Traipse Ch. 04

The ref announced the score then shouted for us to begin, and we both rushed wildly at each other. I crouched lowly to make up for my lack of force, but it was a mistake to face him head on, and a moment later he smacked me over the head using a back strike. I grunted inwardly at myself, cursing my lack of good sense, but solidified a tactic for the next bout. The people bet and we lined up yet again. As soon as we began our third bout, I defended closely, concentrating all my efforts on blocking and parrying. My opponent noticed right away of course, and he wasn't an amateur, so he pushed in close and tried to beat me back. I gave him ground, deliberately, letting him bring me to the end of the circle. It was ridiculously risky, but I needed that second point and didn't have time to come up with a better plan.

He whaled on me, incessantly trying to push me out of the circle in order to gain his winning point. I blocked carefully, calculating every movement, knowing that even the slightest mistake would cause me to lose the whole thing. I was blocking my axis perfectly, and my opponent knew it, and after what seemed like forever, he finally made the move that cued my action. He pulled back like a flash to make an inside thrust, a move which, even if I parried it, would almost certainly cause me to step out of bounds. I watched the thrust come toward me like slow motion and told my brain to wait, everything in me wanting to block or parry the perfectly preformed strike. At the last second, I parried and dove forward, causing my opponent to thrust into empty air. He lost his balance, only for a moment, but it was all the time I needed to spin and strike his back solidly.

The ref gestured to me and everyone in the room went nuts. I heard bones clatter in both boxes and shuddered to think how much money was being put on either of us. I had grown up perceiving money as a means to an end, but I inevitably took it for granted since I never had to work hard for it. For the first time in my life, I understood how a hard working person must understand money, someone like Starway, not as a concept, but as a necessity. I realized then why she had made such a big deal about me spending a thousand credits or more on her just for a portable computer. A thousand credits could have probably kept her alive for nearly half a year or more, and I had spent easily that amount in the past on a suit or pair of shoes. I shook off my philosophical feelings and forced myself to focus.

One more point and it was mine, one more point and Starway and I would have enough money to rent a nice studio apartment or small house in the country. I saw her in the crowd standing next to some of her new friends. She smiled at me nervously, and I knew she was more worried about me getting hurt than winning. I nodded to her and felt my love for her welling up inside of me. She cared more about me than living in comfort, and several days prior all I could worry about was my own skin. I took a deep breath and smiled; I was going to win, but not for me only, for both of us. Not only was I going to win, I was gonna kick his ass and move my name to the top of the kendo event list. I faced him for the final time and we crossed our weapons, then the ref dropped his hand and the final bout began. I felt comfortable exerting myself, since it was the last round, so I held my weapon a little lower than usual and brought my arms closer to my body.

He attacked me with a shout and I parried, then counter attacked with a vicious strike to his left side. He blocked it, barely, and I think he assumed that I wasn't going to try to face him head on, which I planned to use to my advantage. I knew I only had about a three or four second window to capitalize on such a tactic, so I seized the opportunity and continued to pummel him with tiger like acuity. He stumbled backwards then recovered, but I didn't let up. I heard myself shouting loudly as I lashed out at him mercilessly, and my shouts echoed throughout the silent room. Trite began reading my tempo and attempted to change his stance accordingly, but I simply sped up and attacked even harder. I felt the fiberglass weapon cracking under the intense pressure I was putting on it, but I didn't let up. I saw my opponent make a move to dodge, as if to get around me, since he knew he was getting dangerously close to the circle, but I saw it and reacted. I went in for what looked like a far lunge, an almost suicidal move in any form of fencing if it fails, then changed direction and feigned in for his left side while I nearly fell to the floor. I closed my eyes and felt the tip of my weapon strike his torso, then a moment later I felt his shinai crumple down onto my shoulder.

For a moment, it was quiet, deathly quiet, then everyone in the room erupted in a storm of either cursing or cheering. I opened my eyes and saw the ref point to me... apparently I had won, although I was still disoriented. My shoulder ached a little bit, but I guess I had actually been the first to strike. I stretched as everyone in the room continued to rage in one way or another, and Trite nodded to me after he took his helmet off. He looked strikingly like Michael, only younger of course and a little taller. He bowed and stuck his hand out to me, "That was both majestic and reckless. Either way, I'm thoroughly impressed, congratulations."

I took his hand and shook it gratefully, glad to know he wasn't a sore loser, "Thanks, you hardly made it easy for me."

He laughed amiably, "That's a relief. I see once again that my Uncle's legendary judge of character has paid off for him."

I cocked my head, "Uncle? You mean Michael Kurasuma?"

Trite nodded and smiled, "The very one, I am his Nephew. Apart from his stubbornness, I am very much like him. I suspected he had been looking for someone to spank me at kendo, if only to put me in my place. I've been number one around here at the event for awhile, so I suppose its about time for me to move on."

I threw up my hands, "I'm not looking to take any titles away, I'm just trying to pay bills at this point."

"Pay them you shall!" I heard Michael say as he stepped up and put his arm on his nephew's shoulder.

I smiled cautiously, "So... what did I pull in when all is said and done?"

Michael grinned from ear to ear, "Rolling your opponent's bets into yours, including my ambitious young nephew here, and adding your percentage received from what the house takes... a whopping 8,750 credits."

My heart almost stopped, "Did you say eight? As in eight thousand?"

Michael laughed, "Did I stutter lad?"

A wave of relief washed over me. Starway and I could survive on that easily until I was able to find a real job. We could pay for a real apartment and I could take care of her without having to worry for awhile. I smiled gratefully, "Thank you so much, you've done a lot for me, Michael."

Michael patted his pocket, "Not as much as you've done for me lad, you earned it fairly. How are you feeling? Want to keep fighting?"

I looked for Star and wondered why she hadn't shown up yet, "I'll think about it, gotta talk to the Mrs., you know. Either way we'll stay for awhile, I think she's made some new friends."

Kurasuma nodded, "Let me know."

With that, he turned to his nephew and they began their own conversation, so I went off in search of Star. The crowd had already scattered and people were getting ready for the next few events. I found Star at the refreshment table chatting with a very tall girl. Starway saw me and smiled, then threw her arms around me, "I'm so glad you're okay! I knew you would win, wasn't worried for a minute."

I smiled at her wryly in reply, "Oh yeah?"

She nodded and turned to the tall girl, "This is my new sweetheart and BFF Kya. She likes pistachio ice cream and detective novels, so I might leave you for her."

I extended my hand toward the girl and she shook it with a great big smile. She was taller than me, actually she was taller than most of the men in the room, I'd guess her height to be at least seven feet. She was broad, not at all overweight, just filled in. Her hair was long and black and her face was exotic and very pretty. It was obvious she was Japanese, with a hint of something else, but what I couldn't guess. I looked at Star, trying not to stare at her new friend curiously, who looked nothing like any woman I'd ever seen before.

"I can't believe I already have competition," I said playfully.

Kya laughed, "She's a sweet girl, I couldn't keep away. Congratulations on your victory, it was extremely grandiose."

I nodded, noting her slight accent, "I managed to pull it off, thankfully. I hope it wasn't too flashy, or people might not take me seriously."

Kya nodded, "It was just the right about of ridiculous."

I laughed at that, and agreed with her.

Starway stepped in close to me and smiled, "Don't tell me how much we won. I'm having a good time talking with people and I'll worry about that later. As soon as we get a place, we're having Kya over for dinner, I told her that you were a good cook and she told me that she was probably better than you."

I crossed my arms, "Well, I'm just getting all kinds of challenges tonight. Okay Kya, you're on. As soon as we get settled in, you and I will have a cook off, Star can be the judge."

Kya pumped her fist, "I'm not gonna go easy on you."

I grinned, "I hate it when people go easy on me."

The rest of the night passed like a blur. I participated in a few single matches, though I'd had enough of the event matches for one night. I won quite a bit more money, and when all was said and done, Starway and I left with well over ten thousand credits. Kurasuma thanked me and said he hoped to see me again next month, and I said I would be there. Kya gave us a ride back to our motel and told us to call her if we needed anything. I was happy that Star was already making friends, but I had no idea that going to the tournament that night would end up being both a curse and a blessing.

Several weeks passed and Star and I settled into a nice two bedroom apartment. Wraith had found me a guy who set us with legitimate identification for a price, and I was still job hunting. We were happy though, going out and seeing the sights of Vale, screwing each other like rabbits, and overall just enjoying our lives. Kya came over at least three times a week, turns out she actually is a better cook than I am, which is saying something. I went out to lunch with Trite, Boost, and Trick a few times, the three of which were friends and apparently some of the best fighters that attended Kurasuma's "events". Trite was studying to become a marine biologist, Trick had a master's in world history and was going for a PHD in social studies and human behavior, while Boost was a practicing civil lawyer. We hit it off, and I felt not only free, but happy for the first time in my life. Star and I both had friends and a life, It was new for both of us, neither of us had ever really had our freedom before, and we savored every moment of it. Things were going well, and I unfortunately deluded myself into thinking that my uncle would leave us alone. I was wrong.

Late on a Thursday night, Star and I were just getting ready to go to sleep. I had a job interview the next morning, so I told her to keep her hands off of me, lest I was too tired to get up in the morning. She pouted playfully, and I helped her masturbate to sleep. I had just started to doze off, comforted by the sounds of her snoring, when I heard a small sound at the door. Something felt wrong immediately, and I was about to wake Star, when the door came crashing in with a cacophony of splintering wood and metal. I covered Star from the blast instinctively, and a moment later I felt a pummeling of blows on my back fortified with electric shocks. I screamed and lashed out at whatever was striking me, while still trying to protect Star. I fought for as long as I could, then darkness dragged me into unconsciousness.

I awoke slowly with the worst headache of my life. My eyes shot open and I looked around frantically: Star! Where was she, what had they done with her? I panicked, then forced myself to concentrate and fight back tears. A moment later, I heard a door open somewhere and I surveyed my surroundings. I was in a small cell, complete with translucent poly glass walls. There was a hard bed in the cell, a sink and a toilet. That was it... my mind raced to concoct some kind of scheme to escape, but I didn't have any time, because I heard footsteps approach. I was wearing only the briefs they had captured me in, whoever they were, but I stood defiantly with my head raised to greet whomever was entering. A moment later, a woman stepped into the room, tall and lanky, wearing a black blazer and tight mini skirt. Her pair of black high heels clacked against the tile floor, and I watched her enter the room with a bit of surprise. I'm not sure who I was expecting, but it wasn't her. Her face was pretty enough, although she looked haggard and hard, like a war veteran who didn't get enough sleep. I would have pegged her to be about late thirties, and she was tan. Her hair was short and auburn in color, and she wore a red beret that slouched over one side of her head. She stood in front of the poly glass wall and eyed me for a moment, and I noticed how proudly she was showing her deep cleavage in the low cut blazer. I stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to speak, but she just looked at me.

After an intense stare down, she finally spoke, "I'll bet you feel like total shit, I'm sorry about the beating you got. I told my boys to take it easy, I guess they don't know what easy means."

I continued to stare at her intently and coldly asked, "Where is my wife?"

She smiled wickedly, "Your little nympho? She's fine, though we had to sedate her because she wouldn't stop cussing at us. Also... she's not your wife anymore, she's your ex wife."

I furrowed my brow in confusion, but decided it was more important to find out about Star's safety, "It's me you want, obviously. Let her go and I'll do whatever you want."

She chuckled, "Actually boy, I want both of you. Your uncle posted a private, million credit bounty on your head; taken alive of course. It doesn't say anything about your little ex, but I did my homework on the both of you. No one posts a bounty like that without having some serious personal investment, and I aim to capitalize on you. You're Trask Allhew, genetically perfect, no parents. You have a power hungry uncle that made deals with the wrong people and now he's trying to cover his ass. Your little girly in there is Starway Finn, a nobody, but genetically altered as well and a rare specimen indeed: a real life nymphomaniac. I'm curious to see what the two of you are capable of together and separately, and then, maybe afterward, I'll see how much your uncle is really willing to pay to get you back."

I tried to hold in my anger, "Don't hurt her, she's got nothing to do with this."

The lady laughed, "You're quite the romeo there, Mr. Allhew. Don't worry, I won't hurt her unless she makes me. In fifteen minutes exactly, some of my boys are coming to pick you up. I know how capable you are, and I won't underestimate you, but if you do what they tell you, they'll take you to see your little girl. Clean yourself up."

She left after that, leaving me with my anger and the sound of her heels. I tried to think as clearly as I could under the circumstances, and eventually came to the conclusion that I may as well rinse my face and drink some water. I looked around the room for a weapon, then realized that I had nowhere to hide it even if I did find one, and before long the 'boys' she had talked about came into the room with stun guns and a pair of digital handcuffs. They were wearing jumpsuits and looked more like mechanics, but they didn't say a word to me other than telling me to turn around so they could cuff me. They put some kind of collar on me along with the cuffs and I thought about taking them out, but I let them do as they would, and after wards they led me out of the room into a long hallway.

I tried to gather as much information as I could with my eyes while we walked. There were ducts, lots of ducts, which almost definitely meant we were underground. If we were able to make a break for it, I would assume that up was the direction to go. Past that, I couldn't tell much, and we arrived at a door at the end of the hall. A single guard stood in front of the door with particle rifle slung around his shoulder, he stepped aside and mumbled to me as I passed, "good luck kid."

The men undid my cuffs then threw me inside the room and the door thudded shut behind me. The room was starkly lit and about maybe twenty by twenty feet square. Starway stood in the middle of it, completely naked save for a black collar wrapped around her neck. She looked at me desperately and almost moved toward me, but stopped suddenly. I ran toward her and stopped a few feet away from her as I felt an excruciating pain lancing through my body. I almost fell, but was able to stay standing.

A moment later, I heard the high heeled lady speaking through a speaker on the wall, "You're both wearing shock collars. I just zapped you with a level two shock; there are ten of them, ten being the worst. If you do not do exactly as I say Trask, and I mean exactly, I'll shock her with at least that much. Same goes for you missy, you do what I tell you to do, or he gets shocked."

I looked around the room and saw her on the left side. A portion of the left side of the room was made of poly glass, and she was standing inside another, smaller room built behind it. My mind made the connections quickly as I figured out what was going on. I didn't know who she was, or what her name was, but she was sadistic. The sterile room, the collars, she was a masochistic power hungry witch, and I guessed we weren't her first victims. I tried not to think about what she would do to Starway, and I nodded to her in cold confirmation, letting her know I planned on listening to her.

She made eye contact with me and smiled wickedly, "I will break you Mr. Allhew, even if I have to do it through your sweet little wifey. Now look her in the eyes and tell her its going to be okay."

My body shuddered in disgust at the abhorrent woman's request, but for Star's sake I did what she asked, "Star... its going to be okay."

Star's eyes met with my own and I stopped short mentally. I thought she would be scared, she was, but she didn't look downhearted. She nodded to me and smiled weakly, a look of masked determination in her eyes, then she nodded ever so slightly. I blinked, almost unbelieving of her willpower and courage. I second guessed myself, but I realized that she might actually have a plan. I looked on at her for a minute more until I heard the lady's voice interrupt my thoughts, "Go to her and hold her."

I went and put my arms around her, she brought her head down to my chest and whispered so faintly that I could barely hear her, "Trust me."

I had no way to acknowledge that I'd heard her, so I just put my arms around her and squeezed her.

The lady spoke, "That's sweet. You two really love each other. Now Trask, slap her in the face!"

My heart stopped, then my brain reminded me that if I didn't listen, Starway would get a shock that would hurt a lot more than a slap in the face. I closed my eyes, unable to look at her and hating myself while I brought my hand down on her. I heard the sickening sound of my hand making contact with her skin, and she took it silently.

"Harder! Slap her again!"

I felt anger welling up inside of me and began thinking of ways to murder the source of the voice. Starway had told me she had a plan however, and I had none at all, so I tried to keep my cool while I hit her again, a little harder. She gasped and I felt like crying, but if she was strong enough to be hopeful in this situation then I had to be equally as strong as her.