~ "Oh for cryin' out loud!" Andrew muttered.
The apparent leader of the other group snapped at the man on his right.
"Vin you're an idiot. Why would we do that?"
"Because if this is a sim, that might be the challenge, and if it's real, we'd at least but cutting down on the competition!" John tilted his head.
"My gosh, he's actually considering it," murmured Jaden in disbelief.
"You have got to be kidding me," said Takyle, in an exasperated tone that suggested she didn't believe that they were. Jaden felt the familiar thrill of fear and adrenalin from the prospect of a fight. He slipped the straps of his pack off his shoulders and let it fall to the ground behind him. He felt his pulse begin to thump in his neck.
"Let's talk about this guys," Takyle addressed the other team calmly. "You're not in a sim. Look at your clothes; they're spotless. And why would you be put up against another team in a sim? We're as real as you are." John nodded thoughtfully.
"You make a good case. This is probably real." He turned to his companions. "We don't need to kill them." Jaden felt Takyle relax just the tiniest bit. "All we need to do is injure one of them enough for their team to be crippled. I'd say the girl is the best candidate for that." He smirked. Takyle sighed and unsheathed her own knife.
"Ok, if that's the way you're going to be...Bring it, bitch," she spat at him. John smiled grimly.
"Oh you are going to be eating those words."
The three men charged forward and Team 6 acted as one. Just as their attackers reached them Jaden jumped forward, keeping close to the wall. Due to the tight formation their rivals had adopted, he slipped through easily, shielding his own body with his knife hand and planting an elbow hard into Cal's kidney on his way past. He spun around, now behind the other team. Meanwhile Takyle had fallen back three steps, luring John after her, while Andrew had ducked back into the door they'd left, allowing Vin to just miss him.
Before his guy could turn around, Jaden hit him as hard as he could in the back of the head with the hilt of his knife, causing him to stumble before coming around. Jaden ducked as the man swung and came up in time to hit him while his stomach was vulnerable. Jaden was momentarily surprised at how invulnerable that stomach was. He was reminded that he wasn't fighting a skinny teenager. The man had abs.
Over Cal's shoulder, Jaden saw the one called Vin stumble backwards across the hallway and crash into the wall. He'd made the mistake of trying to follow Andrew into the other room. Farther down the hallway Takyle parried and danced back from John's hatchet. She was a precise and delicate fighter, something that John seemed to be having a hard time getting used to.
Jaden jumped to the side as Cal dived forward, knife leveled at his belly. He just managed to catch Jaden's lower arm, tearing his sleeve and nicking flesh. The line of pain was like a cue to Jaden's body. Anger surged through him. He threw his fist, clasped around the metal hilt of his knife, into the man's face. He felt Cal's nose crunch beneath it and blood gushed out.
"I don't need another frigging scar!" Jaden shouted at him, punching him again in the face. Cal took a step back, looking somewhat surprised Jaden thought, and Jaden drove a powerful kick into his solar plexus. Cal looked faint for a moment, and then dropped. Jaden spun to check Andrew and Takyle. John was erratically swinging his hatchet at face level, apparently growing tired of being outmaneuvered. The only member of the other team that seemed to be winning was Vin, who had somehow gotten the upperhand and lured Andrew back out into the hallway. He now had him up against the wall. Both Andrew's and Vin's knives were gone and Vin had one hand pressed to a bleeding wound in his side, the other clenched on Andrew's throat.
Jaden reached them in two strides, wrapped one arm around Vin to hold him and pressed his knife to Vin's throat. A thin line of blood sprang up and three droplets slipped across the face of the blade.
"Let him go before you're a dead man," he hissed into Vin's ear. To Jaden's immense relief, Vin did what he was told. Andrew grabbed his knife off the floor and ran over to Takyle, who had just slipped in and delivered a quick slash to John's chest. She looked like she was almost enjoying herself. Andrew put his years of kickboxing to use, ridding the tired man of his weapon and landing him on the floor with three well placed blows. Takyle looked down on her conquered opponent and slapped Andrew on the arm.
"Dude! What the hell?" ~
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