"Alright ladies," he says in his misogynistic tone, "now you all know my name. I would go around asking for your's, but frankly, I don't care," he speaks staring at me, taunting our little dispute earlier. The other initiates probably didn't give it a second thought, but I just continue scowling at him. "Playtime's over, no one will hold your hand anymore, no one will pick you up. From now on, that's your job. Prove to me that you're strong, independent, and quick-witted, and I'll return the favor with a rank you could only dream of having.
"Today, we'll be starting with combat practice," he walks as he talks, forcing others to turn their heads to pay attention. I don't bother. "I'll demonstrate a range of attacks and self-defense moves that you should know no matter what rank you're assigned. To do so, I'll need a volunteer." Almost everyone's hand shoots up, others rise more gradually until Aria and I are the only ones without a hand in the air. Whatever move he's thinking of showing the class, I'm sure I've learned it a long while ago.
My head is still turned away when I hear Jacoby call my name.
"Castelle," he says, humor in his voice. Suddenly, twenty-nine heads turn around to get a good look at the maggot he dragged into the battlefield. Without wasting energy to turn my head, I simply respond, "I never raised my hand," annoyance in my words.
"I didn't ask if you raised your hand, I'm telling you to come and help me demonstrate." His voice is stern now. I let out a tired breath and lift myself up off the floor, pushing off one knee. If he wants a demonstration, I'll be happy to give our observing class a demonstration.
I walk around the group of initiates. Other than a whisper from a group of girls, the room is completely silent. I keep my eyes on Jacoby, my gaze refusing to falter.
When I make it over to him, he pulls my arm in towards him, only letting go when we are inches apart and I can see his gray hairs up close. "Okay class, now, let's pretend that who we have here is a Karma terrorizing the streets. This Karma is loud, reckless, doesn't follow orders, menacing to the citizens, and honestly, kinda stupid," I can hear half the class chuckling, the other half whispering, looking at me with a grin on their face. "Now, because of this, she's going to be an indecent fighter, attacking too wildly, no idea of when's the right time to move," he accents the last word, shifting a glance my way.
He moves away from me a bit, creating about a two-foot gap between each other, "First, I'll be teaching you a very, very, effective technique for when you are faced with an attacking opponent. Castelle, I hope you don't mind." I just roll my eyes, and slowly, the class falls quiet again, being very attentive to what's about to happen. I hoped they would.
Jacoby lifts one corner of his mouth as he charges toward me. Based on his gait and arm position, I can tell that he'll be attempting a savate pointe. He was right, it is a very effective way to approach an opponent, but only if your opponent didn't learn how to fight.
He extends his arm, aiming for my jaw, but before it connects, I lean back and his fist is left hanging. I watch his face scrunch in confusion when I grabbed his arm and turn, my back facing him. I pull, using his arm as a lever, and hoist the large man onto my back. There's a loud crack as I pull him further up. I leaned over and he slides off, landing on the concrete with a thud. I can see the breath knocked out of him, the pain visible on his face. Without looking away or letting go of his arm, I say to the class, "This, is self-defense."
I hear claps coming from a couple people, but I mostly hear gasps and profanities. When I let go and turn back to our audience, half of the trainees have their mouths open in awe, the others just staring at me, their mouths trying to find words to grasp. I blow the loose strands of hair out of my face and they land back to where they originally were.
Jacoby's sitting at this point, rotating his shoulder to undo any damage I may have caused the joint. Thinking my job was done, I walk around the group of students, their eyes still fixed on me, and find my seat in the back, returning to my prior, outstretched position.
Jacoby stands up and dusts himself off, pretending as though nothing had happened, "Clearly, since I wasn't the one who assessed you, I don't know enough of your physical or mental prowess. Rather than make assumptions and think that you're like every other class, I'll reevaluate you to get a clearer understanding of your skill sets. First, we'll spar. I want to see how each of you fight to know what each of you needs to improve on. I'll arrange the pairings based off of your physical test scores."
He was handed a clipboard, and flipped to the third or so page. He started calling out names in twos, listing those who will spar and the order they'll be sparring. As he called them, I noticed the smaller, weaker of the group stood up before all else, meaning he was reading the test scores in order from lowest to highest. One lanky beanpole with glasses who looked easily frightened was paired with a short girl in pigtails and a timid aura surrounding her. The two girls flirting with Kent and Silas earlier were paired up together, giddy in their steps as they hugged each other, and sat down with the other pairs. I didn't bother listening to or remembering any of their names because I knew there was no point.
Soon, there were only ten people left. Us five prisoners stood alongside three bulky men and two athletic women. The men were all about the size of Jacoby, the women carrying themselves the same way I would, each with obvious combat training..
"Susanne and Emiko," he called. The two confident women exchanged a nod of the head, a silent agreement being made between the two. They stood up and walked down towards the other pairs, leaving eight trainees left.
"Sawyer and Hunter." Two of the large men walk away, leaving only - whom I assume is - the top of their class. Looking around at the six of us left, I notice that Aria seems out of place. I mutter a prayer under my breath that she isn't paired with anyone dangerous. For her sake and theirs.
Jacoby looks around at the group, eyes shifting between me and the large trainee. He grasps an idea, evident in the smirk that creeps across his face.
"Cynthia and Aster," he says. Cynthia just rolls her eyes as Aster attempts to worm an arm around her shoulders. She brushes it aside, and he chases after her with an unwavering smile.
That leaves the four of us. One of us three unstable, dangerous, experienced fighters, will be paired with a sweet little girl. Secretly, I was hoping that Aria would be paired with Cynthia since she seemed the least threatening.
"Aria and Grayson." The sound of her name alongside the one of the maniacal prisoner makes my heart sink. Aria struggles to her feet, stepping with her head down, staring at the ground. Her eyes show shock and uncertainty.
Before she gets a chance to walk away, I reach up and grab her sleeve. "Remember what I told you," I whisper, referring to our conversation earlier. "You're strong, show him that." She smiles a meek smile, and walks to where the other pairs are waiting. Grayson follows close behind, his jaw tight in disappointment.
Grayson has no reserve; he'll kill Aria. Even without weapons, he can still break her. I'm not sure how she'd fare with the other two left though. The remaining trainee looks like the epitome of strength. I can't go easy on her now that Jacoby knows that I can fight. Maybe Grayson has a conscience that I just don't know about yet. In all honesty, I'm a bit more scared for him than her.
"Finally, Blake and Castelle," Jacoby says, turning around to discard of the clipboard. "Now, everyone line up along the mats. You each have two minutes to get your opponent to tap out, or hurt them bad enough that they can't stand up. This won't affect where I place you, I just want to see what you guys can do as of now. But, if you do horribly, it's going to take a lot to impress me again."
Everyone ran to the mats on the far end of the facility while the first pair step up to the sparring square closest to their audience. "Whenever you're ready," Jacoby yells, and the two squat into an offensive stance.
The first couple of fights were boring, nothing really worth watching. They threw sloppy punches, stumbled while maneuvering around, fell over too easily. They could hold their own against each other, but their mental aptitudes are clearly the reason they were accepted into this training program.
The fights following showed promise, they had some level of competence in the ring as well as agility and endurance to an extent. Jacoby watched on, unimpressed. During every match, he scribbled some notes on a pad, especially when someone does something notable. He'd offer a nod or a smile every time a fighter caught his attention, which was very rare. I could tell he wasn't even paying attention for half of the fights.
I watch on with blase, my eyes lulling. It was only the last five bouts that deserve any attention. Susanne and Emiko, the two athletic girls step into the ring, each bending under the rubber bars with grace. They don't seem particularly fond of one another, but they aren't strangers either.
Susanne I couldn't care less about, but something about Emiko I couldn't shake. She carried herself like someone with impressive amounts of combat training. Her eyes were fierce, trained on their target, something calculating behind them.
They move with grace and precision, each step they take is with purpose. The combination of kicks and punches resembled the many different fighting styles I used to watch on TV when I still had cable. They swing their limbs towards each other while the other uses their forearms to defend before the attacks make contact, making a show of their abilities in krav maga.
Susanne throws a jab up Emiko's rib cage, lifting her a bit while knocking the wind out of her. She steadies herself and backs up a foot or two, her legs spread for balance. Emiko bends over, lifting her left leg and performing a near perfect muay Thai power angle kick. Susanne ducks under and grabs Emiko's leg, rushing forward to run her into the ground. Emiko wriggles her calf free and wrapped both legs around Susanne's neck, tossing her behind her with a backward tumble, forcing both fighters onto the ground. Emiko grabs Susanne's arm as they fall, and she pulls it up to her neck while choking out her opponent.
The fight was entertaining, to say the least, but they left too many openings while attacking, too much room for error. They're good fighters in the technical sense, but still warranted amelioration.
The arm that wasn't trapped by Emiko is flailing on the ground, finding something to grab. She holds onto the leg-surrounding her neck, and dug her nails into the skin, Emiko sucking in her breath in pain. This loosens the grip around her collar, allowing her enough room to wriggle around, the two wrestling on the floor for a bit. Before they could continue, Jacoby blew into his whistle proclaiming the round over.
The girls stood up, Susanne's neck was bruised and her ponytail out of place. Emiko's leg had four red marks, blood running down her ankle. Neither of them seems to notice their injuries. Jacoby seems pleased with their performance, smiling as he wrote down his notes while offering a word of congratulations to Emiko, whom he proclaimed the unofficial victor.
I watched as Emiko went back to her seat, something about her fighting that I found odd. It seemed as though she was holding back quite a bit, and I can't help but wonder why. I'm disappointed by how close the match was, but decided to drop the notion until later.
The following match was between Hunter and Sawyer, their frames equally large and menacing. It wasn't a match too special, and it ended in a stalemate. I didn't bother assessing their skills too much, within the first few seconds it was clear that their high standing in class is due to their brute strength.
Next, Cynthia and Aster stepped into the square. Cynthia had to be torn away from her group of giggling friends, the girls wishing her luck as she ducks under the rubber bar. Aster jumped over the bar, made his way towards Cynthia's corner, and leaned over to wink at her friends. A few of them smiled back while Cynthia gave him a look of pure disgust.
"Am I supposed to fight this guy?" she turns to Jacoby, unamused by the situation.
"That's the idea," he said, "Whenever you're ready." He steadies his pen in his hand and looks up at the square, ready for it to begin.
I see Aster whisper something to Cynthia out of earshot, something probably crude and disturbing, for immediately after she slaps him across the face. You could hear the gasps and chuckles coming from the audience when Aster stumbles back. With that slap, the fight began. Aster swung a punch with decent form, but it was too slow. Cynthia dodged it easily and swung a fist back at him. He moves his head in time to avoid the brunt of it, but her fist still knicks the side of it.
In his state of hesitation, Cynthia takes the opportunity to try a poorly formed kick into Aster's side. Before her leg hits, he rushes towards her and pushes her to the ground. He might not be the most talented fighter but he was still larger than she was, stronger. He held her shoulders as she struggled for freedom, moving side to side, trying to claw at his arms. When it looked like she was about to tap out, her leg lifted suddenly, kicking him between his legs. The class erupted in a combination of oohs and laughter. I could even make out one person saying: "he can't make babies now". It sounded like Kent.
Aster fell to the ground, clutching the attacked area, wheezing in pain. Cynthia stood up and thrust her arm in victory, the class cheering her on. It was definitely the best reaction out of all of the other fights.
Cynthia and Aster were prisoners, so they'd have to be dangerous to some extent to be put into this program. However, by the way the fight played out, it seemed as though they were only as aggressive as the middle group of fighters. They showed promise but they were forgettable. Other than the last kick, I doubt any of the attacks did a decent amount of damage. Two of the earlier fighters, Jordan and Sam I believe were their names, race to the square and helped Aster off the stage. They placed him in the front next to them for a good view of the next fight.
Aria and Grayson.