Echo

Chapter 24: Surprise, Motherfucker

Echo

Hikaru was a good sparring partner, better, perhaps, even than you in some regards when it came to fighting. After all, he was a little stronger, and although he had not had a similar upbringing, he had dedicated nearly as much of his life to training in combat as you had. He was closer to you in height than your ordinary opponents, and as such, far more difficult to defeat.

You'd have thought that someone on the smaller side would be easier to fight, but it wasn't always the case. That was the mistake that most of the large men you took on made when they fought you, they underestimated your skill. The truth of the matter was that the bigger they were, unless they had the build of a basketball player, they were ordinarily much slower than you. There were many tricks in karate that could be employed to use an enemy's strength against them, so that was what you did.

Unfortunately, you realized as you had to tap the mat in defeat and Sulu released your neck that that was not an option when it came to your new partner.

He held out his hand for you to take, and you smirked at him before seizing it and rising to a stand.

Your third round had officially ended when you tapped out. You were permitted one last fight before you had to vacate the arena for other people who wanted to use it, but nobody was complaining about how long you had spent inside of the ropes. As a matter of fact, you had actually drawn a crowd, people were lining the outside of the arena, having become interested in seeing the legendary Hikaru Sulu being challenged by someone of the opposite sex. You had faced him before in fights like this, but right now was a busy time at the gym, and apparently the Starfleet members had nothing better to do than watch. You would not have minded if you weren't losing.

He had won two of the rounds, you had won the second out of three, and now, as you stood up and faced him again, you knew there was a chance you would be beat this time too. You were pretty tired already, he had really given you a run for your money.

Truth be told you could get pretty competitive, but you liked the pilot, and had no desire to compromise your friendship because you were a sore loser. Thus, you determined that even if you lost, you would maintain a sense of friendliness and sportsmanship. After all, it wasn't every day that you got to fight with a fencing champion, and it was, in part, because of his insistence that you were even allowed to get into the ring.

The boxing coach had not believed you when you said you had experience and could handle the others, because even though he deduced you were talented during your sessions together, he was of the opinion that the security members who used the ring would knock you into the ground.

You had disproven that notion when you pinned Sulu in front of him.

The coach in question rang the bell, and Hikaru came at you. You feinted to the left, rolling, and kicked your foot out so that he tripped over it. Instead of completely falling, though, when his foot met your ankle he rolled forward in front handspring and landed in a catlike position on the ground, crouching down. He turned towards you, close enough now for you to be unable to dodge him this time, and aimed a kick at you.

You ducked, and the two of you circled each other for a moment. He sent out a jab, which hit you in the shoulder, and you grunted slightly at the sensation. However, the closer he got, the sooner you would be able to employ a last-ditch effort. You needed this over quickly if you wanted a chance at winning.

He was swift, however, and he sent forward a series of jabs that you blocked with your forearms, holding them up in front of your face so he wouldn't make impact there. He kicked again, and you jumped up, leaping over his legs as if they were a jump-rope, avoiding having your feet knocked out from under you.