Unexpected

Kicking Butt and Getting an Offer

We were gathered in the gym with two people chosen to face each other on a mat at a time as the others either stood around and watched or did quick practices on each other. I watched from the sidelines on the edge of the group with my arms folded over my chest. We'd done this many times before. It was one thing to know how to fight, another to actually fight and have to be quick in both mind and body and to think on your feet so that you weren't the one to be beaten. Right now two men were going at it. One was here to work in a tech department and was only being trained for emergencies as all agents must while his opponent was going to go into aviation and was ex-military. The rules were that anything went as long as we were without weapons. You could bite, pull hair, whatever, because in a real fight the rules would be the same. As one could imagine, the army man won, though the techie managed to hold his own for a good while, using quick wit and a few clever jabs to keep on his feet before he was pinned down for the ten seconds that ended their round.

"Good job men." The instructor, and agent named Davis, said calling the end of the fight. The army man got up and offered his hand to his defeated opponent who accepted it. The two walked off the mat as Agent Davis called out the next two names on his list, "Hendricks. Copper. You're up."

I groaned internally as I made my way around the crowd and took my place in front of Agent Hendricks, a rather burly woman who stood a couple inches taller than me and had a much thicker, beefier figure. She was a powerhouse and I had dreaded the day when I'd have to face her down like this. Even with my physical training, without a boost, I could hardly imagine taking her down, but I nodded solemnly to her and she returned the gesture just before Agent Davis called for us to start.

We circled each other slowly, fists raised, each watching the other for hint of making the first move. I certainly wasn't planning on it because to make the first move would make me vulnerable and showing any such vulnerability would make it so that I was far too easy to take down. So it was Hendricks who ended up swinging first, shooting her fist out to hit me in the nose. I ducked out of the way of her fist to the right, simultaneously jabbing my fist to hit her in the chest. She made an 'oof'ing sound and took a step back. The adrenaline of a fight pumped through my head and, seeing an opening, I tried to clock her in the face while her hands were down near her chest but she responded quickly, grabbing my wrist. With her superior strength she held me fast as I gave a tug to try to release my wrist, but to no avail.

Seeing that this was futile I quickly jerked my left leg up to knee her in the stomach, but she blocked my attempt with her hand, twisting my captured wrist at the same time in a swift movement to pull it behind my back. As Hendricks yanked on my twisted arm to turn me around I hooked my foot around her ankle, using my momentum to force her off balance. She stumbled still not letting go of my arm and since I knew it would hurt to try to struggle against her hold, I leaned back on her, using my weight and her misbalance to send us both to the ground. She tried to catch her fall by using the hand she wasn't using to hold me, but she hit the ground pretty hard anyways, with me on top of her. I gasped in pain as she pulled on my twisted arm upon impact but I quickly sat up a bit and using as much force as I could I jabbed my elbow behind me, catching Hendricks sharply in the side finally forcing her to let go. Someone in the crowd 'ooh'd.

As soon as I felt her grip loosen on my wrist I rolled off of her into a crouched position. I then leapt at her before she could get up, straddling her stomach and grabbing at her wrists to pin her down, but she was stronger than me, quickly shaking her hands free from my grasp and snatching up the end of my ponytail. I cried out as she tugged at my hair, holding my head still as she swung a fist that pounded me straight in my cheekbone, making my vision blurry for a moment. She took advantage of my shocked pain to knock me off her and to try to roll on top of me instead. The sudden shift and the bonk of my head hitting the mat made me focus on my task again. I knew that if I got stuck under her that I'd be done. There would be no way for me to break away before I was tapped out, so using all of my strength and Hendricks' own weight and momentum, I rolled with her, turning myself out from under her and back on top again. As soon as I was straddling her again I heard Agent Davis counting down the seconds aloud as I wrenched my hand from her grasp and clocked her in the nose. Her head banged against the mat and she stared up at me in shock for a moment, but I gave her no time to react before I placed my hands on her neck. I didn't press too hard, but just enough that she couldn't get a full breath as she tried to reach for my face and hair with one hand and scratched at my grip on her throat with the other.