The basement gym suited Garrett Wang well. It was convenient, in the same building as his office. It was cheap, which suited his finances until he got some major casework finished--right now he was skirting the edge of bankruptcy. And it was rough, which suited his need to work off tensions. He could always find a sparring partner, and often find a fight. Of course, it was also dingy, ill-lit, dirty, and smelly, but to anyone who had used the Chinatown Police Precinct gym, that was almost comfortable.
Wang was almost finished warming up on the wooden man when he heard a voice behind him.
"And how well do you do against someone who's hitting back?"
Wang turned around. Mei Shin stood there with an air of casual confidence. She was dressed in in an eye-opening outfight of bright red silk, trimmed in gold. The high-collared vest accentuated her high bust, while leaving well muscled arms bare. A broad gold sash was tightly fastened around her supple waist, and the close-fitting trousers were tucked into tall black boots
"Miss Li. What a pleasant surprise." Although his voice was polite, and he seemed surprised, it wasn't particularly clear that he was pleased to see her
Taking a step forward, Mei Shin performed a series of slow stretching exercises, her muscles rippling under the tight silk of her clothing. Pausing in the middle of her routine, she glanced up at Wang. "Well? Will you take a challenge from a 'kid'?"
Garrett Wang worked his jaw, looking the young woman up and down. From behind Mei Shin came a wolf-whistle as some of the guys pumping iron noticed her intrusion into the dingy gymnasium.
"That's a very fetching outfit, Miss Li, but it's a little out of place in this gym. What sort of challenge did you have in mind?" His voice was still professional and uninflected.
"A friendly sparring match?" Mei Shin gave Wang a sly smile.
Wang gave her another once over, noticing the well-defined musculature in her trim form. He frowned, but then nodded. "All right. Put on some sweats, I'll get the equipment." He glanced over at the ring, but nobody was in it at the moment
"Sweats?" Mei Shin almost looked indignant, "Is there something wrong with my competition uniform?"
Wang lifted an eyebrow. "If you don't mind it getting dirty. It doesn't bother me."
Mei Shin shrugged, "It's gotten dirty before."
Garrett Wang stepped into an equipment room and grabbed some stuff, carried it over to the ring and pushed it through the ropes. It was two sets of gloves, full face guards, and groin protectors, plus one padded breast band. He pulled of his sweat pants, shoes and socks, standing in shorts and a beat-up old SFPD sweatshirt with the arms cut off. He quickly put on the protective equipment and started stretching out.
Mei Shin picked up the assorted pieces of sparring armor and put them on. Tightening the gloves, she stepped out into the ring, pausing to give Wang a short bow.
Wang returned the bow, keeping his eyes on her as he did so.
As they moved out to the center of the ring, Wang started to circle, hands ready and knees bent, weaving his head slightly. "I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to prove, Miss Li..."
"That I can take care of myself, Mr. Wang." Mei Shin circled slowly, watching her opponent with a gaze that was icily calm.
They circled for a few seconds, then Wang snapped a quick punch towards Mei Shin's stomach. She easily intercepted the blow with a forearm block and spun into a legsweep, knocking Wang's feet out from underneath him and throwing him to the mat.
Wang scissor-kicked as he rolled, catching Mei Shin's leg and throwing her to the ground as he regained his feet.
"Not bad. A bit risky, though, don't you think?"
Mei Shin kipped up to her feet, then flexed her shoulders slightly, "You're quicker than you look."
Wang chuckled. "I'm not sure whether that's a compliment to my fighting or an insult to my looks."
Mei Shin stepped in, feinted a leg strike and followed it with a punch. Wang blocked and tried a joint lock on her wrist, but she avoided his grab and spun into another legsweep, knocking him on his butt.
Before he could roll to his feet she flashed a kick at him, stopping it before it contacted his attempt at a cross-block
Wang sprang to his feet. "That's better," he said
Their fight had been getting attention at the gym, and a couple of large bodybuilders had come over to watch. They had been hooting and making comments, although in the concentration of the fight neither Mei Shin nor Garrett had noticed until now. In the pause of the fight one of the remarks fell clearly and they both heard it.
"... if I get in the ring with _her_, she'll see what a REAL man's got. She'd lick it and like it!"
Garrett Wang turned to look at the speaker, a burly anglo leering against the ropes. Mei Shin also turned to look at the speaker with a slight smile. Slowly and with deliberate care, she cracked her knuckles, seemingly oblivious to the comment
Suddenly she whipped around, grabbing the wrist of another man who had been reaching through the ropes to pinch her ass. They stared eye-to-eye for a moment, and then the weightlifter smiled. "Hey, sweet meat, that ain't some skinny-ass chinaman's arm you're grabbing." He broke her grasp with little effort and started to come through the ropes into the ring
As he reached for her, Mei Shin smacked his groping hands out of line with a forearm block and spun into a snap kick into his ribs. He barely grunted and kept coming in, now joined by a companion coming through the ropes.
The lithe young woman easily ducked under their reaching arms, her boot whipping in to connect with the second man's thigh, then spinning to make an elbow strike into his partner's ribs again.
"Dumb bitch!" The first weightlifter swung a meaty fist at Mei Shin. She easily dodged it, then leaped over the grasping hand of the second man, landing with a foot strike to his shin. Now both men were angry and swinging, but that did them no perceptible good; again Mei Shin easily dodged their clumsy attacks. This time, however, she front-rolled under the second one, coming up underneath him with a vicious strike to his groin. He 'whuffed' as the air left his lungs and made a high-pitched keening sound, cut off abruptly as she continued the roll, leaped up, and kicked him in the kidney, sending him over the ropes to land with an ugly thump on the concrete floor beyond the ring.
The remaining weightlifter threw a huge blow which would have flattened her, if it had landed, but she ducked it, spun, and then flashed a blindingly-fast series of kicks, smacking up his body at his thigh, stomach, arm, and head. His eyes rolled up and he crashed to the mat
Mei Shin spun further, looking for any more attackers.
The weightlifter who had made the first remark was half-lying on the mat, one arm outstretched and the other one clutching the ropes. He was grimacing in pain. Garrett Wang was sitting on his back, holding his arm in what was obviously an agonizing arm-lock, watching Mei Shin.
"Very impressive."
Wang shifted slightly to get a better angle, then cold-cocked his opponent with a punch behind the ear. He stood up and looked around the gym.
"Friends of yours, Mr. Wang?" Mei Shin grinned.
"Oh yes, we drive around together in our pickup trucks all the time," Wang smiled in response.
Leaning back against the ropes, Mei Shin nodded at Wang, "I suppose we could call this match a draw."
Wang shrugged. "As you like. You were the one who wanted to fight, if you remember."
"I also don't suppose you had given any thought to changing your mind?"
Wang glanced at the two bruisers laid out by Mei Shin. "Well, if you were trying to prove that you could defend yourself, you've made your point." He looked Mei Shin up and down again, then frowned. "I tell you what -- let me take a shower and think about it. If you still want the job, come up to my office in half an hour and we can discuss it."
"Really?" Mei Shin exclaimed. "Don't worry, I'll be there!"
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