Catch Me If You Can

“You did promise me a round two the other day,” Abigail pointed out as they shadow boxed beside each other. The room was plain, save for a pair of training dummies with wooden swords and the cushioned white walls. “C’mon. Let me fight you a little bit.”

“We’re going on our first mission as a team today, Abigail, we should be at our best. I can’t waste health or mana fighting you,” John replied, getting a water bottle out of his inventory. He got another and tossed it to the brawler, who gratefully caught it.

“What if we work together to improve our martial arts? That way you don’t lose any mana!” The pyromancer drained the bottle in a few moments, leaving mere drops behind. She crushed it to get the dregs out before tossing it back to him. He promptly deleted the trash from his inventory.

“I guess that would be fine. Just… don’t hit too hard, okay? I don’t have that many potions left, and I can’t afford to waste them on training.” John settled into his stance, left hand by his head, the other placed on his centerline. His guns appeared in his hands for a moment, but he dismissed them. His left foot slightly ahead of his right as he stared at his historically superior opponent.

“I wonder if you can hit me at all,” Abigail replied, settling into her own stance. She faced him with her hips toward him, arms stretched out. Her left was toward him, and her right was behind her. “Let’s do that! Whoever can hit the other three times first wins!”

“Sounds good to me!” John leapt forward, feinting a punch with his left and attempting to place an open palm strike on her chest. She saw through his bluff and slipped by his right arm, landing a gut punch in the process.

“That’s one for me!” Abigail called as she quickly backpedaled, resisting the urge to take advantage of his compromised positioning. Instead, she let him recover.

“You know, I’m surprised you use such a defensive style, Abigail. Based on how you fight with your flames, I’d expect you to be all out.” John settled back into his stance, and met the brunette’s cocky gaze.

“My dad taught me how to fight this way. Said it would make me a more rounded fighter. I don’t think it’s making me any fatter though.” She took the initiative as she finished speaking. One hand forward, she rushed toward him.

He used Intercepting Strike on the palm thrust that was coming… and gasped when she dropped low. He fell to her leg sweep. Recovering, he thrust his hands downward to catch his fall. He kicked his legs out in an attempt to bring her down, but his boots met air as they swung forward.

He did a kip-up, landing on his feet and looking around for her. As he turned, he felt her fist connect with his jaw. He leaned into the (thankfully pulled) punch, and used the position to punch her in the stomach. He felt seething anger when his fist sailed through nothingness and flames licked at his wrist.

“That’s cheating! I’m going to fist you so hard!” John pulled his fist out and looked up at the smug brunette before Jumping behind her and landing a blow on the back of her head. He attempted another gut punch, but met naught but fire again.

“Hey, no fair! You said no mana!” Abigail complained, rubbing the back of her head. They both turned their heads when they heard somebody clear their throat.

“Am I… interrupting something?” the man said, looking between the two. He noticed John’s hand sticking out of Abigail’s stomach, and tilted his head in confusion.

John looked to see who this newcomer was, and they recognized each other when they locked eyes. “Mandruzzo? How are you here? I took your ID card in the trials.” The blonde looked similar to how he had looked then, the only difference being he had discarded his light blue jacket and now simply wore his navy undershirt and cargo pants with a new purple utility belt.

“John! It is good to see you. After my partner woke up, we decided to keep going. My performance was seen as otherwise exceptional, and so I’m a four of swords, same as you. I am in your debt for not just killing me. Some weren’t so lucky. I apologize for interrupting. I didn’t know there was anyone in here. This is lucky though! I was hoping I would come across you.” Mandruzzo looked between the two, posture relaxing at John’s non-hostile attitude.

“Wouldn’t our names have been on the screen by the door? I did sign this room out,” John asked, raising an eyebrow at the ‘accidental’ intruder. “What do you need me for anyway?”

“My partner during the trials was underhanded. A cheater. You fought well, and had a level head. I was hoping that I could join you in your contracts. Not to mention the acclaim you’ve gotten from your recent mission. I’m surprised nobody else has sought you out.” Mandruzzo tossed John his phone, which was open to the news section of the Rider-Waite app.

One of the stories on the front page described Isabelle, One, and John capturing the infamous Extinction Kings Bounty Hunter Asley Ardyn. He was described as ‘instrumental to the capture of a powerful, high profile criminal.’ He opened the Rider-Waite app on his own phone. Immediately, he was met with a barrage of notifications.

I had notifications turned off for apps by default and forgot to turn them on for this one. How annoying, John thought as he swiped to the left and saw three notifications. The first mentioned that he was to meet with the secretary at his earliest convenience for reparations after the contract he was assigned had gone wrong. The second showed that due to his actions during the Jarako contract, he was already halfway to being a 5 of Swords. The third was a couple dozen friend requests. This is a social media platform? Good to know.

“Well, I’ll talk to my friends about it. We’re going on a contract later today. Be ready to join us.” He entered his contact information into Mandruzzo’s phone before tossing it back to him. “You had me on the ropes, you know. You spared me too,” John called after the bubble mage, who turned and left the barrier.

“Who was that?” Abigail asked, looking at the entrance to their training room barrier.

“The bubble guy I fought in our last test. Now that we’re all on the same team, it can’t hurt to have more friends. We’ll talk it over in our strategy meeting tonight. Are you ready for round three or what?” John asked, staring daggers at his slippery opponent.

“What happened to ‘we can’t waste health or mana, we have a mission tomorrow’?” Abigail retorted, hands enshrouded in flame.

“Cool off! We’ll use the same rules we were just using. Don’t phase through my attacks this time though!”