Team Building Exercises (MercStrings)

(For the uninformed, MercStrings is a challenge build wherein i try and keep a relatively mundane Jumper alive until he can grab his spark. While Companions (Like the B.O.W. from RE) may obtain powers, unless MercStrings can reproduce them, he will remain at standard human powerlevels.)

“Again, come on,” I said, extending a hand to help Louise back up to her feet. She pointedly ignored it in favor of pushing herself off the mat and shooting me a glare.

“Why are we doing this again?” she asked.

“It’s sparring. You know, a mock fight done to practice comba-“

“I know what sparring is, wiseass.” Despite her grumbling, she returned to a fighting stance. “The question is, why are we doing this? I’m a B.O.W fighting without my powers. It’s fucking pointless.”

“It’s fucking pointless….?”

She sighed and shot me another glare. “Sir.”

I flashed the best shit eating grin I could. “That’s right! Anyway, enough stalling. Hurry up, let’s go.”

Another dirty look later, and we were back to exchanging hits. Her strikes were slow and sluggish compared to her in-field performance, and the entire match was clouded by an air of disinterest. Within a few minutes after the bout started, I had her arm trapped in a shoulder lock. I pushed her elbow up off the small of her back, and she squirmed in pain.

“Tap.”

She grimaced but remained silent. I added more pressure.

“Tap, Louise,” I said more firmly. “Tap, or I break it.”

Though the pain was clearly visible on her face, she remained silent.

I sighed and released her arm, shoving her back down to the mat. This time, I didn’t bother offering a hand back up.

“Fucking bullshit!” she swore, rubbing her injured arm. “I’d kick your ass if I could go full force, this is fucking stupid.”

“It’s supposed to teach you how to fight with restraint. I think.” I idly stretched out my arms while Louise recovered. “Though, I’m starting to get the idea that you don’t like me all that much.”

“Congratulations on your brilliant deduction there. No, I don’t.” She paused for a few moments, before adding, “Sir.”

“There a reason for that? Aside from the whole sparring thing?”

“Yeah, tons.” Louise stood straight up, all eight and a half feet towering above me, so uncomfortably close that it ensured I would have to back up to maintain eye contact. “You’re a cocky, reckless kid who’s not taking his job seriously, and half the reason I’m even sticking around is make sure you don’t get yourself or your men killed.”

I raised an eyebrow. “That it?”

“Hardly. I figure you could start with those.”

“Alright..” I scratched the back of my head. “Well, I’m not cocky or reckless. Truth be told, I’m pretty low confidence in most the things I do. I take my job very seriously, and nothing matters more to me than keeping my guys alive.”

She scoffed. “It’s gonna take a lot more than talk to sway me here, Six.”

I thought in silence for a few seconds. “Fine. One more time. No holding back.”

At this, she cracked a grin. “You sure about that? Getting your ass kicked isn’t going to make me thing you’re not reckless. Might cost you a few teeth.”

I drew back into a CQC stance and prepared myself. “Put your hands up, Wilson. Let’s get this over with.”

This time, she pounced forward like a tiger, clawing at me with incredible speed. Lightning jumped between each of her fingers, and waves of fear shook through me as she continued her onslaught. I kept pace, for a time, ducking strikes by a hair and nursing hairline fractures when I was a fraction of a second too slow. After what seemed like an eternity of staying on the defensive, I finally saw an opening.

Perhaps out of overconfidence, her arm lingered a moment too long. I darted forward, snatching her by the wrist and shoved my full force against her elbow, struggling to complete the armbar.

It was not enough.

She slammed her elbow into my chest, forcing out of my grasp with sheer strength and sending me flying back into the wall, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

Louise walked over to me quickly, chiding me mockingly. “I told you I’d kick your ass.” After I responded by spitting up blood, she adopted a more concerned tone, and her eyes went wide with shock. “Oh, shit! Can someone get medical down here? Commander, keep breathing.”

As far as I could tell, my sternum was cracked, possibly shattered. My entire body ached with pain on areas that had only been grazed, and for the first time in decades, my lungs burned in my chest. I struggled and fought to hold on to consciousness until The Boss and the medical team arrived.

She gave me a comforting pat on the head, before her usual smile turned into a frown. Her glaring dagger at Louise was the last thing I saw before my vision went black.

- - -

I woke up in a dull and drab hospital room, with the muffled beeping of a heart monitor pulsing beside me. Even now, my chest ached with every breath, and I could feel the grip of a cast squeezing around my ribs as my chest rose up and down.

Waiting for the doctor or nurse to return was a surprisingly disappointing experience. I always thought that if I ever woke up in a hospital bed, I would wake up in a bright and sunny room, surrounded by my friends and family, all waiting there with teary eyes and relieved smiles. Instead, covered windows cloaked the whole room in shadow, and I was notably alone. My family certainly wasn’t coming.

Thirty minutes later, a doctor came in and saw me sitting upright on the side of my cot. Ten minutes later, guests were allowed to come in. Surprisingly, The Boss was the first one in.

She greeted me with a gentle smile, one that quickly vanished in lieu of her usual stern look. She leaned against the windowsill, clearly waiting for me to break the silence. So I did.

“Huh. I would have thought The Choir would have been the first ones in here.”

“I considered it,” she admitted. “Lina is a skilled doctor, but I decided it would be better for them to remain uninformed. They’d kill Wilson if they found out.”

“Yeah. How is she? Louise, I mean.”

“Angry. Scared. Worried, mainly.”

“Can’t imagine crippling their boss is something most people would be pleased with.”  I turned away from her, shifting my gaze to the floor. “I couldn’t beat her, Boss. I’m not fast enough, or strong enough. I couldn’t do it.”

She just nodded silently. I waited there quietly, waiting for her to say something. Instead, she sat there with me, not making a sound. Fifteen minutes passed before she even moved, looking down at me.

“The doctor said it will take you at least a month to recover. If I hear you tried to leave before then, I’ll put you back in this bed for longer.” As she walked through the door, she added, “Your CQC needs work. We’ll fix it when you’ve healed.”