powerful uppercut towards Marc's chin, he missed by less than inch. Matt needed a change of tactics, his current style was not working as well as he hoped. He had found a weak point on Marc however, his legs... That last impact definitely caught his opponent off guard. He threw a kick towards Marc's left leg, his heel impacted with Marc's kneecap.

As the fist past his face, he grunted in pain as Matt connected with is knee. Dropping to his good knee, he used his new vantage point to his advantage. Stiffening the fingers on his right hand, he aimed a solid Finger Jab to the man's solar plexus and followed through by putting his full weight behind the blow. "Nice...try."

Matt grasped Marc's arm as it impacted with his abdomen. He ignored the pain that surged through his body. He could use a good belt right about now, but first things first. Matt felt Marc breaking free of his grasp. He let go, sending the two of them off balance. Matt fought to regain his balance, Marc certainly had some tricks up his sleeves, he felt his torso slowly going numb.

Letting himself go limp and dropped down, his left leg kicking upward at an angle before coming to rest on the ground. Smiling, he watched his foot impact in the same position that his fingers had hit a moment earlier. Not pausing there, he came in with two stiff jabs, playing Matt's game; his right hand struck high on the man's left leg and his leg going low to aim for the inside of his right ankle. This left him wide open, but Marc counted on the surprise of the simultaneous attacks.

Matt felt his torso go completely numb, he was going to be sore in the morning, he knew that much. He lashed out, whacking Marc in the side of the face. Soon after, he heard a small crack from his left leg, Oh this isn't going to be fun... he thought to himself. He pulled himself to his feet. Although he could no longer feel his stomach nor his left leg, he kept going. He jumped on top of Marc, a last ditch effort to bring him to the ground.

The slightly bigger man quickly tucked his legs up to his chest, satisfied with the strikes until he felt Matt's fist connect with the side of his face. Groaning, he kicked out with all of his strength to get the man off of him in an attempt to get up. Rolling backwards and trying to gain his balance after the stunning blow, he unsteadily got to his feet and looked for his opponent.

Matt was lying against the far wall, he attempted to pull himself up, but he could not. He spit a mouthful of blood out onto the floor. He couldn't feel his leg, standing up was out of the question. He attempted to use the wall to pull himself to his feet, but to no avail. He quickly pulled himself across the floor, attempting to get to the corner of the room where he could use the to walls to pull himself to his feet, but Marc was standing there in front of him.

Marc stood a few feet back from Matt, looking down at him. Smiling, he raised one leg and prepared to strike, but he refrained. "Do you yield?"

"I hate to admit it..." Matt said, spitting out another mouthful of blood, "But I don't have a choice... Yes I yield... Can't move my leg..."

Putting his leg down, Marc offered his hand and helped the man to his feet. "Shake it out. I hit one of your pressure points. We're going to have to get you down to Medical, too. I didn't mean to hit you that hard. My apologies."

"Nah that's fine..." Matt said, as he took Marc's head and pulled himself to his feet, "I asked for it." He sighed, "I just hope I didn't break the leg again, every time I do that the damn thing gets worse... Another reason why I stopped brawling..." He put his arm around his abdomen, "I swear my duty shift is gonna be fun." he said, as the two of them walked out the door, "I'll honor the agreement, the drinks are on me..."

OOC: I'm going to find a point in the previous episode and insert this in complete unless you want to make any changes.