Chapter 253: 253
I suddenly had a foreboding of a jumping spinning hook kick happening again as I heard what Tatiana said. I started to make each of my knuckles crack and I started to jump a few times after I made my neck crack.
*CR*CRACK**
“That was Tatiana, right?” Kaley asked.
“Yep. They’re in the gym, she said. I think I know what’s about to happen so I’m starting to loosen myself a bit. Be my backup in case all of them attack at the same time.” I replied as I looked at her.
“Wow~ sending your wife to a fight, eh? *chuckle* Sure, I’ll help. I doubt you’d need my help though. From what I’ve seen, have you ever gone 100% yet? I’m seeing a few of your cards each time there’s a challenge up ahead. It’s like you’re the main protagonist of a novel or something.” she chuckles.
“Hah! I plead the fifth then! Just kidding, I definitely have several aces hidden in my sleeves. Everyone should, especially at this time. C’mon, let’s see what they’re up to.” I replied.
We headed up to my gym and I saw their equipment being organized by Rin on the side. Kaley and I also laid our equipment next to where Rin placed theirs and we greeted her as we watched them. They’ve changed to clothes that we acquired on our runs and they are now sparring with each other. I’m looking at their movements and I noticed something peculiar.
“Their movements and stances are from Combat and Sports Sambo with a mix of Systema. The only outlier is still Tatiana because she knows a bit more from different disciplines compared to them. Wait, that guy is just watching them from the side, he seems… different? He looks like the big guy but he’s more compact.” I thought to myself.
They’re wearing gloves but the sound of the blows missing or getting blocked is strong enough to knock another person out. They’re also performing joint locks though a simple tap is performed when it succeeds so that they could reset immediately.
Tatiana is fighting with another woman that commented when we’re in the shooting range. She has dirty blonde hair and she has almost the same features as Tatiana though her chin is more pronounced and she’s shorter by a few centimeters. She’s avoiding Tatiana’s low kicks by stepping back and her hands are open. That seems to tell me she’s waiting for an opportunity, maybe a pause on Tatiana’s attacks because Tatiana’s been relentless ever since we came up.
The two guys on the other hand are in the middle of a battle of who’s gonna mount who on the ground. The guy with hair tied to the back is smirking since he got the upper hand. However, a punch came from an angle that made its way to his side that made him wince. I thought it wouldn’t do much damage and would act more like a push but he was quickly mounted by the other guy with much shorter hair. I just noticed that his back was huge when he was the one on top.
“That’s a huge back. Maybe where the power from that punch comes from. Throwing a punch from that position that could actually hurt someone needs technique or just plain stupid raw power and he’s definitely the latter.” I thought to myself.
His fists started to hammer down on the guy below but some of them were still blocked successfully.
*SWISH*
*THUD*
Tatiana landed a huge middle kick to her opponent but the lady took it to catch her leg. The lady managed to successfully take her down but Tatiana caught her in a guillotine when they fell down on the mat. Tatiana wrapped her legs around the lady’s waist and she started to tighten her grip. A few taps on Tatiana’s body were placed and she immediately let go. They reset the position and the lady was the one to start with a right low kick followed by a left hook.
Suddenly, on the other match, I could hear several dull thuds due to how hard the guy on top was still hammering the guy below. All he could do was guard now and his arms are starting to get swollen. The guy below suddenly threw his hand upwards towards the other guy’s face. I saw how his hand was formed and just as I was about to interfere, the guy watching them shouted.
“ALEXEI!” he bellowed.
Everyone stopped moving and I saw Alexei’s hand stopping just a short centimeter away from gouging the other guy’s eye off.
“You f.u.c.k.i.n.g- we’re just sparring you idiot!” the guy on top shouted as he stood up and offered his hand.
“What? Can’t you see my arms bruising like this?! If you don’t want your eye gouged, hold back a bit! Freakin’ oaf!” Alexei stood up without the other guy’s help.
His arms really are swollen from the constant blows being blocked. He removed the tie on his hair and it is a bit longer than Tatiana’s hair. Tatiana and the other woman had also stopped sparring and they finally noticed us watching from the side.
“Hi guys! We’ve been here just a short while. I thought they would wait for you when Tatiana radioed you in but they started already.” Rin said.
“It’s a change of pace to see people somewhat even and performing high level moves. When we’re practicing, especially the first time, I could feel Tatiana’s concern since we know almost nothing.” Kaley said.
“Hah! Well they’re required to know to fight like that. But yeah, it’s a change of pace to see people not just getting pummeled by Tatiana.” I added.
“Like you’re not the one pummeling everyone.” Kaley immediately said and I chuckled.
I noticed that the soldiers were walking towards us so we stood up to greet them.
“You must be Sky, thank you for letting us use the facilities.” the guy who shouted earlier said.
“No problem. The president already made their way back though, is that okay?” I replied.
“It is okay. We’d receive a call if they need us. Oh, I forgot to introduce ourselves. I’m Nikolas, the big guy there is my brother Mikhail. You know Alexei, and the other one is Vera. Tatiana has been saying great things about you.” he said but I felt something from the way he talks.
“Same. Great to meet people from Tatiana’s side. Are you their CO? I thought there were more of you and some here were stationed somewhere.” I asked as I also introduced Kaley and Rin.
“Hah! He wish! Artem is our CO. He’s still back at Da.. Davao, right?” Mikhail interjected.
“Yeah, big oaf. We’ve been there a long time and you still can’t remember places properly.” Vera added.
“It’s just hard to pronounce them in my case.” Alexei mentioned.
“Enough. Well, I’m the one here and on our mission at this place. Which brings me back to something I have to discuss with you.” he said as he looked at me.
I quickly noticed Tatiana smirking and I took it as a signal.
It was the perfect distance and position.
Nikolas is in front of me though the others were a few feet apart from him. If he’d throw the same kick Tatiana always does, the time is now. He’s a bit taller than me and I bet he could deliver more power from that kick compared to Tatiana just by body type alone.
Instead of waiting for him to make the first move, I performed that ghost kick I did before that made Tatiana unconscious. It’s a kick made by placing where you lean your weight on the other side that would make first timers or people unaware to fall victim to.
*SWISH*
My quick upwards kick with my left nicked his chin and he took a small step back. He had raised his arms halfway before he fell to the mat unconscious. His eyes were rolled over and he looks like a doll with his strings cut off.
“Wai-” Tatiana was surprisingly shocked to see the events unfold but the three started to attack me when they saw Nikolas falling down.
Luckily, Tatiana managed to hold down Vera while I’m stuck fighting the two. Kaley hesitated and she seemed to want to hear what Tatiana said first.
“LET GO OF ME!” Vera shouted.
“You’ve got it al- WAIT!” Tatiana was trying to say something but it was too late.
Mikhail dashed towards me and he’s throwing a huge right punch towards my face. I got a split second before Alexei managed to reach me so I let it brush past my cheek and I placed a counter towards him. I balled my right hand and I placed the weight of my body to my counter since I also moved forward. I aimed to make him fall unconscious by rattling his brain around. I doubt I could make him fall from continued attacks to the body since looking at him made me think he could take a lot of punishment.
His head jolted from the impact and his huge body started to fall down.
“Gotcha.” I suddenly felt an arm wrapping around my neck for a choke.