"Dang it, Ivan!" Felix shouted, rubbing his sore jaw. The man-bear had just thumped him in the face for the second time that fight. "I thought we agreed to stop throwing jabs to the face!"
"I agreed to nothing," Ivan said, matter-of-factly. It was also, as a matter of fact, a lie. Felix distinctly remembered seeing the man nod when he had originally brought up the idea. Scowling, Felix leaned into an attack.
Dodging a right hook, Felix delivered a heavy blow to Ivan's midsection, just shy of his solar plexus. Ivan stumbled backwards, allowing Felix to continue his attack. Without a care for his dwindling energy, Felix took advantage of this opportunity, maybe the only one Ivan had ever given him.
"Fair is fair," Felix growled, sending a right hook at Ivan's face. Connecting, the Russian man teetered, catching himself just before his balance toppled him to the ground. With a predatory smile, Ivan breathed in the lull between Felix's attacks.
And then he launched his own. The fight was over in the span of maybe half a minute. This had been the best Felix had ever done, but Ivan was practically born for fighting. All he'd done was collect a few more bruises for his efforts. At least none of those bruises were to his ego; he felt particularly proud of himself.
Apparently, so did Ivan. With an uncharacteristic clap to the back, Ivan brought Felix in for a man-hug. "You're a fast learner, Felix!"
He didn't really know about that, but maybe there was truth to that. The coach had left him high and dry pretty quickly, trusting Felix not to break something on accident. "Thank you, Ivan. I have to learn fast, or you're going to grind me into a pulp," Felix wheezed.
"Why do you want to learn to fight? Fun?" Ivan asked.
"I want to protect myself and others. It's important to me," Felix replied. Ivan nodded, pacing the ring. He scratched his chin, deep in thought. Then, slamming his fist into his palm, he arrived at some kind of conclusion.
"If you come in every day, I'll teach you how to fight better. And if you keep this up, I've got an idea in maybe a month's time."
"What kind of idea, Ivan?" Felix asked softly, not sure whether to trust the semi-crazy man.
"The fun kind, trust me," Ivan whispered back. Then he walked off, giggling to himself as a little girl at a tea party might.
Felix prayed that Ivan's idea wasn't terribly dangerous, but he knew he would be taking Ivan up on his offer for daily training. As it was, coming in every second day had helped him tremendously. He'd never been skinny, especially considering his astronaut training – which included more swimming and exercise than one might think. However, he was developing muscles he could one day boast about.
Leaving the boxing ring, Felix packed up and yelled a goodbye to Ivan and the coach, the latter giving him a thumbs-up before turning back to his current prospect, a thin guy getting absolutely pummeled by someone of sumo wrestler proportions. Felix winced and wished the best of luck to the thin guy; he'd need it.
Once outside, Felix prepared himself for his customary dash through the shadier parts of the city. It usually wasn't so dangerous, and it shaved at least twenty minutes off the time to make it to the meditation place.
This time was different. As he ran past a pair of men in hoodies, Felix heard shouting from behind him. It cut out just as abruptly as it began. Knowing stopping would be dangerous, Felix turned around to try to find the source.
It was one of the men he had just passed. The other hoodie had put him in a chokehold and placed a hand over his mouth, preventing him from making any more noise. Felix wondered why he had decided to attack what seemed to be his friend, and why in front of a witness.
Shaking off his apprehensions, Felix rushed to help. Maybe it was something like what had happened to Kyle, and he was in a much better place to help now than he was even half a month ago, when he began lessons at the boxing place.
"Hey! Let him go!" Felix yelled. His arms were up as his coach had taught him, and he was within striking distance in just a few moments. As he prepared himself for a scuffle, the two broke apart. Felix got in a single hit on the assailant before the other man whispered in his ear.
"Sorry about this, hero," the man hissed, the sarcasm in his tone more than evident. He held a gun to Felix's back.
Felix stopped, confused. It didn't take him long to realize what had happened: he'd been duped. With righteous fury, Felix rewound time a matter of ten seconds. He was charging once more, but he jumped on top of the gunman.
Slamming the man's head to the concrete, the guy was out cold. The second of the pair looked shocked, but he collected his wits quickly. Fortunately for Felix, the other man didn't have a gun. However, the knife he held made things more than slightly tricky.
It was evident the hooded man was a novice at best, based on the wild slashes he kept throwing at Felix. Bracing himself for the worst, Felix closed the gap between them and grabbed the man's arm. Hissing, Felix felt the knife score a line down his forearm.
The man tried to escape his grip, bashing his hands at Felix's head. Deftly blocked, Felix struck back with a hit to the side of the man's head. Weakened, all it took was an uppercut to collapse the man. Both hoodies lying on the concrete, Felix breathed a sigh of relief.
He'd fought two armed men and come out of it on top. Given, he had the element of surprise, but it was a necessary fight. If he hadn't taken it, he might've gotten shot as he ran away. Speaking of getting shot, Felix would have bet all his savings that the gun the first man carried wasn't legally purchased. Calling the police, Felix waited.
"Praise be Ivan," Felix whispered, knowing that taking all those hits from Ivan had taught him to ignore at least some pain. His forearm was still bleeding, and though it was a shallow cut, it still hurt. A lot.
Man, he had his presentation tomorrow. Maybe he'd commit to the mummy cosplay, given how much bandaging he'd have to get done for his arm. Something told him Professor Dietrich wouldn't approve. Felix watched the police cars arrive and gave his statement, winning the bet he'd made with himself.
Thanking him, the officers helped the paramedics load the men into the accompanying ambulance. They also treated him, free of charge. There was little to smile about, but even Felix found humor in getting free healthcare. Felix wondered if Miss Watanabe would ask about his injury as he continued his walk to meditation. He definitely needed it after all this.