A Volatile Mix

The fucker kicked Army in the dick. Why? What kind of asshole would just kick a guy in the dick like that? Maybe things were different wherever-the-fuck Drake came from, but in Puerto Rico, there were just certain things a man didn’t do to another man. Kicking them in the balls was right at the top of that list, even above changing the station on their car radio without permission.

Army gasped and fell to a knee, cradling his aching privates, looking up as Carmen moved in. Not a big surprise. Much as he hated to admit, that was the sort of thing they expected from each other. Yeah, they let each other handle their own fights, but if someone cheapshotted Carmen, he’d be all over them for that shit. Good to know the reverse was true.

That wasn’t to say he’d just sit back and let her do all the fighting for him. Far from it.

Carmen held back for a moment as Drake spoke, resisting the urge to just start laying into. She threw an occasional glance towards Akane, not sure what to make of her in all this, too. She said she was a friend, but she didn’t seem to care all that much what Drake did or who he did it with. Would she really be staying out of this if Carmen whipped him all over the gym, as she had the growing temptation to do?

It turned out to be a moot point, really, because Army rose up a moment later and answered Drake in kind. He surged forward and launched into a tackle, driving hard into the guy’s stomach, lifting him up and hurling him into space.

A path that would have him crashing into Akane, he thought, and that wasn’t on accident. If she liked to watch, Army would see how funny she though this all was when it was getting dumped right on her.

The two were at a standstill. Neither Carmen, nor Drake knew where Akane’s loyalty lied in this fight, and one wrong move could mean they would be double teamed. Drake had an idea why Akane, usually a hot-headed brawler always looking for a fight, was staying out of this.

The pair shared what they called a “Quid pro Quo relationship”, basically only helping the other if it got them something in return, almost never doing even something minor without expecting repayment in some form. She had called him out here because she needed help with something, but they both knew that if she asked, she would owe him something in return. Drake figured she was going to use this fight as her bargaining chip, so that if she joined in, he would owe her a favor. It was sly and awfully scummy, but nothing Drake probably wouldn’t have done himself in a similar situation.

The deal was starting to look more appealing as Army began to stand back up, his sister still in a defensive position. Even if Drake wanted to, he couldn’t kick the man when he was down, not while she was standing there. Drake decided to keep most of his focus on Carmen, thinking the kick to the groin would probably take a few more minutes to recover from.

It was a bad choice, as Army barreled towards him in a rage, smashing into Drake like a train. Drake didn’t even have time to react, his expression was similar to that of a deer in the headlights. The abs underneath his heavy jacket now had a strong shoulder smashing into them as he was lifted up like he weighed nothing and tossed away like garbage. He could barely keep up with what was happening, barely comprehending he was thrown before smashing into his larger comrade, bringing them both down to the floor in a heap.

That wiped the smile off of Akane’s face. it had instead been replaced with a scowl, grabbing Drake and practically throwing him off of her as she sat up. It was very clear she had a temper, one with a very short fuse, her eyes practically burning as she glared at Army.

She had expected to enter the fight on her own terms, but Army threw Drake at her on purpose. Apparently, this guy wanted his ass beat pretty bad. Still, she needed that favor.

“Need help?”

She glanced at Drake, who was adjusting his eye patch so it was proper. He glanced back, stared for a moment, then looked away, clearly frustrated.

The silent agreement was made. With it, Akane stood up and cracked her knuckles, eyeing Army. She was going to make sure he regretted tossing someone at her like that. Drake would slowly stand up next to her, adjusting the front of his jacket and eyeing both the Rodriguez siblings.

This was escalating quickly. Far too quickly.

As it became clear that this was about to go from an argument into a full scale fight, people started to file their way out of the gym, hurrying before they got caught up in the fracas. If Carmen had to guess, it would only be a minute, maybe two, before security came in and separated this. Many, many things could happen in a fight within two minutes.

On paper, this was a bad idea. It wasn’t the best idea off paper, either, but if Carmen stopped and thought a moment, she’d realize how futile this all was. It wasn’t like they’d get points for fighting Akane and Drake, and she was taking on a woman who wasn’t a known quantity. All she could surmise from a glance at the redhead was that she was big and built and gained an odd amount of amusement from seeing her friend getting slapped around. She seemed pretty content to sit on the sidelines…

...until Army had to go and drag her in, of course. Because Army just had to be Army, in all things.

Judging from the look in Akane’s eyes as she rose up, they were about to move into a real fight. Fine. If they were doing it, they might as well do it right.

Carmen took a step back and exchanged glances with Army, following his heated glare to Akane. The two of them seemed locked, which left her to deal with Drake. Fine by her. If he wanted another thrashing, she would oblige.

She moved to the side, circling around Drake, as Army came towards Akane. He was cracking his knuckles, too, getting a nice, crisp sound from his taped fingers. ”Oh, I’m sorry, didn’t mean to mess up your viewing experience.” He smirked and canted his head as he stared her way. ”That’s what happens when you get too close to the fire, Red. You get burned.”

“Oh, that’s real funny.” Akane said, approaching army, fists raised, “Almost as funny as seeing you cry out like a little bitch for everyone to hear. Daddy teach you that one?”

Despite her temper, Akane paused a few feet away from her opponent. Army wasn’t the average out-of-line subordinate or local tough guy that often came across her. Supposedly, he was trained, and though she never heard of either of these two before, knowing how to fight always made a difference.

Of course, that’s not to say she hadn’t broken her fair share of trained fighters.

Army seemed to be a bit taller than her, and he certainly had a weight advantage. Akane didn’t want to give him a chance go on the offense, instead going in for a hard-left cross, followed by a low kick at the legs. Right now, she needed to see how strong his defense was. If Army was as tough as he looked, she wasn’t sure if grappling with him would be the best course of action.
--

It appeared the opponents had been set, Drake backing away a safe distance from the two powerhouses brawl. He glanced over, seeing Carmen had circled around to meet him. There was still a bit of distance between them, but it was clear that Drake was getting irritated by the way events were unfolding.

Drake was fine with having another chance to face off against Carmen again. He didn’t have a problem with the fighting itself, but he had already come to the conclusion that this brawl wasn’t worth the time.

Why fight her like this in the middle of a gym when he could be paid to do it elsewhere?

Drake was irritated with himself. Army must have gotten under his skin more than he thought. This whole thing was that punks fault! He was going to have to be more carful and watch out for this kind of behavior in the future, but for now he had to deal with Carmen.

With a quick turn, he faced Carmen, his face the same cold mask it became when he was not faking an emotion, his eye watching her with hostility.

“Ms. Rodriguez, I know you’re really not much of a talker, so please just listen.” Drake reached into his pockets and retrieved the spare coins, he didn’t bother to hide them. “I don’t plan on fighting by your rules. Something I’m sure you know. I also don’t plan on making the same mistakes I did when we first met. I’ll take plenty of dirty shots, but this time I won’t be so stupid as to throw something as valuable as a weapon away. No matter the outcome, I’ll make sure you remember what happens here.”

He had begun to flip a coin in the air, then catch it repeatedly.

“But I’m sure you noticed it too. Neither of us is really getting anything out of this scuffle. We would just be hurting each other for the sake of pride, and as fun as that sounds, I personally need a little more motivation.”

He stopped to study her expression, about to get to his point,

“You’re a woman of business, right? Think of this as my proposal: You leave here, right now. We don’t cross paths until the federation, your gym, or whoever pays us to interact with each other again. The catch is, you have to leave your brother.” Drake gave a shrug “I doubt he would leave anyway. I’ll be sure Akane leaves him in working condition, but other than that I can’t make any promises.”

After catching the coin one final time, Drake would look her in the eyes.

“If you stay, you might have a few rougher individuals try and check out your gym…Likely after hours.” Drake’s tone was as serious as the subtle threat he just made.

What was with these two and dragging Army’s whole family into things?

He did his best to shake of Akane’s taunt, not letting it get to him overly much, but he had to give the redhead credit for riling him up in record time. This whole situation was pissing him off, but she was placing herself right in the front of it all. Whatever the relationship with her and Drake, he aimed to make her regret it was a thing.

He moved in, not thinking too much of any danger he was getting in, when she gave him a slight pause by closing the distance as well. No fear, nothing held back, and her stance wasn’t the worse he’d ever seen - she wasn’t a boxer, he’d bet on that, but she wasn’t some no talent scrub, either. He had very little time to process, before she came right over and kicked things off.

A right cross, and a good one at that, cracking right on his guard and making him take a step back to maintain balance. Far more than he’d expected, but he was more than capable of giving it back even worse, right up until the moment she stopped his forward march with a low kick to the knee.

”Shit-” He grunted and took another step, a forced retreat. Okay, she was good. He’d have to watch out if he wanted to put her down, but he could do it.

Hardened, determined, Army closed in this time and step her way with a right cross of his own. Intent on pushing her back, her followed with a left hook, trying to make sure he kept her moving.

Carmen, on the other hand, had a wholly different sort of problem to deal with - namely, Drake’s never-closing mouth. The man had been chatty during their last match, but if he’d learned any lessons from that bout, he refused to apply them. She kept her place as he rattled on with his proposal, trying to deal his way out of this. Honestly, she would’ve preferred it if he’d just started swinging and coming at her. At least then she’d have something to work with. Something to hit.

She let him say his peace, let him get it all out, and when he was finished, she gave a quick, three word response to his proposal, his threats, his offers, and the smug way he presented the whole package.

”You talk too much.”

That was the verbal response, at least. Her physical response was to take a big step forward and punch him square in the face with a right cross.

Well, This Army guy was awful thick, Akane would give him that.

He took her left cross pretty well, simply taking a step back while weathering the blow. It was not her strongest strike, but she didn’t slouch on it either. She would have to choose her wind ups carefully with this guy, sheer power wouldn’t work but then she didn’t expect it to. Fine, she could play smart if she needed to.

The kick to the legs got much more favorable results, causing Army to curse in pain and give up some ground, which Akane quickly occupied. Judging by how the guy held himself and how he was dressed, he looked to be a boxer. Those guys weren’t trained to defend below the belt, right? Akane wasn’t sure, but it seemed like Army had a hard time dealing with anything below the belt, if her kick and Drakes attack from earlier was anything to go by. Of course, Akane didn’t think adding Drake’s kick to the equation was fair, deciding to put his Army’s legs down as a “maybe” in her head.

Army decided to take his shots, his right cross colliding with her defense, the solid woman needing to take a step to the side in order to keep her own balance. His punch hurt, it hurt quite a bit, but Akane was accustomed to pain, she could take it if she needed to. Still, better not to take unnecessary risks. His left came in quick, Akane retreated further backwards in order to avoid it, the first cutting the air where her head just was.

Figuring she had speed over Army, she would quickly dip in to take a shot at his face before quickly ducking low to take a jab at his ribs.

--

Drake smiled at Carmen’s response, remembering the first time she said that to him.

“So you say~”

Accepting that as her answer, he made a note in his head to find her gym’s address later. He didn’t like dirty work, but what’s a threat if you don’t follow through with it? Respect was important to Drake, and for other to respect you, you need to follow through with what you promise.

But that was for later, right now, Carmen was coming at him with her fist cocked behind her, ready to smash it against his face. Perhaps he hit a nerve?

He didn’t hesitate to throw his loose change at her, using natural human instincts to protect the eyes as a way for her to lose some accuracy. It wouldn’t be nearly as effective as his sand, but it was the best he could do with what he had. Afterwards, he would retreat just enough to try and avoid her strike, simply to step into his own punch, aimed for her face.

Where had these two come from, anyway? It was a weird time to think about it, and maybe it didn’t matter one damn bit, but it was bugging the hell out of Army. He couldn't’ recall seeing Akane in any match, he would’ve remembered a woman like this, but she didn’t throw punches like a rookie, had some polish to her, enough that she could hang in a fight without getting too dirty. Which just made it all the weirder that she had a dickbag like him backing her up.

The woman could take a punch, too. The shot Army sent her way was no love tap, it had more than enough force to send any of the guys he boxed back home reeling. It should’ve made her cautious, should’ve kept her at a distance, should’ve been all the incentive she needed to give him a wide berth.

It wasn’t. If anything, it seemed to make her even more determined to come his way, driving hard towards him with her own shots, filling the space after his left hook whiffed.

In came a punch to his face, one he was able to block without too much problem, but that was just the ruse - it kept his guard high, too high to deal with the jab that sliced into his ribs a second later. Right on the button. He had to force his mouth shut just to stifle the cry of pain. But he wasn’t about to let her get away with it unscathed - he brought his fists together and attempted to drop them down on Akane’s back, looking to send her crashing to the floor with an axe handle.

It was a simple move for a simple situation, but things were a bit more complex with Drake. As before, nothing was simple with this man - he always seemed to have a con going, some deeper game to play, and Carmen once more found herself getting drawn into it.

Change. The man threw coins in his face. The only thing more infuriating than the fact he’d tried it was the fact that it worked - she distracted, just long enough for his punch to land clean on her face, smacking her hard on the jaw.

She stumbled back and took a second to shake it off, then came surging back towards him, rushing hard to throw a right cross towards his chest, wanting to drive him back. Even as she moved, though, she could hear the shouts of security in the nearby hall. A good sign that they wouldn’t be alone for much longer.

Akane was never one to run from a fight. No matter how big or strong her opponent was, she would go at them with everything she had, no matter the odds. Her tenacity and strength are what won her many of her fights, and how she earned herself the leadership role of her own gang. While her leadership days may have been in the past, she still had the fire and drive to get through a violent brawl, with the added knowledge on strategizing and hitting opponents where it hurt.

Case in point, Army. No doubt about it, he was stronger, larger, and probably better trained when it came to throwing a punch. Back in the day, this guy could have probably taken her and half of her crew out by himself, but Akane was confident she had grown smarter throughout the years, and she could now find weaknesses her younger self would have never bothered to look for. He was a boxer, good with his hands, but he likely never focused on defending the legs. Why should he? His profession was all about hitting above the belt.

With Akane’s Background, she knew any body part was a potential target. A point proven by Army’s next attack, as he smashed her down to the floor. Shock took over as she was suddenly pushed to the floor by the force of his blow, confusion plain on her face.

Confusion quickly turned to anger, pain from the axe handle running through her back as adrenaline pumped into her veins.

“Stupid Mother-“was all she growled before shooting up from the floor like a rocket, throwing a wild, angry haymaker towards Army. She was focusing on him completely, not even hearing the shouts of nearby security.

--

Drake, however, had no such problem.

His fist found it’s mark, a loud crack came from bone smashing into bone, Carmen’s head shooting backwards as she stumbled a few feet. Drake’s face gave off little emotion, but it was clear he had enjoyed giving Carmen a nice shock. So much so he considered pushing his luck, wondering if he should go in for another punch.

Carmen Didn’t give him a chance. Recovering in a way only a trained pro could, she came back with another heavy cross, this one smashing into his chest with enough force to make Drake stumble and nearly fall over. Drake griped his chest where the cross had landed, just below the collar bone. It was a good punch, already feeling the dull pain of a fresh bruise.

Just as Drake was going in to counter attack, he heard a noise. One that made him stop dead in his tracks. It was a familiar noise, one he had heard often growing up. The jingle of keys, the static of radio, the confused shouts asking for information. All of it could only be one thing.
Security.

As if this fight wasn’t pointless enough, another con had to be thrown on top of the pile. There was little to nothing to gain from this fight in the first place, but now it was possible he would be detained and forced to pay a fine. At this point continuing the fight would be a fool’s errand.
Drake was done.

He raised his arms slowly toward Carmen and straightened up, showing he no longer meant her any harm, his eye once again calculating as he tried to pitch another idea, this time in a much less hostile tone,

“Ms. Rodriguez, we need to stop! Security is coming and I’d rather not be detained if I can help it. We should set aside our differences for a minute and try to get the others to stop fighting and get out of here.” The security shouts were getting louder, Drake was already walking towards an exit, “Think of what would happen to your Gym’s reputation if it got out your brother was caught fighting with a woman at another gym. Hardly a stigma you would want attached to you.”

Down she went.

His axe handle connected, quick and clean, and the result was never much in doubt. It would’ve been able to drop some of the largest, toughest opponents that the AFW had to offer, and while he could already tell this woman was on the upper levels, she wasn't at the top. Not quite.

”And there you go!” Army yelled down at her, right after the crash. In the back of his head, he was making note of the oncoming shouts, but he didn’t register them much beyond that. His focus was on the redhead beneath him. ”Had enough, or do you want-”

The answer to that question came in the form of a punch. One hell of a punch. Maybe even the worst he’d taken from a woman, and he would include his sister in that. The blow left him reeling, and he was only just able to keep his feet stable.

Until he tripped over the bench that was behind him, at least. He fell over and nearly banging his head on some free weights that were lying around, making for a less-than-stellar crash. Even so, he was quick to whirl around and had just started to get back up, when he heard Carmen’s call from nearby.

”Army! Go!”

Carmen had been on the verge of pressing her attack on Drake, looking to take him down, when he threw his hands up and made a hasty proposal. The man had a talent for talking fast, she would give him that,but the things he said did make a measure of sense, as much as she was loathe to admit it. This was a good time to make a strategic retreat.

So she bolted, heading towards a side a door and motioning for Army to follow. He was even more reluctant to leave than her, but with a grim nod, he ran after her.

Not before he gave them some parting words, of course.

”You. Me.” He pointed Akane’s way. ”Match.”

And he was gone with that, dashing in Carmen’s wake.

It was a risky move, the haymaker.  Had Akane not been overtaken by her temper, she might have used an attack that didn’t leave her wide open. If she missed, she would be completely exposed to whatever Army chose to counter her with, and with an opponent as strong and experienced as him taking a hit from him would be like getting smashed with a sledge hammer.

But Army was not as cautious as she thought. He was overconfident, taunting her as she fell to the ground, feeding her rage. He hadn’t expected her to rise so fast, to deliver such a powerful blow fueled by her anger and rage. He had no chance at blocking her haymaker, too busy goading her before her fist cut him off.

She watched him stumble, just barely staying on his feet until the fool tripped on a bench and fell, like a drunk on a cold night. A wicked grin spread across Akane’s face as he fell hard onto the ground, already surging forward, ready to pounce on him like a predator seizing it prey.

“What’s that? I can’t hear you from all the way down there, Punk!”

She knew a boxer off his feet was a painfully vulnerable fighter, and just as she was about to seize upon the man, a cry from his sister took her attention away from him.

Whipping around, ready to face a new opponent, Akane was surprised to see that Carmen was not barreling towards her as she did earlier to Drake, but was instead running away. Her frame held a side door open, leading to the outside.

What is she doing? Drake might be tough but not-

“Akane! Cops!”

The shouted word snapped her to attention, remembering the dreaded alarm from her younger days, she turned to find Drake at the opposite end of the gym, standing by a back door while somehow holding the things she had placed in the locker earlier.

Her head snapped back, just in time to see the man she was facing heading towards the door, turning back only to give her some curt parting words. The fury had yet to leave her eyes, but she knew she had to leave.

“Anytime.”

That word in a hostile tone was all she said before turning around and following Drake out the door, disappearing into the world.