She's Sunshine, She's Grace, She'll Punch You in the Face

Chapter 69: Trapeze

Marinette found that this weapon didn't have the kind of range she was used to. She liked being able to step away from someone and still be able to attack without outright throwing the weapon away.

Dick kept telling her to think of the weapon as an extension of her own body and for the most part she did. The only problem was how easily Dick seemed to dance out of the way of her own attacks.

She soon realized that Dick was mimicking the moves he had showed her on the previous equipment they used. He would do a graceful back flip away from her like he was on the balance beams again and in that moment it all finally clicked. She was being too basic with her attacks and he could always see it coming.

Dick has always been the type to be observant of his opponent but would always use his special brand of flair to throw the opponent off.

Marinette laughed to herself. Creativity has always been one of her strongest attributes but she was too focused on Dick himself when they sparred that she never really thought to have a bit of fun when it came to her movements. She would always wait for his movements to find some sort of weakness or she would go in for the most outright attack.

Keeping all of her previous training in mind, she took a few steps back to prepare for her own attack.

Running straight for him, she knew he would assume she would be going for the most effective overhead strike, but instead leaped over him to strike him in the back of the neck with the right Escrima stick on her way down.

For the first time tonight, that actually seemed to catch him off guard.

Keeping her momentum going, she used the opposite stick to sweep his legs from behind the moment she hit the ground.

Dick landed flat on his stomach and she took the opportunity to roll onto his back and slip one of the Escrima sticks under his neck and pull it closer to herself to trap him in a choke hold.

Dick found it easy enough to stand up but Marinette never loosened her hold onto him. She clung onto his back even harder as her choke hold held strong. He blindly reached behind him to grab ahold of her but she always managed to maneuver herself out of his reach while never letting go of his neck.

The struggle lasted for maybe ten seconds before Dick finally tapped out. The moment Marinette let go, Dick found himself gasping for air.

"You good?" Marinette stood beside him and gently patted his back as he caught his breath.

"I'm great." Dick smiled at the bluenette. "Good job."

"I know!" She jumped with excitement. "I finally beat you. I was just over analyzing everything."

"Yeah. Bruce's method of trying too hard doesn't always work." Dick looked over at Bruce training with Tim. "Don't tell him I said that though."

"Your secret is safe with me." She giggled. "What's next?"

"I think it's time to use the trapeze." He grinned at her. "What do you think?"

"Finally!" She grabbed Dick's hand to drag him towards the trapeze. "What are you going to show me first, circus boy?"

"Well I've already seen you do some of the basics the first time you were here so I think we will skip that. You seem to be very comfortable swinging through the air and that makes total sense so I'm thinking we do more of a partnered routine." Dick stopped at one end of the trapeze set up. "Why don't we start with me handing you off to the next set of ropes?"

"Okay." Marinette nodded.

"Let me climb up and get on and then you climb up after I'm settled."

Marinette watched as Dick easily made his way up and grabbed onto the trapeze ropes. He jumped off to start up a wide swing and he pulled his legs up to dangle over the bar to let his hands free.