Fighting Chance 2-7 Outline (Patreon)

"You good, kid?"

Zain's been training for three hours straight after the trafficking bust

Can't get the images out of his head—kids chained up, that menu with prices

Working himself harder than usual, trying to sweat out the anger

"Yeah, I'm good."

Colleen: Yeah, looks like something's been eating you."

Colleen's been watching him, concerned

Sweat dripping off him like he just ran a marathon

White t-shirt soaked through, sticking to his back

Chain coiled around his waist, metal warm against his skin

Hands wrapped, knuckles raw from hitting the heavy bag

Colleen: "Alright, that's enough for today."

Zain: "Nah, I'm good. I can keep going."

Colleen: "You've been going at it for three hours. Take a break."

Zain: "I said I'm good!"

Colleen, sharper: "And I said enough."

Zain's leaning against the dojo wall, heart hammering as he scowls at Colleen

But instead of exhaustion, there's something else

Energy crackling under his skin like static electricity, not angry

Something else

Initial reaction:

Zain: "...what the hell?"

Rolls his shoulders, trying to shake the feeling

Colleen: What is it now?

"I dunno. Feel like I got ants under my skin or some shit."

Colleen: "You sure you alright over there?"

"You look... I don't know, wired?"

Zain: "Yeah, I'm— " An idea popwait, hold up."

He clenches his fist and pale blue light flickers around it for a second

Not bright, just a shimmer, like heat waves

"Sensei, did you see that?"

Colleen: "See what?"

"My hand, it was— never mind."

Zain focuses, trying to make it happen again

Concentrates on that crackling feeling

Come on, come on...

The light flickers again, stronger this time

"...let me try something."

Walks up to the brick wall

Draws back his fist, feeling that energy coil in his arm

Throws the punch

CRACK

Sound echoes through the dojo like a gunshot

Loud enough that someone upstairs bangs on the floor

A spiderweb of fractures spreads across the brick

Dust and small chunks rain down

His hand doesn't hurt

Stares at his fist: "What the— what the fuck?"

"Did I just... did I just break a brick wall?" He glances up at the wall.

Cracks run deep, at least three inches into the brick

Mortar dust covering his hand

The wall looks like it got hit with a sledgehammer

Well, a brick in a wall, I guess.

Looks at his knuckles again: "I don't even feel it."

Colleen, across the dojo putting away equipment

Stops what she's doing, walks over

"...huh."

Examines the damage, runs her finger along the cracks

Not shocked, but definitely interested

"You been holding out on me, kid?"

Tone is casual but her eyes are sharp, calculating

"This normal for you, or...?"

Zain: "I... nah, that ain't... what the hell was that?"

Flexes his fingers: "It felt like... like my punch had weight to it."

"Like I had lightning in my veins or some shit."

"Like I could punch through a car."

That might have been an exxageration but he couldn't deny it felt like a rush.

Colleen studies him quietly: "I've seen something like this before."

Zain: Really?

"Well... something like it. Back home, in Japan, there was this... loser with a dojo."

"Guy was trying to get students to follow him to Hong Kong or something."

"Musclehead thought he was hot shit, you know? Real arrogant flashy idiot type."

She clicks her tongue: "He could do stuff like that. Break boards without touching them."

"Called it 'ki' but nobody with sense believed him."

"Ki is a myth, a fairytale. Not even martial arts masters have that stuff."

"And trust me, I've met some masters."

Zain: "But?"

Colleen: "Honestly? Thought it was bullshit till I saw it."

"Dude shot a energy ball out his hands, thing could break through a wooden board."

She doesn't elaborate further, just adds:

"Don't rely on tricks though, seriously."

"You need control, not cheap power."

"Real fighting's about fundamentals, not... whatever this is."

She gets more serious, less casual

"That guy I mentioned? Ended up hospitalized."

"Tried to show off, Pissed off a master and got his ass kicked before he shipped off back to Honk Kong."

"Power without control is just a good way to hurt yourself."

Zain: "'Course, Sensei Collie."

He says with a bow.

A fist slams down on top of his head THUNK

"Brat."

Not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to make a point

Zain rubs his head, hissing: "Ah, Sensei, what'd I do?"

Colleen's eyes narrowed: "You know what you did."

Shakes her head and starts walking off: "Make sure you don't mess around with that stuff."

"You could hurt yourself. Or worse, hurt someone else."

Zain: "Promise, sensei."

Promise I'm gonna abuse the fuck out of this. He smirks.

You kidding me? I can punch through brick now

The blue light flickers around his hand one more time

Stronger, brighter, more controlled

Yeah. This is gonna be fun.