New Joint Project - Ch 2 (chapter after prologue)

Here's the next chapter of the joint project. Thoughts? Going to be in the Rift Wars universe.  

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A jab nearly hit Luke in the face, but he dodged right and countered with a parry and then a knee to the opponent’s midsection. His sparring buddy, Gerald, let out a grunt and then turned, ready for another strike. 

Luke stepped back in, assessing his opponent for openings. He went for a front push kick. Gerald swept it aside easily, then laughed through his mouthpiece before bringing in the sweep kick that sent Luke to his ass. Luke was ready for the larger man to come down on top of him, but turned his attention upward at a creaking sound. The sound of metal grinding on metal followed, and something moved up there. 

Gerald noticed it too, backing up and giving a muffled shout as a large metal object fell. It nearly crushed Luke’s head, missing by only an inch, and landed so heavily on the floor that it caused him to bounce off the mat slightly. Luke instantly rolled out of the way, pushing himself to his feet as he stared in shock. Right there on the mat sat a large AC unit. It had nearly killed him. 

“What the hell’s going on?” the manager asked, stepping out from behind the sales desk. He was a buff Latino named Felix, and generally a nice guy. Now, though, Luke was pissed and couldn’t look him in the eye.

Felix froze at the sight, then ran over to check on the two fighters.

Gerald removed his mouthguard. “Dude, you must have some serious guardian angel action going on to avoid that. I mean, your head could be mush right now.”

Luke took out his mouthguard as well, his hand shaking as he did so. “You’re telling me.”

He stared in shock at the AC unit for another few seconds before realizing that Felix was asking if he was okay, staring at him with wide, frightened eyes—the type one gets when worried about a lawsuit.

“I’m happy to be alive,” Luke said, then headed for the locker room. He’d only been halfway through his Saturday-morning routine but couldn’t see himself taking much more action at the moment. 

He paused halfway there, glancing up at the ceiling where the AC unit had fallen. Another movement. He squinted, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Something had moved up there. Maybe a face in the shadows… a guardian angel? Yes, he was definitely shaken. 

He chuckled nervously to himself and kept going, heading for the showers.

To his relief, the locker room was unoccupied. It was better this way, having nobody around to see him shaking as he undressed, or see the way he stood under the hot water of the shower, letting it cascade over him, washing his worries and fright away. 

For fuck’s sake, he could’ve died. He had been training for quite some time now, and could take all the punches, knees, and kicks his opponents threw at him. What he wasn’t ready for was AC units falling from the roof. The steam was hot and heavy, making it hard to see around him. Or maybe his eyes were blurry, he wasn’t sure.

A figure moved nearby, and he glanced up to see who it was. Nobody there. It happened again, but this time he swore the shape of a nude woman moved through the steam. It parted for her, circling her limbs and caressing her perfect form.

“Excuse me, you can’t be in here,” Luke called, but then rubbed his eyes because he didn’t see her anymore. He stepped away from the shower, eyes scouring the misty locker room, then saw her again. “Oh, shit, am I in the women’s locker room?”

Luke blinked, staring at the woman for a moment as he lost himself, forgetting that he was naked, but completely aware of her nudity. She was stunning. The steam in the room made it seem like her skin was almost glowing silver. Perky breasts with pink little nipples drew him to attention. Her eyes roamed down, reminding him of his nudity and arousal.

“No need to apologize. It was a simple mistake,” the woman said. Her eyes rose to his and she grinned wide.

Luke covered himself with his hands, feeling the warmth creep into his cheeks. “Seriously, I don’t know how I made that… mistake.”

“Maybe it was fate?”

He expelled a heavy sigh, nodded to her, and walked toward the exit. Hearing her giggles as he exited, he almost wanted to go back and take her in his arms, kiss her, and ask her name. Instead, he looked around the training room and wondered what he should do now. 

Even more so when he realized all eyes were on him, half the room covering their mouths and giggling. The others were staring in shock and horror. Felix gave him a humored and slightly interested smile. Gerald jogged over, eyes wide.

“Dude, what are you doing?” Gerald gestured to the locker room that Luke had exited.

Luke glanced down, realizing he had stopped covering himself and was nude in front of all these people. He glanced back at the locker room. Sure enough, it was the men’s locker room.

“I… I don’t know.” Luke allowed Gerald to usher him back through the door. Same locker room as before, still full of steam. No sign of the woman, though. “There was a woman in here, I swear.”

“So, you figured you’d walk into the main room naked?” Gerald asked. “Dude, you must be really shaken up. But still, I mean… You need a drink or something?”

Luke shook his head, chuckled, and laughed. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Seriously, if you need a lift or something…” Gerald was staring at him like he was crazy, or needed pity, and it was starting to get on Luke’s nerves.

“No, I got it.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I think I need to clear my mind.” Luke grabbed a towel and started to dry himself off as Gerald exited, leaving Luke to glance over his shoulder as he wondered if he would see another sign of that woman. 

He dressed as he mused about what had happened. It didn’t make sense. Could he possibly be that shaken? He’d never hallucinated nude women before, although it wasn’t the worst sort of hallucination.

He exited when he was done, trying to ignore the glances from everyone in the gym as he made his way outside. The cool night breeze of Bethesda, Maryland hit him like a kick in the face. He hadn’t realized how chilly it would be out here but stuck to his guns as he ignored his motorcycle and turned right to go for a walk. 

However, not two steps later, a bright light grabbed his attention and the scent of burning rubber followed. Someone shouted. A motorcycle slammed into him, knocking him to the street. Pain shot up his spine, through his skull, and spread throughout his body. All he could see was red blotches. He blinked while catching his breath and tried to push himself up. 

Standing, he came face-to-face with a man in a biker jacket who was holding his helmet and yelling at him. The guy was shouting about carelessness and asking what sort of idiot walked the road without looking. Luke was pissed. He had already gone through too much that day to stand there and take that.

He didn’t issue a threat. Instead, he slammed a punch into the guy’s chest, yanked the guy’s helmet from his hands, and swung it in a strike against the man’s jaw. The man staggered backward, fell to his ass, and groaned.

Luke dropped the helmet, wondering what the hell he had done.

Weirder than his loss of temper, he was certain he had seen a screen pop up in his vision. Only there for a second, it had been off to the side, showing an experience point bar like in video games. Damn, after the woman in the shower and now this, he had to be seeing things. Clearly, he needed more rest.