Part 29.5 The Challenge
 
>It’s a day before the trainees’ final test.
>The one you came up with, full of obstacles and a combat scenario in the Everfree Forest
>All month you had taught them Krav Maga as best as you could, through sparing with them individually and having them spar with each other
>Of all of them, Lucky was the best fighter by a slight, but noticeable, margin
>None of them had challenged you though, and today was their last day to try to earn their weekend passes
>After PT, you had them all fall in
I shouldn’t have to remind you all that TODAY IS THE LAST DAY to challenge me. Do none of you have the balls to take me one-on-one?
>”Sir, Trainee Lucky reports as ordered! If you require an opponent, I will be happy to oblige.”
>Of course it would be him. But despite how much he’s learned, he’s still not on your level. None of them are
>He’s gotta be planning something…
It’s about damn time! You got balls Trainee Lucky. You have the HONOR of me kicking your ass! COME AT ME!
>A slight smirk reaches his face
>Milliseconds before you decide to charge right at him, he yells, “CHARGE!”
>Every one of them takes off towards you
WHAT THE FUCK! THIS IS ONLY A ONE ON ONE FIGHT!
>The first to reach your threat zone is Lightning Strike
>He’s about to punch you in the face
>As you prepare to counter-attack him, he pulls up out of your reach
>Immediately you see Blazin’ Blue right behind him
>This challenger appears to be going for a groin kick
>You lower yourself, preparing a pre-emptive stomach punch, when he pulls hard to the right
>What the fuck is this?
>You’re practically squatting
>And Star Shine is less than a second away, charging right at you
>Shit shit shit
>No time to counter-attack; just get the FUCK out of there
>You jump out of the way, to your right
>Where’s Lucky?
>WHERE THE FUCK IS LUCKY?
>You desperately look around and notice the three that just charged you aren’t going after you
>Turning your entire body around, you have enough time to see Lucky had outmaneuvered you
>His hoof makes contact with your chest
 >He hit you. The fucker actually did it. What’s more, it actually hurt
>You’re predicting a hoof-sized bruise on your chest in a few minutes
>But before he can pull it away, you grab and twist it
>Seconds later, he’s on the ground at your mercy
>Mother fucker
>You give him a punch in the stomach, and let go
EVERYBODY ON YOUR FACE!
>Star Shine, Blazin’ Blue, and Lighting Strike comply immediately
>Lucky though, he takes a few seconds to start doing push-ups
>When they’re all on their faces, you start yelling at them
WHO’S FUCKING IDEA WAS THAT?
>”SIR, TRAINEE LUCKY REPORTS AS ORDERED! IT WAS MY IDEA!”
>Of. Fucking. Course. Of course he’s the mastermind
THAT WAS FUCKING BULLSHIT! I FUCKING SAID A ONE ON ONE FIGHT! THAT WAS ALL FOUR OF YOU! CAN YOU FUCKING COUNT?
>”SIR TRAINEE LUCKY REPORTS AS ORDERED! IT WAS A ONE ON ONE FIGHT SIR!”
>Oh no he didn’t. He didn’t just fucking correct you.
>You stomp straight towards him and yell at his face
YOU HAVE 3 SECONDS TO EXPLAIN HOW THE FUCK THAT WAS JUST BETWEEN THE TWO OF US!
>”SIR TRAINEE LUCKY REPORTS AS ORDERED! IT-“
ONE!
>”WAS ONE ON ONE BECAUSE I WAS THE-“
TWO!
>”ONLY ONE WHO ACTUALLY ATTACKED YOU!”
THR-…
>You pause
>They’re still doing push-ups
>….
You mean to tell me that you used the other three as to distract me?
>”YES SIR!”
You knew you couldn’t take me on in a fair fight, so you had to catch me off guard?
>”YES SIR!”
And you did this all, knowing the risk that I might start Basic Training all over again?
>”YES-NO SIR!”
>You give him a blank stare
Which one is it?
>”SIR, TRAINEE LUCKY REPORTS AS ORDERED! I HAD NO IDEA THAT WAS A RISK! THE WORST I THOUGHT COULD HAPPEN WAS YOU WOULDN’T ACCEPT A DEFEAT USING THOSE TACTICS, SIR!”
>Huh. You did forget to threaten the trainees with starting all over again.
>Oh well. You couldn’t blame yourself: you weren’t trained as a TI
>You get up, getting out of his face
>Finding a nice spot on the grass, you stand at attention and yell
FALL IN!
>There’s practically no delay between your command and their falling into formation
>Well, time to make the announcement
You all used a fucking dirty tactic to beat me. What’s more, you STRETCHED my definition of a one-on-one fight and broke ranks without my command. That pisses me off. Because you all learned a lesson I wasn’t trying to teach. REST!
>They all relax, and curious looks fall on their faces
That lesson was to do the unexpected. Even better, you all worked together to fool me, and I can tell you practiced this, probably at night. Trainee Night Ops, as we called them at Basic. I am not proud of you yet. You have not yet earned my respect. But you all have earned that weekend pass.
>There’s no indication on their faces that they heard you, but you can feel their excitement.
>They just got rewarded for being smartasses
>A few moments go by, and it sinks in deeper
>Now they’re beginning to smile
DON’T GET COCKY! You’re going to need more than that to survive the final test tomorrow! Now, it’s only 1010, but take the rest of the day to get prepared for tomorrow. Wash your uniforms, get yourselves mentally ready, and clean yourselves up because tomorrow, you all have a date with destiny. You all pass as a squadron! If one of you fail, you ALL fail! And if you ALL fail, we start Basic training FROM THE BEGINNING! You will be bucking appleless trees if that’s the case! Understood?
>”YES SIR!”
GOOD! SQUADRON, TENCH-HUT!
>They snap to attention
DISMISSED!
>You turn and walk away immediately
>Behind you, there are sounds of a celebration. They’ve earned it, and you’re not going to take it away from them
>You just got your ass handed to you by your trainees
>And despite what you said, you couldn’t be much prouder of them