Sell you a Bridge chapter 4 (Patreon)

We swung back by the apartment to drop of my social security card and birth certificate and so I could hide my new debit card because carrying it around just seemed like asking for trouble. While we were there I changed into some beat around clothes and we went up to the roof to do the training Artemis had suggested. I was kind of excited about the whole thing honestly I knew her dad had her in martial arts lessons or something maybe she could teach me some katas or even just how to punch right.

When we got up there she led me through some stretches to limber me up so I didn’t pull something, andI did my best to follow along despire her still wearing those yoga pants and very obviously not having underwear on. When we finally finished she took up a position across from me. “Alright, to teach you anything I need to see what you can do, so try to hit me.” She spread her arms wide in a gesture of invitation for me to come at her but...she was a girl. I was like four inches taller than her and starting to bulk up.

She noticed my hesitation and smirked “Don’t worry, you won’t hurt delicate little Arty from upstairs. I’ve taken on much bigger and better than you moneybags. Come on.” She turned around and smacked her ass “Or is it because you aren’t a fan of the front. You’ve certainly been eyeing up the back enough today. That’s right I noticed all the staring. If you can lay a finger on me I’ll pull my pants down and let you slap it.” I couldn’t very well turn down that offer; I barely hesitated as I charged.

Artemis stepped to the side, grabbed my outstretched arm and my shoulder, hooked my ankle and used my momentum to take me off my feet and straight up throw me back the way I came. Luckily I hit an old piece of plywood that broke my fall, which prevented my fall from breaking me. Artemis was howling with laughter as she leaned against the wall next to the door of the stairway down. “Oh gods, your face. You looked like a cartoon wolf with hearts in its eyes. I think this is how the roadrunner feels. Meep meep motherfucker.”

I groaned and climbed to my feet, glaring at her “Was that really necessary? Weren’t you supposed to be testing me? What was that a test of, my unladen air speed velocity?” She tapedered off her giggles and I rolled my eyes. “Well I’m glad I amuse you so much Arty.” I used her teasing nickname from earlier and she didn’t seem to mind. “Regardless did you actually get any information on how to teach me?” I admit my pride was a bit wounded by the poor showing.

She finally got herself fully under control and she shot me a smile “I learned plenty. Now it’s time for you to learn a few things. This isn’t a book or a movie; you’re not going to wow me with your natural martial prowess and fuck me senseless after earning my adoration with a hard fought battle. I’m going to kick your ass. A lot. It’s going to suck. A lot. It’s going to suck even more if you’re so distracted thinking about pussy that you can’t even use the miniscule combat skills you actually do have.”

I blushed in shame but she just laughed and waved it off. “We’re good Morgan, I’m not mad. I’m sexy, I know that. It’s not bragging it’s just a fact. I don’t begrudge you a little time with me in your spank bank. But this isn’t some pretext for our sexual tension. If you have powers people are going to eventually want to use you for them. They’re going to come after you and if you can’t protect yourself you’re going to get hurt. So you’d better pry your eyes off my ass cheeks and get them looking for my next attack if you don’t want a concussion.”

I nodded, feeling my face assume a neutral mask as I put my fists up in front of my face, trying to remember what little I knew about fighting. Artemis nodded approvingly continuing her lesson “Very good, that’s what I like to see. Bend your knees a bit, not too much but if you lock your legs it’s easier to knock you over. Bending your knees lets you turn some of that forward momentum into downward momentum which helps you stay in place.” She walked up and used her foot to smack the side of mine, pushing my leg outward to adjust my stance.

I tried to accept her notes as best I could and adjust my stance. “I was thinking about using my powers to get a thirty day martial arts master course or something. Would doing that mess up our lessons? Should I leave it until I have a better foundation or something?” Martial arts had been number one on my list after the muscle building, along with maybe some languages and math skills. Admittedly like Artemis had intimated part of me was looking forward to things like penis enlargement pills and foolproof systems for picking up girls but those were for later.

Artemis looked at me like I was crazy. “Fuck no you shouldn’t. I’m teaching you how to survive here. Being a kung fu master is a much better way to do that than hard work and perserverence. This isn’t a fucking dojo Morgan, this is real life. If you have an advantage, use it. In the real world no one cares how hard you worked or whether you earned your skills. They care about how strong you are. Squeeze every advantage you can out of your powers, that’s what’ll keep you alive when your back is against the wall. If you ain’t cheatin’ you ain’t tryin’.”

I laughed at that and her smile was still pretty wolfish but it was like I was in on the joke now. This wasn’t mockery as much as comraderie. This time when she wanted me to attack she stayed in close. I didn’t make the mistake of getting distracted this time. I threw out a brutal haymaker, trusting by this point that she was more than able to take whatever I could dish out. Between one breath and the next I was on my back with Artemis standing over me offering a hand.

I hadn’t noticed while I was catching up to her after she finished stretching she’d taped up her fingers. She pulled me to my feet and I finally realized what happened. She’d punched me; hit me in the jaw in exactly the right spot to rattle my brain. I winced and touched the forming bruise. “Jesus Artemis that was so fast, how was I supposed to even see that coming? I’m supposed to be learning here right? You can’t just let loose at my face at full speed.” My ears were still ringing slightly from the blow.

She shook her head, still smiling “You aren’t supposed to see it coming. You’re supposed to keep your guard up so I don’t have an opening. People don’t put their hands in front of their face because it looks cool, forearms and fists are there to guard your face and head. When your throw big fuck off punches and don’t put your guard back up like that you leave yourself wide open for a blow that will finish the whole fight.” She demonstrated a proper guard again; showing me with her own taped up fists how to hold herself. “Now try again.”

I threw another punch, a quick jab this time so I could pull it back to guard position faster. Artemis batted it aside easily and slapped me open handed upside the head. She rolled her eyes “I said don’t overcommit not don’t commit at all. You can’t leave your guard down but you still have to actually hit me and do damage or there’s not eve a point. Try again.” I tried again, snapping out a jab and yanking it back as quick as I could. She nodded, her smile growing “Good, but use your body more, you’re putting all the strain from on your shoulder, engage your back muscles, it’s where the power comes from.”

We spent about an hour on that. Artemis corrected my form, teaching me how to throw punches and keep my stance. I never managed to actually hit her, but she was pleased with my progress nonetheless. I was sore and dirty but I was grinning like an idiot. Artemis had a proud look on her face as she took in my disheveled appearance. “Not bad for your first day. I mean granted I learned this stuff when I was eight but hey, not everyone can be a winner.” She flipped her ponytail over one shoulder in a show of faux haughtiness.

The thing was she wasn’t even wrong. She had been kicking my ass for an hour, not even getting touched and dodging every single blow and she wasn’t even winded. Not a single blonde hair out of place and she wasn’t even breathing hard. She bit her lip, but I suppose in the end she decided since my muscles would be bulked up tomorrow anyway a bit more destruction wouldn’t hurt. She nodded down to my legs “Do you know why lowering your body like that helps make you’re footing more solid? I’m looking for a more general reason than the one I gave earlier.”

I raised an eyebrow at that but I guessed what she meant. “Because bending my knees lowers my center of gravity?” She nodded at that. “The lower your center of gravity the more of your weight is focused close to the ground, makes it harder to get leverage to knock you over.” This was basic physics but I could kind of sense what she was hoping to hear from her tone. I parroted back the info without hesitation, Artemis had more than earned her cred with me, if she thought I needed to learn something I would learn it.

She gave me that same approving smile “Exactly. But the center of gravity is more than just a place that you can tip someone over from. It’s called that because it’s where your weight sits, which means it’s what you have to adjust your whole body around to maintain balance. You can see any move a person is going to make in their center of gravity if you know how to watch.” Her voice was commanding and charismatic, clearly very familiar with the subject matter and confident in her knowledge.

Her eyes were boring right into mine as she spoke “If you want to move your arms, your legs, even your head you have to engage your center of gravity at least a little bit to do it. Some people say to watch your opponent’s eyes to predict their next move. That’s wrong. You watch their center of gravity. The movements may be subtle, but they’ll be there. Here, try it.” She took up the same stance she had me use and waited for me to get in position.

She threw a light jab. Like she had mentioned to throw that punch she used her shoulder and back and the motion showed in her core. Of course that meant nothing to me since I wasn’t actually fast enough to react to that chain of movements but I could see what she was trying to teach me. She smiled and threw another jab, and I managed to turn and take this one on my forearm. Her lips curled up into a smirk “That wasn’t terrible but you need a lot more practice to get it down. Even if you do learn martial arts with your power this is going to be useful to you. Back in position moneybags. We do it again until you get it right.”