Andrew

"That was absolutely pathetic." We all turned around in unison to check where the voice was coming from. We were shocked to see Andrew standing in the doorway. "How could you let a little girl beat the champion of the tournament." He seemed to be very tipsy and could barely stay up without holding on to the wall next to him. "You guys better make sure you beat her next round or else you'll have a problem with me."

We all froze for a while. We knew that someone had to tell him eventually that this was the final. But none of us wanted to individually tell him. We ended up just staring at each other for a while, not daring to speak.

"Well, who's the next opponent?" He was slurring most of his words at this point. He was even more drunk than I initially thought. He kept looking at us expecting an answer. "Well?" It was at this point that Ben stood up to confront Andrew with the truth. "There is no next round." His face morphed into a confused smile. "What do you mean no next round?"

Ben was probably regretting saying anything now, but he had to keep going. No use in giving up half the truth, sunk cost and all that. "This was the final. Kelsey won the entire thing." It was at this point that Andrew went from confusion to full on laughter. After a couple seconds he calmed down and started speaking again. "That was a good one Ben, really got me for a second there. Seriously though, who's next?" We all went silent once more. Most of us were looking down to the ground, out of both respect for and fear of our older cousin. Well, all of us but Kelsey.

She seemed not to be intimidated by the older guy. In her classic bitchy fashion, she stood up, walked up to Andrew, put her dainty hands on her hips, then stared straight up at him. “What’s so funny, Andy?” He hated being called that nickname and he knew that Kelsey had deliberately said it to get him mad. “Don’t think a sexy young woman such as myself can mix it up with a couple gym rats?” His demeanor changed from mildly amused to mildly annoyed to borderline angry. He couldn’t believe this little brat was claiming to have beaten muscular athletic men at arm wrestling, all while insulting the very concept of taking care of your body and working out.

He had known her types. Usually, they were affluent upper middle class young women who had gotten some weird ideas from ‘pop feminist’ bs they saw on tv. They would usually watch a female superhero movie or read about famous women who fought in wars across history, and they would somehow get it in their heads that they were good enough to do it too. It was so commonplace these days. Pretty much every week he had to watch one of them walk in the door to his local gym, parading their femininity and invading his space. The college junior who thought boxing in short shorts was a good idea and could barely rock a punching bag. The late twenties secretary who thought learning self-defense would be good for her yet was always late for class. The soccer mom who ‘just wanted to get in shape for her husband’ who ended up only lifting 5-10 kgs for 3 weeks before never setting foot in the gym ever again. It was disgusting.

It was one thing for women to join the gym world. To leave their womanhood behind and devote themselves to the cause of fitness. He had massive respect for those who did. Even when they only joined the ‘soft sports’ as he called them – things like Pilates, dance, and yoga, he would still encourage it when he saw it. He thought it was a good gateway to some actual gym activities and sports. Weightlifting, martial arts, football, heck even tennis was a great next step. But these women weren’t there for the fitness. They were there to show off their bodies and get validation from the guys who would swoon over them and spend all their time helping them out.

He couldn’t stand for this. He had to protect his turf. At one point he even challenged that secretary to a match in front of her entire class after her fifth late entrance. He had only meant to teach her a lesson about what it takes to be part of the sport, of his gym. But he ended up taking it a bit too far, and she never returned after that. He hadn’t actually felt bad about it. Not everyone is made for this, and that was ok for him. Her leaving now would save her countless failed hours of training before she finally realized that all her work was for nothing. She should’ve thanked him for what he did. And yet she didn’t. The people at the gym didn’t like his actions, but who would stop him?

What he saw in Kelsey was every woman who had made the mistake of stepping in his gym without having enough resilience to make it. She was the peak of femininity. She was petite, at 5’4 and 115 pounds, she was very young at just shy of 19 years old, and she was currently showing off her sexy body in a tiny black dress, as well as her bare feet painted black. Most of all, the thing about her that reminded him most of those women was her unearned brattiness and confidence. She had only been doing martial arts for 2 months, and aside from that she did not even step foot in a gym. She was clearly weaker than pretty much anyone else in the room, and yet she walked around like she owned the place, even daring to stand up to him. Well, he wasn’t going to stand for that.

“Ha, very funny sweetie. But just because you promised a couple of your relatives a a peak at your tits or a handjob if they let you beat them doesn’t make you a champion, just a slut.” Kelsey just smiled back at him, eager to prove him wrong. “If you’re so confident, why don’t you test out your skills against weak old me? It should be easy for such a tough guy like yourself.” Andrew was basically chuckling at this point. This was ridiculous! This girl thought that somehow she could just challenge him to a fight without facing the consequences. That’s where she was wrong. “You’re on, and don’t think I’ll take it easy on you just because you’re a woman.” Kelsey just grinned at him. “Don’t worry about me big guy, I’m stronger than I look.”

The match was now set. Kelsey (18 years 9 months, 5’4, 115 pounds) vs Andrew (27 years old, 6’2, 185 pounds).