Oscar and Charlie shook hands as they crossed each other’s path. Xavier was looking forward to Oscar’s fight. He didn’t like him, but even he had to admit that he was talented and worth watching. Seth’s brow was covered in sweat and his eyes displayed his worry. Oscar was unwavering and never broke eye contact. It seemed as if he was playing mind games with him.
Seth was in a Kalaripayattu stance and Oscar responded with a Kung Fu stance. As soon as the bell rang, Oscar charged in like a bull, showering Seth with a barrage of attacks. Whenever he dodged an attack, Oscar would be one step ahead of him. Oscar overwhelmed Seth until he was up against the boundary line. As he was falling, Oscar ripped his arm over his shoulder, slamming him back into the middle of the ring. Four minutes into the first round, Xavier could see that Oscar was done playing with his prey and decided to end it. Oscar launched a combination. Seth stepped out of the way of the last attack and stepped right into a powerful head kick. Seth’s eyes rolled back and he dropped. Oscar won the match by knockout in four minutes and fifteen seconds.
Xavier was impressed but not surprised. Every move Oscar did was to get his opponent to move right into the move he wanted to connect with. He was a true magician. As Xavier and Oscar crossed each other, Oscar never broke his eye contact and shoulder bumped Xavier. He knew Oscar wanted a reaction and he refused to give him one. It was the last match of the night, and Xavier was focused on impressing the Captains, no matter what Oscar may try to do.
Franco stepped into his Jiu Jitsu stance. Xavier knew he would and responded with a Karate stance. As soon as the bell rang, Xavier switched stances seamlessly into Jeet Kune Do. Franco hesitated in confusion as Xavier began bouncing around the ring. Franco froze. Xavier faked a move and Franco reacted, but Xavier caught the strike. Franco backed up. Xavier smiled at him without breaking his motion. Franco grabbed at him, but Xavier responded with a smooth slide followed by a lightning combination of kicks to the legs. Franco buckled a bit and Xavier moved in. He drenched him in a series of short strikes to the midsection. Franco gasped for air.
Xavier stepped back to give him a second, and Franco popped back into his stance. In the blink of an eye, Xavier fired a volley of quick kicks to his legs. Franco’s face glimmered with fatigue. Xavier took another step back to allow Franco to recover. The referee tapped the floor to alert them of the remaining time. Franco rushed at Xavier, but Xavier dodged and grabbed his arm, pulling him into a fancy aerial kick. Franco dropped, and Xavier was awarded the knockout. His match lasted four minutes and fifty-seven seconds.
Xavier was barely winded as everyone applauded. He was bowing to the crowd, and for the first time since his arrival, he felt like he could be himself. As he made his final bow, he stared at Oscar with a cocky smirk on his face. The first day of the tournament had concluded, and on the second day, the elimination matches would be first and then the winners would fight afterward. As the recruits were heading back to the barracks, they were crowding Xavier and David and congratulating them. Xavier was starting to feel accepted by the Crimson Force recruits. Once the two of them arrived at their room, they replayed every move and stance they made and offered critiques.
The next day began like the last. Several recruits had been eliminated. Franco and Liam performed well and seemed to make up for their lackluster performances the day prior, but Seth struggled through a concussion. He showed heart but was unable to overcome the odds, and it didn’t help that Oscar showed no remorse. Xavier felt bad for him and thought Oscar may have been a bit too aggressive.
The majority of the fights were won by decision after the full fifteen minutes. Hye was an exception. He fought Audrey from Australia, who was trying out for the Scout Team. All of his attacks focused on her left arm and in the third round, he forced her to tap out to an impressive arm lock. After his fight, he mocked Xavier’s bowing to the crowd.
A few more fights passed, and Emily ended up winning by decision. David was up. His opponent was Li from China, who was trying out for the Research and Development team. He was proficient in Kung Fu. David chose to use Muay Thai for this fight and was excited to apply the critiques that he and Xavier exchanged.
When the bell rang, both competitors rushed in. The fight was once again back and forth. Xavier could see a vast improvement in David’s technique; he certainly was a fast learner. In the first round, the two opponents just measured each other. At the start of the second round, Li became the aggressor. David successfully dodged several attacks. Li flew into a big kick, but David maneuvered into a flying elbow to meet Li in the air. Li fell, and then popped right up. It was the first clean hit of the entire match. David rushed in as Li popped up. With a clean combination, Li was forced out of bounds at the end of the second round, and he clenched his fists in anger. David stood in awe as Li made his way back to his position.
David got back into his stance as the bell for the third round rang. Li shot at him like a rocket, but David blocked and dodged. Li let out a frustrated cry as he pushed David back to the line. Li spun into a roundhouse kick, and David stumbled around it and caught Li with a clumsy sweep. Li was tripped out of bounds. At one minute and forty-seven seconds, David won the match.
He always seemed surprised when he won, and he couldn’t contain his laughter as they called out his name. As he stepped out of the ring, Emily met him with a big hug. Charlie was up next. His technique was impeccable, but he still would throw in a dirty move in the middle of his combinations from time to time. Xavier didn’t understand why he felt the need to cheat—he was already a great fighter. Xavier’s frustration towards Charlie built up every time he watched him fight. Charlie knocked out Ivan three minutes and forty-eight seconds into the second round. Oscar congratulated Charlie as he sat down.
Oscar fought against Arthur from Congo, who was trying out for Support and Human Resources but often would follow Oscar around. He really seemed to look up to him. For a moment, Xavier thought the tournament may be rigged based on all the recruits Oscar was fighting against, but he had to shake those thoughts. As much as he couldn’t stand Oscar, he had to admit that he had a natural ability to lead.
Arthur mimicked Oscar’s stance and moves, and Xavier got the impression that Oscar was playing with him. He seemed to build some confidence. After one minute, Oscar began reversing Arthur’s every move. Arthur got wobbly, and Oscar moved in with boxing body strikes. He stepped back and switched into a kickboxing stance, causing Arthur to hesitate. He fired a haymaker, but Oscar slid the punch and moved in to shoot powerful kick to the back of Arthur’s head. Arthur stumbled, trying to keep himself up. He dropped. Oscar won by knockout at three minutes and fifty-seven seconds.
Xavier was impressed and felt like he should compliment Oscar. Biting his lower lip, he motivated himself.
“Good match.” Oscar gave him a blank stare.
Charlie stepped up and barked at Xavier. “He knows, American!”
That was the last time Xavier was going to be polite. He stepped into the ring, facing Emmanuel as his opponent. Emmanuel was six-foot-six and weighed almost two hundred and sixty pounds. Xavier knew he used boxing and muay thai, and every strike was strong enough to take his head off. Xavier had his work cut out for him. He was trying to strategize on how he could chop this tree down. Xavier felt tiny standing across from him. The Nigerian had five inches and fifty-five pounds on him.
The bell rang and Xavier started out in silat. Emmanuel cautiously inched forward, hands and elbows out in front of him. Emmanuel threw a haymaker as soon as he saw an opening and Xavier dodged. Emmanuel fired a knee to the spot Xavier was moving to and Xavier barely rolled out of the way. Emmanuel swung a hook that Xavier blocked, but he was sent back a little bit. Emmanuel leapt at him with a flurry of elbow strikes. Xavier was too fast for him and dodged the barrage continuously. Xavier slid the final strike and switched to Keysi. He felt like he knew Emmanuel’s moves now.
Emmanuel jabbed and Xavier ducked under it, moving inside. He struck his thigh with a
n elbow, and Emmanuel began swinging wildly. Xavier blocked and followed every block with an attack to the inside of Emmanuel’s legs. Every one of Xavier’s motions slid fluidly into another leg strike. Emmanuel’s legs were like muscular trunks, but he eventually began to slow down. Xavier capitalized with combination after combination into Emmanuel’s legs.
The first round ended. Xavier was a little winded, but he could see Emmanuel limping a little. At the start of the second round, Emmanuel attacked with hook after hook. Xavier stayed low and dodged each punch as Emmanuel began to slow down. Xavier swam under his hooks into a Jeet Kune Do stance. He punched the insides of Emmanuel’s legs continuously. Emmanuel was losing his defense. Xavier relentlessly punched and elbowed his legs. He felt Emmanuel grow tired.
His attacks sped up, switching between Keysi elbows and Jeet Kune Do punches into his midsection and legs. Emmanuel lost his balance. Xavier shot an uppercut elbow into Emmanuel’s jaw, and he began to fall back. Xavier launched an electric combination of leg kicks, and he felt a crack in Emmanuel’s left leg. He flipped into a kick that caused Emmanuel to drop to his knees. As he landed, he bounced into a flying knee into Emmanuel’s jaw. Emmanuel dropped. Xavier won by knockout.
Xavier helped Emmanuel out of the ring as they announced him as the winner. He felt terrible. He was so caught up in the fight that he forgot to give Emmanuel a respite during the match. He feared that Emmanuel’s leg was broken. Xavier escorted Emmanuel to the on-site hospital and waited with him. They were told he had a partially fractured tibia. Emmanuel could still compete if he chose to, but it was strongly discouraged.
When Emmanuel came to, he was impressed with Xavier and complimented him several times. They had a few moments of bonding, and then he thanked him and wished him luck. He told Xavier that this wasn’t going to end his dream. He was encouraged and would fight through it. Xavier had so much respect for him. They bid each other farewell.
Xavier walked slowly, staring at the ground. He figured injuries would be a part of such intense training, but knowing that didn’t bring him any peace. He didn’t want to end a man’s dreams. David was waiting for Xavier’s return, and he gave him an update. David spent some time encouraging Xavier, reminding him that forty recruits were going to have their dreams ended during the twenty-week training and that he shouldn’t take it personally. These words gave him little peace, but he appreciated the gesture. He had to convince himself that this was just another mission and it was part of his job. Rest escaped Xavier that night.
The next day, as Xavier was headed towards the training room, he ran into Commander Bertelli.
“Recruit.”
“Yes, ma’am?” he said snapping to attention.
“We saw you help recruit Ebuka out of the ring and escort him to the medical room. Our log shows that you stayed out past curfew in order to wait with him.”
Xavier froze. He was always getting in trouble for putting people first. He didn’t know what words she would utter in her next breath. His chest tightened.
“That is correct.”
“Commander Weber and I often oversee the injuries that occur during training and missions. What you did was very noble. I imagine you feel terrible.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He looked down feeling like she was throwing salt in the wound.
“I thought you should know that he has decided to continue with the tournament. Our research and development team has fitted him with a special cast that will enable him to fully use his left leg. Unfortunately it is a prototype and only offers temporary relief. In three months’ time, should he make it past the final phase of training, he will require extended treatment before he can become a full operative. But the cast should be sufficient to get him through the next ten weeks.”
She maneuvered her posture to get him to stand up straight and make eye contact with her.
“Do not let this prevent you from performing your best. Everything is going to be alright.”
Xavier smiled and saluted. “Thank you, ma’am.”
It was the best news he could have received and it energized him. There were only fifteen fights left and as usual, the elimination rounds were first. There was not a single ugly fight, and each round was an impressive exhibition of talent and skill. Gabriela ended up fighting Emmanuel, and she fought smart and respectfully. She focused on his legs and midsection, but most of her attacks were focused on his uninjured leg. Xavier respected her for that. He knew Oscar or Charlie would have gone after his injured leg without hesitation. Towards the end of the third round, she locked him in an impressive leg hold, but his heart refused to tap out. She held him in the lock for nearly thirty seconds until the bell signaled the end of the match and she was awarded the win by decision.
David’s match was against Carla. While Emily was fighting, he was asking Xavier how he could win the match without hitting a woman. He knew that this was the military and everyone fought everyone, and he also knew that if this were a survival situation he would have to, but he was adamant against hitting a woman during training. Xavier understood the circumstances and was trying to advise him on how he could use Jiu Jitsu, Judo, and Aikido in order to use her momentum against her and never have to hit her. David didn’t feel well versed in those disciplines but was willing to try it in order to protect his personal convictions.
It was time for David’s match to start. Carla was using kickboxing and David was going to use Jiu Jitsu. The entire first round, David blocked Carla’s attacks. In the second round, David began reversing the majority of Carla’s moves. His body would often tell him to hit her in certain situations, but he would pull back and refuse. Carla yelled at him for going easy on her. In the third and final round, David continued reversing Carla’s attacks into slams and drops. It was a messy fight, but most of David’s fights were. At the end of the match, David won by decision and accomplished his goal of not hitting a woman.
Charlie was up against Marco, and they both chose to use the same fighting techniques. The action went back and forth. In typical Charlie fashion, he would mix in dirty moves, and at the end of the second round, the referee warned Charlie that if he kept it up he was going to be disqualified. Xavier thought it was about time he was caught. In the third round, Marco began making a strong comeback, but Charlie was resilient and stopped his momentum. Charlie finished the match by catching a kick by Marco and hammering strikes until the match was called for a technical knockout.
Oscar was up against Goma. Xavier was impressed with Goma, but also feared for her; Oscar was a merciless fighter that seemed to enjoy hurting people. Goma started in silat and Oscar went into wing chun. Xavier hadn’t seen him use that yet. Oscar reversed several of Goma’s moves, and Goma was able to dodge and move out of the way Oscar’s combinations before they could be fully executed. At the end of the first round, Oscar switched to tae kwon do and Goma moved into Krav Maga. Every one of Goma’s attacks were met by a reversal. Goma began doing some unique moves that Xavier had never seen before. Oscar was thrown off, but he managed to dodge them. Oscar attacked and Goma dodged it into a flip kick that caught Oscar and knocked him back. It was the first time Oscar had been on the receiving end of a clean hit.
In the second round, Oscar came out aggressively. They went back and forth and Oscar began to rage. He ended the second round with a powerful combination that Goma barely survived. Xavier could tell that Goma didn’t have much fight left, but Oscar was riled up and ready to pounce. The bell rang and Oscar came out in a unique wrestling stance that seemed like a combination of Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, and something else. Goma was thrown off and fell back into what she knew best. She flew at him, and he rolled out of the way. He bounced into two flying knees and Goma lost her balance. In a flash, Oscar slithered behind Goma and wrapped his powerful arms around her waist. He followed up with an unending series of reverse suplexes. Goma finally blacked out, and Oscar was awarded the knockout victory.
Xavier was livid. The continuous slams could have broken Goma�
��s neck or even killed her. It made sense in combat, but not in a ranking tournament, especially since anyone that hadn’t been eliminated yet was pretty much guaranteed to be moving on at this point in the tournament. As he and Oscar passed each other, he couldn’t help but glare at him.
“You might want to focus, git,” Oscar said with a smug smile.
Xavier stepped up against the technician Hye. He knew it was going to be a tough fight and that he would have to protect his limbs. The bell rang and Xavier stepped into Keysi. Hye stayed low and lunged at Xavier’s leg. Xavier dodged. He attacked his legs several more times and Xavier dodged all of the attacks. Hye then went after Xavier’s arms, but he reversed each move. Hye kicked high, but Xavier blocked and moved in with elbow shots. A double combination had Hye reeling when the bell rang.
At the start of the second round, Hye reversed one of Xavier’s kicks and captured the momentum. Hye unleashed multiple combinations into Xavier’s right leg and went for a big knee attack that would have severely weakened Xavier’s leg. Xavier countered the move with a fancy kick that sent Hye flying across the ring. They rushed at each other at the same time, but the bell rang before they could make contact. Hye fired an illegal late hit at Xavier, and Xavier went after him, but the referee separated them. Hye spit at Xavier, sending Xavier into a rage. He had to regain his composure. He knew Hye was trying to get in his head.
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