Rosewood School for Boys

Chapter 8 - Takedown

This used to be part of the previous chapter and I split it to make it shorter. Thank you for reading!

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Immediately Ace darts toward me. I see his first hit to my abdomen coming from a mile away but I have to lure him into a false sense of security so I leave it a little too late to block it and only clumsily deflect it at the last moment. It isn't a hard hit he clearly isn't trying his hardest either, whether because he doesn't want to hurt me or because he doesn't want to go full out on the first round I can't tell.

His next strike is a sweeping kick at my legs which I mostly dodge but  I let it catch one of my knees, making me fall to the mat. I roll out of the way just before Ace can pin me and kick out at him with my right foot. I manage to hit his stomach and I'm surprised at how rock solid it is, the kick barely knocks him back a step. He pounces on me where I still lie on the floor and pins me to the mat by my arms. I hear the referee call his win and exhale in relief, that was the shortest match in existence, it pains me to let him win but I know it will make my victory so much sweeter.

Ace's face is so close to mine that when he whispers his hot breath brushes my skin.

"I didn't even break a sweat, want to give up now?"

I grin. "Not a chance."

We prepare for the next round and when the hand falls I strike first, this time with a weak punch to his face that he easily blocks. He throws another half hearted stroke towards me that I dodge.

"Come on, is that all you got?" I taunt, dancing around him.

"You couldn't take all I got." Ace responds.

I quirk an eyebrow, "Try me."

I don't even see him coming until I'm already flying through the air. He flips me over his shoulder in a similar move to what I did to Josh the other day, apart from he pins me on my back instead, stunning me momentarily. The referee begins to count. There's no more time for playing around.

"One....two...."

Before he got to three I hook my legs around Ace and corkscrew round, expertly twisting myself on top of him. He lands hard and the combination of that and the surprise makes him stay down for the three count.

Before he knows it I've won.

"Need a hand?" I say mockingly, standing over him.

He growls and leaps to his feet.

This time I get into my proper ready position. Center of gravity low, ready for anything he can throw at me. Unlike Ace, I have no qualms about hurting my opponent. He asked for this and I doubt I could do that much damage against him even if I tried. Although, something tells me after the humiliation of the last match he'll give it little more effort.

We both strike at the same time. I had realised that his weakness is the style of fighting he was used to. Karate is designed for self defence, my style is more equal between offence and defence meaning I'm strong at both. If I focus on defence he will be forced to try and attack, leaving plenty of openings for me. I want to stretch my legs a little though, it's been a while since I'd had a good sparring partner.

I begin to batter Ace with a flurry of blows from all directions. He can barely keep up enough to block them and I manage to land several solid hits. When I begin to tire I ease up and let him throw a few at me. I was right, his attack is pretty weak when I'm actually trying. He's sweating and breathing heavily but I'm just getting started.

We're both circling each other, catching our breath. Darting in and out we dodge each other's quick strikes. Suddenly, Ace lunges towards me. I dance out of the way of his fist but see my opportunity in his bent knee.