Shadows Peak |✔

Chapter 28: Jasper

Sergeant Payne walked in with a blank expression on his face, but even that was enough to make a grown man wary of his presence.

"What do you need?" he asked Mick.

"What I need is for you to keep your soldiers out of my gym if they don't know how to behave. I walk in on them in a fist fight. A fist fight!" Mick yelled. "How can they protect our country when they're too busy attacking each other?!"

Wow. Way to tattle on us, Mick.

"I see," Sergeant Payne said calmly. "Don't worry. I'll deal with them."

His demeanor made Jasper uneasy as he followed the sergeant out of the gym. When they got to the training field, Jasper knew there was some kind of punishment waiting for them.

"This is all your fault," he muttered in a whisper to Baron.

His lack of response surprised Jasper, until he realized why.

"MAGGOT PIERCE!" Sergeant yelled. "IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR YOU TO PAY ATTENTION?!"

"No, Sergeant, sir!"

"ARE YOU SURE!?"

"Yes, Sergeant, sir!" Jasper replied.

"Alright, then," Sergeant said, no longer screaming at him. "If you two want to behave like maggots, then I'll treat you like one."

Don't you already do that?

"Fight," he continued, pointing at the two of them. "You're not going anywhere until one of you is eating dirt."

Jasper refrained from commenting, but harbored more and more hatred for Sergeant Payne. He got lucky in the gym when he sucker punched Baron, and that was probably the only reason he wasn't badly beaten up. Jasper knew that same thing wouldn't happen twice; not when Baron was prepared.

"I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY, MAGGOTS!"

As soon as the words left the sergeant's mouth, Jasper felt a strong force hit his shoulder. Gritting his teeth in pain, he stepped back, immediately putting his guard up.

You may win, but I'm not going down easily.

Jasper faked as if he was going for a punch, but slyly switched to a sweeper kick. He was successful, thanks to his lengthy legs, but Baron easily recovered.

"Ha! Is that the best you can do?!" he taunted, putting a smirk on Sergeant Payne's face.

Well, it's obvious who he's rooting for.

They sparred for ten minutes, each one of them landing and taking blows to the face, chest, and arms. Jasper knew he was losing the brawl, but he refused to give up in front of the two of them. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

Another five minutes came and went, and so did Jasper's endurance. Baron was not going easy on him.

"Ah!" Jasper hissed in pain.

Baron had managed to land a left hook to his face. The warm liquid pooling in his mouth was recognizable as blood, and Jasper could feel the stinging sensation of a busted lip.

"Come on, Pierce! I've seen punching bags do more damage!" Baron heckled.

After a second of hesitation, Jasper charged at him, wanting to tackle him to the ground. When he made contact, it felt as if he had run into a wall. Before he knew it, he was lying flat on his back with the wind knocked out of him.

A solid two hundred pounds landed on him, elbow first into his stomach. It forced him to spit out some of the blood still filling his mouth, and Jasper struggled to breathe.