Unexpected Brawl

[Rameth]

(Closed)​

Hal was already sweating when he made it into the athletics room. He had gone for a short jog through the halls of The Will before he warmed up. The athletics room was a training room as well as an exercise room. There was no exercise equipment but there were weightlifting bars of varying types. Hal assumed the Jedi were more focused with personal training then wasting your time on a machine.

Hal spent the next 10 minutes watching a group of Padawans spar, a Human and a Zabrak. Both of them were rather good. One was using Echani, something Hal was rather familiar with, and the other looked like he was using Teras Kasi. Hal had not trained in Teras Kasi but he had sparred with enough people to know what it looked like. The spar ended when the Zabrak turned abruptly bringing his leg around quickly connecting with the Humans head. Hal could tell the Human was out before he hit the ground. A man on the sideline, who Hal guessed was the ref of some sort, waved his hands and ran up. It was a flash knockout, the man having only lost consciousness for a few seconds. Standing up he took off his protective helmet and shook the hand of the Zabrak. Well at least he wasn't a sore loser.

Hal had already warmed up while watching the spar. He was now waiting for Andreus Makaryk. He had met the man a few times and thought it might good getting to know him. He seemed like a good enough guy. Hal invited him to spar today, telling him to be there around this time. He figured two guys beating the snot out of each other was a always a good way to start a friendship.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Andreus Makaryk wandered the halls of Tython after his lore class adjourned for the day. It was not a good day. He had volunteered to be the guinea pig for certain...demonstrations that day, and that volunteerism had proven to be a mistake, at least in the short term. And now another padawan had invited Andreus to 'spar' against him...

The other had been in the Jedi Order for at least half his life. Andreus, less than a month. Andreus' combat experience in this lifetime could be measured in mere hours. It didn't take much for the older padawan--approximately thirty, having only joined the Jedi after a harrowing landing that made his Force sensitivity painfully obvious--to figure out who would win this 'fight.' He felt that getting 'invited' to a beatdown was probably more like it.

Nevertheless, at least he would learn something useful, like how to endure pain. Maybe Hal would be nice enough to share some of his experience as well. Andreus recognized him from a field trip to Coruscant and one of his classes, but barely knew him; the same could be said for almost anyone in the Order, really.

The older, but far less experienced (all his experience was tied up in piloting) padawan found the room number that Hal had mentioned, and his eyes searched the room. They didn't take long to find Hal.

Hal would recognize a very clear, very deep voice.

"I'm here."

 

[Rameth]

Hal looked over at the at the entrance. Andreus was standing there looking at at with a solemn face. Hal was wondering what was wrong but figured it would be impolite to ask directly. They might as well get to the reason they were there.

"Hey Andreus. I'm glad you accepted my invitation. Before we start I need to ask. Do you have any prior experience? I need to know so I can judge how fast to go.", Hal inquired.

He walked over to the training equipment in the corner of the room. He pointed to a red set of sparring gear, letting know Andreus that was his set. He picked up the blue set and started putting it on. Safety obviously came first, Hal didn't wan't anyone losing any teeth or breaking any bones.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

"Oh, why the red, it clashes so much with my face..." Andreus muttered to himself as he donned the protective gear, wondering why the kriff Hal even bothered mentioning it if he had simply set this up for an excuse to pound Andreus into the nearest wall. Briefly, Andreus wondered what the kriff made him so cynical--could his past have accounted for it? Naw. The simpler theory was usually the correct one, and the simpler theory said Hal was just looking for a fight, but he had to go about arranging it under certain conditions instead of just randomly picking one, due to the rules of the Jedi Order and all.

He didn't answer Hal's question about experience at first, but he didn't like the thought of Hal slowing down. If Hal intended to paste him, he might as well get it over with--and besides, his own instructors hadn't shown restraint, and when they did, he had grown annoyed at them for manipulating him to continue fighting. That kind of manipulation wouldn't be necessary today. Andreus knew he'd get creamed, but he had no intention of calling the fight. There was something to be said for endurance.

Andreus answered the question, though more along his opinions than any actual information about his experienced. By so doing, he could avoid lying outright, although his response might draw criticism for evading the question in the first place. "It will not be necessary to restrain yourself."

 

[Rameth]

Hal was fine with his answer. He wondered what sort of training he would have and how he would have to go about defending against it. Hal always thought of training as a fun thing to do to pass the time. Hal walked over to the training mat and stretched a little, facing away from Andreus. He turned, bowed out of respect and dashed forward. As soon as he was within striking range he chambered his right leg and shot it upward. If the strike connected it would hit Andreus square in the jaw. A good start to the fight and should get both of them warmed up easily.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

'Twas a good thing that Hal, of all people, had given Andreus that quickie introductory primer on Force Speed a few days ago at that race on Coruscant, because Andreus had use for such lessons now. He also had use of the lesson he had learned trying to do almost the exact thing to Jedi Knight Sorran Ven-Olar as the latter tried to instruct him in the most basic of combat; he had fallen embarrassingly quickly to the ground for his effort. Now, he'd find out if he had learned anything from that experience, that very little experience he had.

His mind was quick and sharp, honed not by fighting, but by countless emergency procedure drills--and actual emergency experience--as a pilot. That was quite possibly the one advantage he had, that, and just a smidgeon of precognition, over Hal. For the most part, it wouldn't be enough...however...

Hal would scarcely notice he had actually thought about the situation because Andreus' body reacted so quickly.

Andreus thrust his hand out at the incoming leg, shoving it up over his head. However, he had learned from what very little experience he had that such wide and aggressive kicks tended to leave massive openings for counterattacks, so as Knight Sorran Ven-Olar had done to him, he quickly, under the influence of Force-assisted speed, flicked his own leg out in a low, sweeping kick intended to knock Hal off his feet.

 

[Rameth]

Hal was surprised when Andreus accelerated himself with the Force. With Hal not using the Force to enhance his mental, as well as his physical, speed Andreus dropped under the kick easily. Hal's leg quickly shot out from underneath him as a kick made him topple over. A loud bang resonated through the room when Hal connected with the ground. He put out his right hand to soften the landing and allowed him to roll slightly. Unfortunately that didn't stop it from hurting.

Hal assumed Andreus was obviously skilled in Martial Arts. He was right to tell Hal he didn't need to start slowly. If Andreus wanted to use the Force then so would Hal. Having used the roll to get back on his feet Hal allowed the Force to explode through him. Within a second Hal was already within range. His left snapped forward aiming at Andreus' nose. A right straight followed the crisp jab. A simple one-two but with the Force enhancing his speed and strength they both would be much stronger and faster then normal.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Unfortunately for Andreus, Hal's first attack had stumbled almost precisely upon what little combat experience he did have, and thus the counter made him look far better and more experienced than he actually was. At least Andreus could be satisfied he had learned from his earlier humiliation, but that also meant Hal had free license to mulch him that much harder, faster. With Hal believing he was fighting someone with plenty of experience instead of someone who had just landed a lucky blow, it would be inevitable that Hal would simply rip Andreus apart. Poor Andreus.

With Force Speed, Hal proved faster than Andreus, much faster, the difference between using it for a few years against a week plainly evident. Andreus barely managed to save his nose, for the time being--both blows landed squarely on his cheek for there was no way he could block them in time, only dodge about two inches away. The headgear prevented blood from splattering all over the place, but it still hurt, and Andreus' head still snapped back a bit under the recoil. Fortunately, he had sufficient core body strength to stabilize the recoil from such blows.

With upper body attacks pretty much foreclosed to him, Andreus instinctively attempted to knee Hal in the abdomen.

 

[Rameth]

Hal was surprised that the one-two was so effective. Maybe Andreus just thought he was going to go for another kick. After his opponent had regained himself he rushed forward. Without masking his attack with short, lighter strikes Andreus' knee was plain to see. Hal recoiled just far enough away so that the knee wouldn't strike him in the stomach. With the Force enhancing his reflexes and reaction time Hal aim would be wrapping his left arm below Andreus' right knee holding it high. From there he would step forward with his right, sweeping Andreus' left leg out from underneath him and use his right hand to drive Andreus' head straight into the ground. A very effective combination if it all worked out to Hal's plan.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Andreus knew he should drive his right leg back down to the ground as soon as he knew Hal had evaded his attack. It'd be stronger than Hal's left arm that was trying to hook it, and it'd give Andreus leverage upon which to stand.

But Hal was faster, oh so much faster. He'd honed his reflexes in the Force for orders of magnitude longer.

His legs gave. His head was knocked back.

Andreus slammed to the ground with a thud too violent for the mats to cushion. Hal stood over him. Andreus just knew that if he tried to get up, he'd just get viciously knocked down again. He'd known that this 'invitation' was just an excuse for Hal to crush him. He should've known better than to take it.

Unable to get up (Andreus was physically fully capable, but knew the attempt would be fruitless), Andreus tried the one thing he thought was left to him--bringing Hal down to his level. He tried to sweep-kick off to the side where Hal stood, to bring him down.

 

[Rameth]

Hal didn't expect Andreus to try to sweep his legs. The attack itself wasn't all that effective but it was so unexpected that Hal didn't have much choice but to go with it. Trying not to fall forward Hal jumped over Andreus' leg and dove onto the mat with each of his legs on Andreus' sides, below his armpits. Unless Andreus tried something to change Hals trajectory he would end up in full mount, one of the most dominant positions to be in when grappling on the ground. From there Hal would rain blows down upon Andreus head. Fully expecting him to defend himself Hal would be relentless. Using the Force to quicken his strikes and ease the transition from one punch to the next.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Unfortunately for Andreus, he had not the experience to recognize that he would want to try to alter Hal's trajectory. Badly. Instead, Hal landed right on top of Andreus, in a position that made it quite difficult for Andreus to try to wriggle away.

He then proceeded to rip Andreus apart. Exactly as Andreus had foreseen. Poor Andreus.

Fists rained down on the inexperienced one's head. Powerful, fast fists. Fists that felt like hammer meeting skull, even through the headgear. Andreus tried punching back, and even though Hal seemed more interested in tearing him apart than defending (for good reason, given his position), Andreus' fists wouldn't be as frequent, nor did they have benefit of leverage and gravity. Hal had the upper hand, and he wasn't letting go. Andreus didn't know what to do, other than keep punching. That was inexperience. He didn't think to do anything like attacking the eyes, trying to snap the wrists, or anything like that, that might cause Hal to recoil.

His headgear flew off, torn free by the force of Hal's attacks. But Andreus had such a headache by now that he didn't notice. He continued reflexively hitting back, failing to recognize the possibility of potentially more effective counters.

 

[Rameth]

If Hal wasn't in the middle of a brawl he would have been thinking clearly enough to realize that Andreus wasn't experienced in this type of thing. He would have noticed that despite Andreus throwing back he should have stopped when the headgear flew off. He should have noticed, but he didn't. That's what referees were for, to make sure the two opponents didn't hurt one another. Hal and Andreus were well past that point. Well at least Hal was anyway. Hal continued to pound away at Andreus head, adding even more torque into each of his swings increasing the power. With each blow there was more and more chance his opponent would slip in unconsciousness.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Andreus was a kriffing stubborn bastard.

Hal easily ripped open Andreus' face with the force of his many, frequent blows. Still, Andreus tried to fight back with (less effective) blows of his own. Though defeated, he still didn't give up. He lingered. Partly because of his...origins (unknown to Hal), and partly through force of will, he lingered.

Which simply meant Hal ripped open his face that much more.

He had such a kriffing headache. His nose, that he'd managed to save earlier in the fight, broke in multiple places. Teeth were knocked out. Blood spilled. His face became a nigh-unrecognizable, bloody pulp, ripped apart at Hal's adrenaline-driven hands.

Finally, after a long moment of pummeling that seemed the better part of an hour, and under the stress of fair few more blows than it had taken to knock away his headgear, Andreus slipped into the blissful state that was unconsciousness.

In the fight that he sought, Hal had completely crushed his opponent.

 

[Rameth]

It had only taken a minute or two before Andreus' face was completely unrecognizable. Hal only manged to take notice when Andreus tooth flew out grazing the side of his cheek. He was mid strike, hand high in the air, when he finally stopped to see Andreus' eyes were closed. At least they seemed closed from the small bits he could see underneath the swelling. Hal's eyes widened in shock. What had he just done? He was so distracted by the fight he completely lost himself. At first Hal didn't know what to do. He had never beaten a man so bad before. He also didn't mean to do any of it. At first he panicked, unsure of what to do. He then remembered his training from class. He could heal Andreus, he could make it better.

He quickly removed his head gear and gloves, throwing them to the ground. He placed his hands over Andreus' head. Concentrating, remembering what he had been taught, he surged the force over the cuts, breaks and tears. He remembered what Andreus had looked like before and reconstructed his face accordingly. The cuts on the face were simple enough to heal. The broken nose snapped back into place but wasn't fully repaired, it would hurt for some time. Hal couldn't do anything about the mans teeth at his level of experience. Andreus would have to go to the local Jedi dentist, if there even was one.

After he was finished, which took a few minutes, Hal desperatly tried to wake Andreus up. Shaking him slowly calling out his name. He hoped the man would allow him to apologize before getting angry with him. He was the one who said Hal could go all out, he was partially to blame for all this, but Hal wouldn't mention that part.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

The minutes ticked by. Long minutes. Hal had beaten Andreus into a limp mass of flesh. But for the latter's bad habit of breathing, Hal might have actually thought him dead. For several agonizing minutes, Hal's attempts to revive Andreus proved fruitless. Maybe Hal would think he'd beaten Andreus into a coma.

Five minutes passed by. Then ten. Fortunately for Hal, the two padawans who had sparred before Hal and Andreus had left the room halfway through the beatdown. They hadn't seen its more vicious component. The room was empty. Hal was all alone.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Hal heard a groan. Andreus' eyes slowly fluttered back open. Andreus saw Hal as a swaying blur, just waiting for him to awaken so he could sucker-punch him back down again. He just knew Hal had set this up to completely crush him.

Weakly, he rolled over on his side. His senses began to return, and he sensed new flesh had grown. Andreus removed all that new flesh in his mind to get an idea of just how badly Hal had beaten him, what he had looked like in the mirror before someone had come along to heal (most of) his injuries. It couldn't have been Hal. Hal had set this whole thing up so he'd have an excuse to rip Andreus' face apart under the guise of 'sparring.' No, Hal couldn't have been it.

Andreus gathered some measure of strength back before he spoke again, although once more he didn't bother to get up. He didn't bother to kick Hal back down again, either. He just knew that if he did either, he'd get crushed again. He saw his half-dried blood all over the place, saw the tissues soaked in his own blood.

"So, what the kriff gave you the idea to select me for a beatdown under the guise of 'sparring?' You sure went through a lot of effort to make it all appear within the rules instead of a cold-blooded attack, didn't you?"

Andreus was agitated. He wanted answers.

 

[Rameth]

After a few minutes had past Hal was worried. He never had someone stay unconscious for longer then a minute after being knocked out. The damage he had done...why did Andreus keep fighting. All that did was confuse Hal, making him attack more. He continued to throw even after his helmet came off. Hal only now realized that he was more flailing his arms around then actually throwing punches. He should have noticed, he should have stopped.

At the very least the damage was healed, well most of it anyway. Hal would sit with Andreus as long as it took for him to wake up. At least that's what he thought before he had been sitting there for over ten minutes. His mind was now contemplating bringing Andreus to the temples doctor. Before deciding what to do Hal heard a groan. A wave a relief washed over him, at least he hadn't done any permanent damage.

"Andreus...are you okay? I'm so sorry I don't know what happened.", Hal said apologizing immediately.

Andreus didn't answer. Hal assumed he was still rather out of it, not hearing what he had said. He would wait until he regained his full senses to apologize. When Andreus did speak he didn't say something Hal expected. A beatdown, whats he talking about?, Hal thought to himself. Andreus seemed rather angry so Hal knew those were his feel thoughts on the whole matter.

"Andreus I didn't invite you here for a beatdown. I thought it would be fun. The only reason I asked was because I figured you'd been around the galaxy and had some experience. If you didn't want to spar why did you agree to it? And why did you say I could go all out if you didn't know a damn thing!?", Hal finished heated.

By the end of his "explanation" Hal was starting to get angry. Why would Andreus even come to something were he thought he was going to be beaten up. Why would he even encourage something like that. Something wasn't right here and Hal was going to find out what. That was just how he was.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Andreus felt around his face, searching for the outlines of his tattoos. Only Andreus was aware of their true nature, that they served more purpose than just mere decoration. He knew they should feel just-so-slightly warmer to the touch, especially in a situation like this.

They were. They had survived--or grown back when he had been healed, Andreus couldn't be sure which. And Hal would get his first clue of their true nature, when Andreus' emotion drove them to change from blue to black, right before Hal's eyes.

"Yeah, my experience is in flying. Almost all of it commercially. You have any kriffing clue how rare it is for a captain to have to fight hand-to-hand on his own kriffing spaceliner? Here's a hint: we're armed."

Andreus realized he couldn't really answer the question about why he had come in the first place, at least not satisfactorily. He had known this was going to be a beatdown; he had foreseen it. It hadn't been difficult to reach that conclusion at all when he'd searched Hal's name in the Archives and found he'd been with the Jedi for a decade compared to his month. He should've known better; the question seemed like asking a rape victim why she'd taken a shortcut through a dark alley late at night. There was no good answer. So, he just pretended not to hear it, like the question had gotten lost in the turmoil.

But there was a good answer to why he'd told Hal not to bother holding back. It had a lot to do with the way his first individual instruction on combat--within the confines of this Temple's subterranean caverns--had gone. His voice seemed highly annoyed by the questions, but Andreus didn't care. "I told you not to bother restraining yourself because my first combat instructor, Knight Sorran Ven-Olar, decided that starting off easy was the wrong approach. Too hand-holding. Of course, I quickly got beaten down and concluded there was no further point in continuing, because I obviously wouldn't have been able to do anything against a fully-trained and experienced Knight who evaded everything I did. So, I stopped fighting. He berated me for my lack of perseverance and slowed down so that I could actually block an attack or two of his, to goad me to continue his pointless fight, and then he just sped right back up again. Obviously, I got sick of that kind of manipulation, and decided to forestall it entirely here. Better to get my ass beaten down quickly and get it over with, rather than be manipulated like that. I just wanted to get it over with."

 

[Rameth]

Hal couldn't believe what he was hearing. What kind of idiot teaches a student like that? Martial Arts wasn't something you just get used to. It took years of training and practice. Hal groaned putting his face into his hands, shaking his head slowly. It sounded more like this Sorran was teaching him how to brawl like a common thug then fight like a real fighter.

"This Sorran doesn't sound like he was a very good teacher. He sounded more like a kriffing moron judging from what you just explained.", Hal took a deep breath letting Andreus think about what he just said, "That isn't the way to train someone how to fight. Skill takes time. Practice is the only difference between me and you right now. If you practice what you're taught you can get better. Well you can if you were actually taught anything useful that is.", Hal finished rather sharply.

Hal was putting down Sorran without having ever met him but he was only going off the information he was given by Andreus. So if the information he gave was reliable then Sorran was a kriffing moron like Hal thought.

"If it's any consolation I'm extremely sorry. I didn't call you here for that. For a...beatdown. I thought this would be harmless. I feel ashamed that I lost control.", Hal finished.

He wanted to ask for the mans forgiveness but was to afraid he might say no. He was terribly sorry and wanted him to know that. He would make it up to him somehow he just needed to make sure the man wasn't so angry he wouldn't speak to him.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Andreus sensed Hal had something more to say, but couldn't. He could tell Hal was withholding something. Out of fear. He couldn't tell what, but he could sense the young man feared something. It was a Sith instinct, Andreus' ability to sense fear was, one cultivated in his Sith origins and upbringing. Even though Andreus had given himself to the light, that old instinct hadn't quite gone away. The man couldn't quite tell what Hal feared exactly, but in light of recent events, Andreus supposed it was some sort of fear of judgment that plagued the young man.

"What is it you fear?" Andreus stared straight into Hal's blue eyes--this might well prove a bit unnerving. "That I will judge you? Hold it against you?" Though most of the time he was deadly serious, Andreus had something of a dark sense of humor, as Hal would soon learn. A wry grin sprouted across the older man's face. "If I didn't forgive you..." Andreus paused for effect to let Hal's mind guess at what he was about to say... "You could always rip my face off again. Though nothing says I ever have to let you live it down."

Kidding aside (though Hal might not see it that way), Andreus turned his attention to the matter of Sorran. Yes, Sorran had started out as extraordinarily harsh. At the time, Andreus had rebelled against it, simply letting Sorran beat him instead of giving him the fight the Knight had wanted. However, in hindsight, he would have had it no other way. Sorran had intended to instill perseverance, and though initially he thought his lesson had completely failed, it had come back to make the difference between life and death, Light and Dark, only weeks later. Andreus' voice shifted from lighthearted to deep and commanding on a dime, as he actually felt compelled to defend Sorran from Hal's snap judgment, despite the beatdown Sorran had given him.

"Now, you listen here, son," Andreus began. "Yes, Sorran beat the everlasting snot out of me. At the time, I thought as you did. That it was too harsh. But then, only a couple weeks later, a Sith Lord found me on Kamino."

Andreus considered carefully how to proceed...he didn't really want to reveal his true past to Hal. Not yet. So he stayed vague.

"He kriffed with my mind. Badly. It's fourteen hours between Kamino and the nearest Temple, twelve and a half pulling out all the emergency stops, and I mean stuff like hitting atmosphere at eighteen thousand knots because you don't have time for a slowboat approach. For those twelve and a half hours, I was alone, unable to summon assistance, and almost completely untrained as the Dark Side tried to eat me alive. It wanted me to kill shit. When I refused to succumb, it tried to consume my body. My face felt like it was kriffing burning, because the stress of resisting the Dark Side on instinct and willpower alone--without really knowing how to use the Force in my defense--pushed me into heatstroke. My face really was kriffing burning. You see these tattoos I have? They were kriffing smoldering when I finally landed at a Temple; the blood beneath them boiled on contact. A hundred seventy-three kriffing degrees. Celsius."

Andreus hadn't outright confessed that the tattoos were the work of Sith Alchemy, but he'd given out too much information anyway. There were very few other possible explanations in the galaxy for tattoos, or pretty much anything on the face for that matter, to survive that.

"Now, as woefully underprepared to endure that little funride and race-back-to-the-Jedi as I was, at least Sorran had already gotten around to beating a little perseverance and pain tolerance into me. It was harsh, but I learned far more from that hour or two than you know. Oh, yeah, and when I tried to kick Sorran in the face, almost exactly as you tried as your opening move, I got owned so badly that I actually ended up learning how to counter it. Made myself look a lot better than I actually was, apparently, must've given you the go-ahead to rip me apart thinking I was your equal."

Andreus made sure his eyes were locked with Hal's. The two wouldn't exactly see eye-to-eye here. Andreus had become accustomed to harshness--both in his childhood, which that twelve-hour trip home previously alluded to had dredged up, and in the little combat training he had had with the Jedi.

"When I said 'It will not be necessary to restrain yourself,' I kriffing meant it. Don't. Because the Sith sure as kriff won't. Just make sure you actually get around to inserting the lesson somewhere, and know when to stop before you actually kill me trying to teach me, please."