The Valiant (An Avengers FanFic) {COMPLETED}

Chapter Sixteen: The Spider Teaches Me To Bite

After I finish my stretches from head to toe, it is just time as Natasha finishes on the computer. Then, she walks towards me.

“You ready?”

I shrug. “I guess.”

A blue man who is about six feet tall appears beside me and it made me flinch. I observe him properly and I soon recognize he’s a hologram.

“Tony Stark had this installed a few days ago for…” she pauses for a while, “…the agents to have something to train at.” Then, she smiles.

I narrow my eyes for a while, she’s kind of not telling me something. But what is it? And why do I care about it?

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

For the past hour and a half, Natasha has been teaching me the basic moves on combat. And my body has been aching for the past ten minutes, even though my opponent is just a hologram. It feels as if the hologram is a real human. I thought Natasha was going to be my opponent but she told me she wouldn’t be this time because, per her words, firstly, she’ll only be my trainer and lastly, she’s too strong for me.

I didn’t argue with that, even though I’m looking forward to having a combat with her after our little misunderstanding outside.

I clench my fist in front of me, left fist over the right, and put my right foot backward. Then, I turn a little to my left side and give my holographic opponent a sharp look.

Annoying thing about my opponent is that he’s just standing straight ten feet away from me and it feels like he’s teasing.

“Natasha,” I say with a sharp voice, “he’s getting on my nerves.”

I hear snicker, even though she’s behind the computer. She’s been monitoring the actions of my opponent.

“Get use to him,” she replies, her eyes not taking off the computer. She lightly clears her throat. “You ready?”

“I think so.” But I think I might permanently damage him if my rage doesn’t stop. My anger needs control.

Within seconds, the bell rings once, per Natasha’s computer controls, and my five minutes of combat begins, again. My opponent’s not moving. He’s just standing annoyingly straight and still in front of me, like he has been doing earlier before. Then, he’ll beat me up, again, unexpectedly.

Even though Natasha taught me the moves, I still lost to holo-boy after my first two fights with him. And this is my third time. I’ve been making the first move and I keep losing, which is making me more hot-headed.

“Am I gonna make the first move again?” I ask, without taking my eyes off holo-boy.

“Depends,” answers Natasha.

“Even if I attack first, I’d still end up beaten and I’d still lose.”

Am I going to attack him first again or am I going to wait?

Let’s see what are the possible effects if I attack first again; I might lose again, my hits would be worthless, for me, and I might not pass this test. In short, I would fail.

But hopefully, if he attacks first, I might lose too, again. Or, I might win on a 5% chance.

“This is gonna take forever you know,” utters Natasha.

“I know,” I mumble.

That’s why I decided to make the first move again. I run towards him with my hands still in place. As I’m halfway towards him, he gets into his fighting position, like he did earlier. But this time, I won’t hit him first. As I get nearer, he sends a right hook. I swiftly bend my knees to the floor and slide forward with my back bent and my eyes stubbornly closed, hoping not to get hit.