<USS Banshee> "Not-So-Friendly Competition"
- From: "Brad Ruder" <GroundZero@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ussbanshee@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 16:23:19 -0700
?Not-So-Friendly Competition?
by Lt. Josh Asper
&
Ensign Anthony D?Vorak Josh exited his
quarters, walking down the corridor towards the turbolift. He had
entered his exercise attire; consisting of black wind pants, a
sleeveless T-shirt, and his usual sneakers. He approached the
holodeck one controls. "Computer, activate program Kickboxing Delta
12."
"Program initiated." The computer's dry voice echoed as
Josh stepped through the door and walked into the barely lit
gymnasium.
Anthony sat in his quarters strapping on his boots
and wrist elastics. He stood up and headed out of his quarters, with
his silk Academy boxing shorts and chest glistening in the ship?s
lights. He walked down the corridor towards the holodeck. He entered
the holodeck to see Josh was already there.
"Fashionably late
as usual, Ensign." Josh paced around the ring; he was barefoot as was
custom for kickboxing, "Sometime today Tony."
"I was just
giving you some time to prepare... its not every day you get a chance
to fight against the academy champ." He eyed Josh up and down.
"You'll be eating those sneakers, you know."
Josh perked an
eyebrow, "Academy Champ? Or Academy Chump? I was the kickboxing champ
at the academy, you must have entered my shadow after I left." Josh
moved nimbly as he waited for Anthony to enter the ring. "Are you
waiting for something, Ensign? I don't back down." Josh continued to
prance about, lifting his boxing gloves in the direction of the
Assistant Medical Officer. "Come on."
Anthony walked toward
the ring looking very confident; "I?m going to enjoy kicking your
ass." Anthony climbed up into the ring and threw his water bottle and
towel to the side. "You pissed off the wrong doctor, its go
time!"
Josh looked amusingly at Anthony, "Have you sought
counseling, Ensign? Anger management may be a way for you to harness
your anger into something more productive. I don't know, like keeping
yourself on task." Josh turns his head right and left, cracking it
several times on either side. He moved around as Anthony entered the
ring. "You could have killed Sara. Had you been doing your job, that
wouldn't have happened."
Anthony just glared at Josh. "You've
got a lot of nerve. Let?s get this started, I have better things to
do than kick your ass." Anthony walked to the center of the ring and
held out his gloves waiting for Josh to step up.
"Better
things to do? I don't think that sulking around Sickbay counts as
'something better'." Josh stepped up and hit Anthony's gloves as was
custom. He backed up a little and slowly moved around. "Fight."
Anthony hopped around a bit trying to figure out Josh's
pattern so he could throw a punch. He threw two left jabs and then a
right just to test Josh's wits.
Barely sensing Anthony's
movements, Josh blocked the two lefts and barely managed to duck the
right as he stepped back a ways. Josh threw two right jabs and then
swept up with his left leg towards the stomach of Anthony. "This
should prove to be rather interesting."
Anthony blocked the
first jab no problem, but took the second to the side of the head
with no consequence. He managed to step just clear of Josh's foot. As
the left leg passed his body he threw a right to Josh's open left
side. "Don?t forget you were the one who led the away team who
infected her in the first place. It was you who wasn?t doing your
job"
Josh took the punch to the ribs and scrambled away.
"Yeah, like I was supposed to detect the fact that a deadly virus had
infected us. Yes, my job was to protect everyone. It was an
accident." Josh said sarcastically. He managed to throw his foot out
and up, aiming for Anthony's head.
Anthony caught the kick on
his blocking arm and the side of his head, knocking him off balance.
He stepped back for a second just to regain himself. "That?s right,
it was an accident. Just like my missing the other part of the cure."
Anthony glared at Josh again and decided to come on full force. "That
is precisely why doctors aren?t supposed to treat the ones they love,
they get nervous. Terje and I still managed to cure her." Anthony
threw two rights towards Josh. Then two lefts and finished off with a
kick towards the head with his right foot.
Josh managed to
block the two rights and one of the lefts. He anticipated a switch in
direction but took the left in the head. As he turned from the punch
he was laid out with Anthony's kick. Josh was sprawled out,
motionless on his back. He rolled and stood to his feet, wiping a bit
of blood that began to spill from his split-open lip. "Love? You love
her?" Josh tried to take the moment of silence to heart as he lashed
out with his right leg, and then his left.
?Yeah, what?s it
to you?? Anthony lunged out with a punch and swing up with his right
fist in an attempt for a possible-finishing uppercut.
"I love
her. I have been 'seeing' her for almost a week now." He easily
blocked the punch and stepped back to completely avoid the
uppercut.
Anthony fell forward off balance after his uppercut
towards Josh. He landed on the mat knees first. Seeing his point of
attack, Josh surged out with his right foot, aiming for the Ensign's
face. Anthony took the foot to the face rather harshly; he shot back
a few feet from the force of the blow. He sat at the edge of the mat
with blood streaming from his nose. He wiped it clear with his right
glove, "Not bad, Asper."
Anthony hated the fact that Josh had
drawn blood. He was infuriated. He jumped from the ground and stepped
towards Josh again. He wiped some more blood then threw two quick
jabs. Josh managed to sink down and dodge both of them. Josh stepped
away, sensing that Anthony was a little angry. "You should really
control yourself, Tony." Josh smiled as he pranced around the ring.
He realized that he was taunting him, but he felt as if he had gained
the advantage in the bout. "Come on. Why don't you show me that
Academy Chump thing you were talking about earlier??
Anthony
stood with a noticeable anger on his face. "You shouldn't
underestimate me, Josh. I just might surprise you." Anthony stepped
towards Josh; he threw a right punch as a decoy. He then swept his
left foot behind Josh's knees causing him to buckle. Anthony then
threw another right to use Josh's momentum to amplify the blow. Josh
took the shot right across the upper part of his chest. His body
impacted the ground with a sickening thud. Josh rolled over in
moderate pain. He slowly got to his knees and tried to
stand.
Anthony stepped to the side of Josh and wound up his
leg and lashed out with a punishing kick towards Asper's ribs. The
kick impacted in Asper's ribs as Josh attempted to stand. He rolled
over in severe agony. Josh pounded the mat with his gloves and leaped
to his feet, still favoring his left ribs. "You son of a bitch."
"I?m not doing too bad, for a chump. Eh, Asper?" Anthony was
noticeably out of breath; "you ready to quit yet?"
Josh pulled
of his sleeveless T-shirt and tossed it outside the ring. Josh
circled around watching Anthony. "No, but I sense one ass kicking
coming up."
Two hours later the fight was still raging
on the holodeck. Asper and D'Vorak were mentally and physically
spent. Each had sustained multiple injuries. Josh's lip was ripped
open like a paper bag. He could tell that his ribs were bruised. His
head was spinning after D'Vorak had connected with a fist or nine to
his head. His knee was killing him for it had buckled underneath him
a couple of times.
Anthony's nose was still gushing. His left
eye was swelled half shut with a cut above it. His sweat made his
multiple cuts sting. Anthony was having a difficult time breathing,
and he believed he had a broken rib. What made it worse was that he
could see two Josh?s, but he was still having luck hitting him but it
wasn't much of a fight for either of them anymore.
Josh had
just taken a shot to the head and was knelt on the mat. "D'Vorak, you
have got some guts kid. I will give it to you. This fight isn't going
anywhere, and it isn't going anywhere fast. What do you say we call
it a tie?"
"I don't know which one of you is talking to me,
but that sounds like a good idea. I have to admit, you've even done
better than I expected."
Josh rose to his feet and offered
his hand to D'Vorak. "Good job, but you still can't have Sara." Josh
laughed as he waited for D'Vorak to take his hand.
Anthony
took Josh's hand "You still don't get it, Sara and I are really good
friends, no more. She gets hurt a lot, somebody has got to look out
for her though; that?s where I come in."
"Anthony, I won't
hurt her. If I hurt it would be hurting myself. I love her a lot and
I would do practically anything for her. I just don't want her best
friend to be angry with me, or hate me with some undying passion."
Josh shook his hand and managed to crawl from the ring. He took a
towel and wiped all the sweat from his face and chest. "I want us to
be friends, being on a ship this small it would benefit both of
us."
"I agree with you there. You're not the woman-playing
Jackass I thought you were." Anthony looked at him and smiled. He
cradled his rib with the one hand and wiped the blood off his face
with the other. Now lets go see Sara. I think I have some work for
her.?
"Let?s see how many injuries I have sustained. I bet I
have more." Josh smiled as he limped towards the door of the
holodeck. "Computer, end program." The gymnasium wasted away and was
replaced with a gray two-toned room.
As they walked out of the
door of the holodeck Anthony stumbled beside him. "Next time we'll
try my old Klingon training program, I?m sure we'll feel ten times
worse than today." Anthony patted him on the back.
?I wouldn't
miss it." The two walked out of the holodeck and into the bowels of
the ship. Their intended destination: the medicinal and soothing
confines of sickbay.
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