PROJECT SPARTA

CHAPTER 38

The Compound

2011

That evening the Spartans all assembled in the fitness center in hopes that they could pump out an edge for the final battle the next day. Ashton and Fiona were running the treadmills, Bronson and Duke bench pressed an impressive weight and the others were scattered, using the rowing machine, medicine balls, and stationary bikes. When Xander walked into the fitness center he couldn't make eye contact with Fiona, his mind remained calculating.

As his eyes aimed at the ground five feet in front of him, he heard a loud announcing voice.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Join me in welcoming Second Place!" Duke taunted as he started a slow clap applause. Only Bronson joined in, but the effect was still there. Xander walked past him, grabbed a towel and flung it over the shoulder of his workout hoodie.

He began curling dumbbells, twenty-five pounders, bringing them up in sequential order from left to right to left, curling his biceps. He tried to go about his business but Duke continued the pestering. Duke got up in Xander's face no further than five inches away. This was typical; Duke had been pushing him all year long. He was almost begging Xander to take a swing but Xander appeared different tonight. It looked as if a bone had snapped in the joint of his jaw. His temples depressed. Xander's clenched jaw almost bit through his teeth. The scene drew the other eyes in the room.

"Listen little orphan boy, you aren't half the operative I am. You're shit. You got that! And everyone here knows it, even that little slut, Fiona, you hang out with!"

Xander snapped.

The rage had possessed every muscle in his body. He swung the dumbbell, catching Duke straight in the gut. Every ounce of breath had come out of his body at the hit. Duke heaved over his stomach trying to find oxygen. Xander brought his knee up violently into Duke's face. Duke flung back until he hit the ground with a thud. Xander dropped the dumbbells at his sides and glowered down at Duke who was already covered in blood from a split lip as he stumbled to his feet. Duke brought his hands up to a boxing position and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the outside of his fist. He spit out a wad of blood and smiled.

"Alright... let's go..." Duke approached with three confident steps. He threw a right hook, which Xander dodged with a duck. He returned a punch into Duke's gut. Duke absorbed one blow then spun to dodge the next. Xander was at Duke's back – a position of advantage. Xander's eyes lowered to Duke's waist as he prepared for a hip throw. His sight was met by a driving elbow. Xander's eyebrow burst open in a bloody mess.

All of the Spartans had stopped their workouts and formed a perimeter. They had waited for this fight all year long. It had slowly brewed over the last nine months with every crack and taunt. Xander's patience had run thin and they could see the rage fuming in him.

The fight had picked up and began traveling around the gym. Xander jumped up onto the squat rack, flung himself around like a gymnast and kicked Duke square in the chest. After finding his feet Duke threw a colorful variety of medicine-balls at Xander on the approach which brought him down to his knees. Duke lunged at the weakened Xander and pinned his back down on the mat. Duke straddled Xander and brought fist after fist, pummeling Xander's face. His knuckles bloody – his eyes narrowed. Duke enjoyed for a moment the advantageous position, until Xander's legs raised from behind him and wrapped around Duke's throat, pulling him from his superior position. Once on the ground a chess game of jiu jitsui began.

Hold after hold was gripped, each growing more complex and precise, which they both had developed in Axle's combat class. Duke made a crucial shift and gained position on Xander's back side. Duke found a sleeper hold grasp and started squeezing off the oxygen supply from Xander's brain.

Fiona pleaded from the crowd, after seeing Xander's compromised position. "Duke! Stop it! You've won!"

Duke didn't stop though in fact his grip had tightened from a sleeper hold to a full fledge choke hold. Xander's face began to burst into different shades of blue and gray as his vision started to fade. The oxygen was severed from his brain and there was no reachable breath. He spluttered for air but to no avail. He knew he didn't have much time before he would suffocate under Duke's tremendous force. With all of his energy he got to his feet, Duke attached to his back like a book bag. Just as the Spartans hastened to step in and break up the fight, Xander back peddled as fast as he could, until Duke's spine was thrown into the bench press bar. At the impact of the bar, Duke's grip loosened. In one fluid motion, Xander broke the hold and threw Duke over his hip, slamming him into the ground with as much force as he could.

Gasping for breath, once Duke was on the ground, Xander immediately wrapped his body around Duke's arm, locking him into an arm bar, a jiu jitsui hold which allowed the holder to apply as much pressure to one's arm as he wished. Xander could break it in half at the elbow if he jerked his hold a little, but he kept still and concentrated as Duke writhed in pain. Xander's feet kept Duke's torso pinned to the mat, while his arms and chest applied pressure at the different weak points of the arm. Duke screamed in agony as Xander began dictating his terms.

"You aren't going to touch me again. You aren't going to call me an orphan and you are going to leave my friend alone. Do you understand me?" Xander's firm voice somehow carried a sinister enjoyment to it. Duke's head nodded. "Now I could break your arm right here... but then you wouldn't be able to fight in the battle tomorrow.... but maybe a lesser injury will suffice. Maybe a dislocated shoulder?..." With that Xander twitched his grip and a crunch sounded through the gym. The other Spartans winced at the sight and the sound of the bone popping out of his shoulder. Duke screamed out an agony no one had ever heard before. His cry had reached a high pitched whimper.

"It appears your shoulder has popped out of its socket. You are going to have to pop it back in before the swelling sets in. Let me help you with that." With another twitch, the shoulder popped back into the socket. Duke's scream turned to a cry as bone rubbed against bone. Xander finally released Duke from his body's grip. His chest heaved as he rose to his feet over the writhing body at his feet. He caught his breath and scanned the Spartans, through the waterfall of blood over his eye.

They stood silent and terrified at the savage before them. He marched out without a word, slamming the door behind him.

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