Sucker Punch (Open)

Eric Grotto held his right hand up.

Jonathan, one of the teens that frequented Eric's gym, threw his right boxing glove, towards his coach.

Eric caught his student's punch against the training mitt that he wore.

"Seven, two, seven, two," Eric held up his left hand, "don't worry about anything else. It's about speed right now, and getting used to throwing a lot of punches. Now let's get tired."

Jonathan alternated between punching both of Eric's mitts, with his left and right hands.

Eric saw a hundred different errors in his student's style. The former Middleweight Champion of the World saw Jonathan's fighting form, and instantly knew that he could mimic it perfectly. Thanks to Coach Grotto's power, of reflex mimicry, he could almost feel the difference between Jonathan's punches, and the way the boy should have been throwing them.

Jonathan threw one final punch into Eric's left mitt, before a timer sounded off in the corner of the gym.

Eric dropped his hands, and then smiled at his student. "That's good, man. Take a break, you can hit the heavy bag a few rounds."

Jonathan nodded. "Sure, Eric."

Eric lifted his hands into a fighting position, and allowed his arms to throw two punches, lightly. "And keep it loose."

"I'll try," Jonathan replied.

The teen turned, and began to walk of towards the nearest punching bag, that was not in use.

Eric drew in a breath, and looked around his gym. There were a couple boys, and a few men on the warehouse floor this morning. Some of the would-be-fighters had a good head on their shoulders, like Jonathan, but some of them would have likely been hitting another person, rather than a bag, if they had they not been members of Tactics Gym.

Which of the students needed instruction the most, at the moment? Grotto was about to decide who to call over next, when a bit of movement to his right caught his attention.

A man walked through the shipping door, of Eric's gym. The light from the outside danced across the individual's bald head, and wrapped around his defined body.

Eric looked at the newcomer, and then turned away from him. He unstrapped the mitts from his hands, and deposited them on a wooden table at the corner of the warehouse.

"Eric Grotto," a voice said, from behind Eric.

Eric turned from the wooden table, and to the newcomer. "That's right."

Eric offered his hand to the bald man.

"Vince," the bald man said.

Eric shook Vince's hand. "Looking for a place to fight?"

Vince glanced around Eric's gym. "Something like that."

Eric nodded. "Well, that's what we do here. Have you ever fought before?"

Vince looked back to Eric. "Never mma, just the sweet science. I started with boxing, just like you, champ."

Eric laughed. "I don't have the belt anymore. I'm just Eric to my students, and Coach, if you want. Couple of them call me other things. But, it's mostly just the kids that do the nickname thing, though."

"You might not hold the title anymore, but that new guy's a bum," Vince said. "He'd never beat you."

Eric kept his face calm. "He never got a shot, before I retired."

"Why did you step down, Eric?" Vince asked. "I've been curious. You're younger than me. I never would have done that."

Eric shrugged. "I got what I wanted out of it. If you want a shot at doing the same, we can help you get there. The gym's free."

Vince sighed. "Ah, well. That's not really what I'm here for. I think I got a chance at being as good as you were, already."

"If that's true, then I'd love to see you get there. Takes more than gloves and skill to be the champ, though. You need other people to help you do all the set up," Eric said.

"I'll figure all that out," Vince said.

"So, you were just stopping by to see the old champ, or what?" Eric inquired.

Vince slapped Eric on the arm. "How about a spar? Let me see if I have what it takes."

Eric frowned. "I don't fight anymore, but I can set you up with some guys, that would have given me a run for my money."

"Now, we both know that's a lie. You never came close to losing," Vince replied.

Eric shrugged. "I got lucky with my fights. The game was good to me."

"Nah, champ. You beat the game. I want to see if I could, too. Come on, just one spar," Vince said.

Eric refused the request, "Vince, I'll train you, and if you've got it, then I'll set you up with some local pro's. That sound good?"

Vince frowned. "I'm not interested in fighting pro. I just want to see who I can take."

"Same offer stands," Eric replied. "You could still tap gloves with the best, if you can take it. Everyone always needs sparring partners."

Vince frowned. "You really won't touch gloves with me, man?"

Eric said that he wouldn't.

Vince swung at Eric. "That just really sucks. I wanted to do this on the up. I respect you, champ."

Eric's eyes dilated, as his reflexes kicked in.

Vince's punch flew past Grotto's face.

Eric's back was to the table, that he'd laid his mitts on. His instincts told him to put his hand on Vince's shoulder, and to then pull off a flip over the man's head. Still, Eric had always held back during his pro career, and he didn't want his students seeing anything too suspicions.

By now, a few of Eric's students were looking over to the man that had swung at their coach.

Vince threw a few more punches.

Eric dodged each swing of the man's fist.

A few of the men that Eric trained came up behind Vince.

"Hey, back off him," Jonathan ordered.

Vince turned to the teen, and then smiled. He then threw a punch toward the boy.

Eric's student tried to block Vince's punch.

Vince's right hand contacted with Jonathan's arm, and sent the boy flying across the gym.

Eric watched his student cut through the air, and thought that he heard Jonathan's arm break. Vince was way too strong to be a normal human.

Eric punched the back of Vince's head.

Vince almost lost his balance. The super strong meta-human swung his arm behind him.

Eric threw caution to the wind, in-light of Vince's apparent strength. He kicked off the ground, and rolled through the air, and over Vince's arm. The aerial spin allowed him to dodge Vince's bone-breaking punch.

A few of Tactic's students tried to grab Vince, to presumably try and protect their coach. The teens and men were each quickly thrown through the air, or knocked to the ground.

"What do you want?" Eric asked Vince.

"Just trying to see if I can take the best," Vince said, and then laughed. "I'm a lot stronger than I used to be."

"I wouldn't know," Eric said.

Eric dodged another punch from Vince.

"You've learned some stuff since your last fight. I've seen every one," Vince said. "You were never that fancy with your slips and dodges."

Eric didn't reply.

Vince smiled. "I'm glad. Makes this much better."

"You don't need to do this," Eric said.

"I just want to see what I can do," Vince said.

Eric frowned. He had to protect his students. Grotto wasn't even sure how bad his people were hurt, from Vince's attacks.

Vince continued to punch at the former Middleweight Champion.

Eric resisted his urge to dodge, and allowed Vince to uppercut his solo plexus. He quickly crumpled, as his body shut down out of pain and shock.

Vince stood over Eric's body. "I knew it. Nobody can handle me now, it just takes one punch."

Vince turned to leave Eric's gym, just as Eric had thought he would do.

Spoiler: