A Chance Pre-Match Encounter... (For Tai)

In some ways, John couldnâ€t believe the last few weeks. John had been beginning to hate tension, he was making way more money coaching and doing a part time stint as a firing range master. He had gone months without a single opponent booked. Then, he was booked for a re-debut and was selected for a contendorship tournament. Admittedly, the tournament sucked. The only challenging opponents quit, and he was left fighting a nincompoop and a cheater. It left a bad taste in his math, but the fact that he was now the number one contender after less than half a dozen matches was incredible.

Now, John just had to fight Kent. He had heard that, apparently, this Kent was worried about catching the Gays or something, so heâ€d have to fight a female representative. That let another bad taste in his mouth, but he had other matches to look forward too.

Soon, John was going to fight someone named ‘Hawkeye.†He didnâ€t know much about her, but he was HOPING heâ€d finally fight against a girl who was actually interested in a serious competition. Thatâ€s what John was here for, to compete and maybe make a few friends.

For now, John was engaging in his obsessive exercises. It was a habit he had before joining the Army, but his military experience had helped him refine it. He was almost alone in the morning at the AFW Tension gym, John was laying back and bench pressing, lifting a rather large weight up and down.

He was wearing his usual exercise attire, a grey short sleeved tee shirt with the word “ARMY” across the chest, and a stylized “A” on the back. His shorts were black. Any other soldier would have recognized a PT uniform, the clothing soldiers wore when they exercised. Of course, these were available for civilians to buy, but they were often off in some way, unlike Johnâ€s. John liked them because, in addition to breathing well and being comfortable, he still had a bit of pride over having been a soldier. Perhaps it was also because he had some regret, he had intended to make soldiering his life. His sexuality, coupled with ignorance, had cut that short. He didnâ€t bear any animosity or resentment towards the Army, but he had wished things had turned out differently.

John was lost in these thoughts as he continued to steadily exercise. Usually, John would use Ro to spot him when he bench pressed, but today he was alone. He knew how to do it safely on his own, and exercising alone let him think. He was barley aware of anyone else in the room….

Hawkeye stifled a yawn as she entered the gym. Though it had been a couple years since she had left military life, she was still hardwired to be up by the crack of dawn, one of the few habits she had that she really did not agree with.

"One of these day's I'm going to learn how to sleep in..."

She said aloud, figuring she was alone and there was nobody to hear her talk to herself anyway.

Entering the gym, the blonde headed towards the weight machines, setting her bag down when she was halfway there and starting to stretch her legs on a nearby bench. The former soldier was dressed in her MMA gear, long red shorts and a black sports bra. While the outfit wouldn't fly in the more sexually focused AFW, Hawkeye didn't feel the need to go around in her panties around the common gym.

She was still new to Tension, and had yet to make a proper debut yet. While she had a non televised hentai match against a guy named Tai, who beat her, she hadn't really met too many people outside of that and had yet to make any connections. Considering she was far distanced from her family, her former unit, and that boy....Needless to say, Hawkeye had been lonely as of late. Still, she had been informed she was soon to face a man named John in her first match up, something that made her very excited and eager to perform.

Finally finishing her leg stretches, she continued to cross the large gym over to the weight machines, heading for a leg lift...only to notice someone in a weight bench nearby, stopping as she watched them lift.


"Oh! Hi there....sorry I didn't see you!"

John was too transfixed on what he had going around and around in his head to realize someone else had entered the gym so very early in the morning. It was a little rare for others to be up so early (hence why Ro wasnâ€t here). As John continued to methodically lift the weight, he vaguely became aware of someone else entering and stretching.

Eventually, John felt her eyes rest upon him and was snaped completely back to reality as the girl spoke to him. The ex-GI lifted the weight once more and put it back on the rack, looking up towards the woman who spoke to him. “Quite allright, Iâ€m usually the only one up here so early.” John said. As he caught a glance at the woman, he had to admit that she was very attractive. She also looked remarkably fit. “I donâ€t think weâ€ve met, Iâ€m a little new around here….oh, did you want to use this?” He said, gesturing to the bench. Though, considering there were other benches, that was a silly question. It was unusual for John to just blurt and derp out random things, but something about this person had made him a little fuzzy.

Hawkeye smiled a little as the redhead before her stopped his bench pressing, even offering her his bench, though there were others.

"No, that's alright. I was going for the leg lifts...I'm new here too actually, when I heard the gym was open so early, I thought I'd try to come by before anybody else showed up."


She said, looking the guy up and down, impressed at his size, instantly noticing the military exercise uniform he wore. She still had hers, though she didn't wear it. Too many conflicting memories came with it. Still, it wouldn't be right to not acknowledge it.

"So, your a military man huh? I used to a be one myself. My names Hawkeyes, you might have heard of my grandfather, the retired General Grumman?"

She mentioned, figuring the name drop would be a decent way to break the ice.

John smiled a bit as he listened to Hawkeye talk, nodding as she said that she didnâ€t really need the bench. “Yeah…I do much the same,” He said in response to Hawkeyeâ€s practice of trying to come to the gym early.

As she looked him up and down, John raised an eyebrow slightly. But, she soon explained what she was looking at. Johnâ€s face lit up a bit as she said she had also been in the military. “Yeah! Army First Corps, 42nd MP Brigade.” All that really meant was that he had been an Military Policemen, a soldier who polices other soldiers but can also fight the enemy. “Uhhh…I think I know that name...” John lied about remembering the retired generals name. There are a lot of generals, and even more retired ones after all.

However, he DID recognize her name. “Hold on a minute….youâ€re my next opponent! Iâ€m supposed to fight a new girl named Hawkeye!”

"No way, Your John Mitchel? Your my opponent!?"

Hawkeye replied with a gasp, shaking her head and chuckling a bit.


"Well, this is certainly one hell of a coincidence now isn't it? I didn't think I'd be watching my first opponent doing reps in the gym. I certainly wasn't expecting a fellow soldier as an opponent either. So did you enlist for the honor and glory? The pay? Or were you a military brat like me, and had no choice but to enlist?"

Hawkeye asked, eager to learn more about her opponent by discussing the part of history they, in a sense, shared.

"Why'd you leave and end up here of all places anyway? I heard most MP's either go the career path or take their honorable discharge and go Merc."

John smirked a bit at this, it was a pretty awesome coincidence. “First opponent? Your almost as knew as me.” John smiled a bit, leaning back. He seemed a bit more casual now, maybe because they had both been soldiers. “I donâ€t….the pay? They paid us?” John said with a chuckle, “Well, it started out as a pay-for-college thing because wrestling didnâ€t seem like a good career path. But, I got so used to the idea I eventually couldnâ€t think of anything else. I was gonna be a lifer, try to get into Officer School after I got bachelors. But, uh, ran into DOTA. Itâ€ll fuck your shit up.” John shuffled a bit. He was still a little soar about it, being discharged just because he was bisexual, but he was mostly over it.

“Eh, I guess…theres the ones who become lifers, and thereâ€s the ones who take the GI Bill and use it for college, then yeah, private security loves us. Didnâ€t like them, though. Had to do something, the Army found out I was bi, got me out…and Iâ€d done Pro training in High School, did hand to hand in the army, and I had friends in Tension. Just seemed natural.”


John raised an eye brow. “Howâ€d you end up here?”

Hawkeye nodded as John told his story, looking sympathetic to his plight.

"Yeah, DOTA is a bitch. Never thought it was fair to anybody."

She sighed, taking a seat at a weight bench near him.


"I'm your basic military brat. Grandfather a General, both parents getting high ranks themselves, spent my life being raised the military way until I was able to officially join. I was expected to be some kind of great soldier in their minds...but long story short, I met a guy, over a few years we fell in love....and we got caught on his bedroll. I was dishonorably discharged, my family wouldn't speak to me, and I was in need of cash.

So I put my hand to hand and grapple training to good use, started working in MMA promotions and fight clubs. The small ones rarely paid big, and the bigger ones kept getting bought out. So once my third big promotion got bought, I looked into it and discovered this place. I admit, I was,a bit leery about the hentai thing....but I was taught to work through discomfort, so I could deal with it, and its a place I can make some good money using my combat skills that doesn't involve me joining some merc squad and possibly shooting at my own country. Plus, I kinda had to get over that hentai thing quick when my try out match was a hentai one. "

She finished, stretching her legs a little as she sat.

"I haven't had an official debut match yet, but I've met a few nice people so far, the guy I did my try out match, after he beat me, he offered to show me the ropes, lend his ear when I needed it, and help "guide my path" if I wanted....Nice guy.


So anyway, That's how I ended up in this cold gym this early in the morning. Not that I'm complaining."

She said, offering John a smile.

((OOC: Yeah, yeah, DODT became DOTA. Neither of us know what DOTA is and Tai just followed my error. My bad.))

“Ahhh, thatâ€s bullshit. Army loves to tell people who they can and canâ€t love.” John said, shaking his head a bit. “But, hey, you could of ended up in worse places. Besides, this league needs a bit of shaking up. You look pretty strong yourself, Tension needs more of that. Half the guys here are canâ€t fight and the other half are ass holes.”

John chuckled a bit, stretching out a little on the bench as he thought about what he said. “Heh, yeah once you get past the hentai thing, it becomes a lot easier. The hentai can even be fun. Beating that is all discipline, mindset, stuff people like us have in spades. Let me tell you something, itâ€s people like us, people who actually take a fight seriously, who are going to shake up this league and make people take it seriously. Iâ€m glad I got to be your debut opponent.”

John chuckled a bit, then cracked his neck. “Gyms at Fort Benning weâ€re warmer, but the company hereâ€s a lot better.”

John smiled a bit, “I can tell weâ€re going to have a lotta fun, you look a lot better than my last opponent.” John meant she looked like a better fighter, though it could easily come off as ‘more attractive.â€

(Curse you Beany Boy! You made me look foolish on AFW! Because that's totally never happened to me before...)

"Oooh I look better do I? Flattery won't stop me from kicking your butt you know."

Hawkeye said, winking at John before smirking, playing around with his choice of words.

"Your not wrong though. From what I've seen, this place is full of porn stars, perverts, and giant people who refuse to fight anybody that isn't 2 feet shorter and 200 pounds lighter then they are. It'll be nice to actually have a legit match with somebody who wants to fight, not just stick a cock in me.....Not that I'd be entirely against that, I'd admit. Just be nice to scrap a bit first, get to know each other, you know?"


She said, blushing a little as she made her own mistake with words