Day 42: Magus Park [evening]
The temperature was starting to cool down, but that was okay with Akihiko. It wasn't that much different from winter evenings back home. He was feeling better, having been outside most of the day, but still. That niggling stress from the previous few days was still getting to him. He sighed, looking up at the darkening sky and thinking about it all
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Speaking with Lugnut had left Depth Charge feeling a lot better than he’d been feeling in general these da-
Wait just a slagging minute. Speaking with Lugnut had made him feel better? Wow. Now there was something he didn’t realise every day.
Anyway, the point was he’d soothed the alarms in that part of his processor. Now all he needed to do was work on the loudest part. Forte. Two days was a long time when all you could think about was the newest weight on your conscience.
One way of tackling things? Get even, of course. Unfortunately, to do that he needed advice. Fighting advice. His performance on that night had been pathetic; he still wasn’t ready to use a human body in a confrontation. Maybe if he’d been ready things would have been different.
Which was why, forcing a hefty chunk of humble pie down his throat and washing it away with a carton or two of patience, he found himself heading towards the young white-haired boxer he had watched a couple of nights before. "Hey. You're the Boxing Club kid, right?"
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"Yeah," Akihiko said, turning to face the guy from a couple of nights ago. "It's Depth Charge, right?", he asked, wanting to make sure he had the name right. "You holding up all right? You look kind of stressed."
Not that he could blame anyone for that, really. It was this place. It got to everyone in different ways, and it hit some people harder than others. It was just one of those things you had to figure out how to handle.
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Changing the subject before Akihiko could inquire further, he hardened his expression. "I need lessons. Or advice. Anything you can give me to get me used to fighting as a human."
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Well, that was an offer he was more than qualified to take on. "I can do that. We can even get started right now," he said, with a nod.
"The question is where to start. I think that getting you used to how to throw a solid punch, then defend, is a good starting point. The beginning of that is getting a feel for how you should be standing going into a fight."
He dropped into a fighting stance. "Try standing the way I am. The point of the stance being like this is that you can move easily in it, to both attack and defend. You want to keep your fists close to your chest as much as you can, because you don't want to take too many hits to those places. Better that your arms take the hits than your ribs or anything else."
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Looked like he'd be getting the 101 before they moved into anything complicated. He gave a casual nod. "Works for me." He could get over the trauma of taking orders when he wasn't learning how to survive.
Looking his new teacher up and down briefly for reference, Depth Charge mimicked the position as best he could, bending his arms loosely towards his chest as Akihiko directed. 'Ribs' were internal struts in humans, right? Somehow the idea of something breaking 'em wasn't exactly an appealing one. "Like this?"
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"Now, the thing to remember is that you don't want to leave yourself open in a fight, and you don't want to tense up too much. If you lock your knees - " he paused to demonstrate what that looked like - "you find that it's harder to get out of that lock later. The same goes for locking your arms into place."
So far, so good. Akihiko grinned at Depth Charge. "Once you think you've got the hang of that, we'll move on to how to throw a punch."
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Something still didn’t quite feel right, though- maybe he was leaning too far forward? Five days as a human and it was still pretty easy to forget that he didn’t have a set of metal fins folded on his back to compensate for anymore.
A few moments of experimentation with the lean of his body and he gave a grim smile. “Alright then. Lay it on me, kid.”
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That was enough of the reminiscing, though. Now it was time to get to the heart of things. "OK. There are four basic types of punches you can throw - the jab, the hook, the straight, and the uppercut." He demonstrated throwing each of them as he named them off. "The trick with all of them is that you always want to be prepared to do something with the hand you're not immediately using to punch."
Akihiko demonstrated, throwing a straight right and following it up with a left hook. "Like that - the way I moved my shoulders there when I threw the straight made it easier for me to swing my left arm around for the hook." He shifted stances again, bringing both hands up to his chest. "OK. Try a few of the short punches - the jabs - first. They're going to be one of your staple punches. And don't worry about hurting me when you do it."
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Forcing his attention back to the matter at hand, he fixed his eyes on Akihiko's hands- jab, hook, straight, uppercut. All very controlled and very precise. Ah. Just the kid's luck to have found a student with serious management issues, huh? Well, until he'd learned the basics of using a human body the right way, beserking wasn't going to cut it. The Maximal made a short mental note on each punch and nodded again. "Four types of punches, keep the free hand ready. Got it."
And now it was time for the real deal. The kid needn't have worried- as far as Depth Charge was concerned, if he was as good as he seemed to be there wouldn't be a problem. Flexing his fingers briefly, he balled his left hand and punched straight out in front of him, glancing just a little off of Akihiko's forearm. Then the right, then the left again, a little harder than was probably necessary. The release from just a few short movements was startlingly invigorating; it had been far too long since he'd had something to work out his aggression with. Snap decisions and snarled insults weren't exactlt good for the spark.
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"OK. Now try a few combinations. This is where you really get to figure out your own style," he continued. "Some boxers prefer to stay up close to their opponent and stick with the closer jabs. Others like to keep their opponent at a distance, dodging and then striking strategic blows when they can. And other people mix those two. I can't tell you which one's the best one to use."
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"Combinations," he repeated back, "gotcha." Tightening his fists again, he sized Akihiko up, considered his options (jab, hook, straight, uppercut...) and went for it. A jab with his left hand, followed up with a hook from his right, and then-
- the next thing Depth Charge knew he was on his knees getting better acquainted with the grass. He cursed under his breath and gave the ground a surly punch, for good measure. "Slag it. I keep forgetting I'm not as heavy as I used to be." Looked like throwing his weight around wasn't gonna be an option. Not on those spindly legs...
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He rubbed at one arm absentmindedly. It didn't hurt, not really - and just the fact he'd been working out some of that frustration he'd had earlier felt pretty good. It was reminding him of why he'd started training the way he had. I've got people here to protect. And if I can help other people do the same thing, that's worth doing.
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"Not sure. Could be anywhere from eight hundred to well over a thousand pounds." Add to that the transmetal treatment he got before he landed on Earth and you had yourself a bona fide mystery. He made a thoughtful tutting sound and shook his head. "Whatever it was, I was pretty much all metal before. This body's nothing in comparison."
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He looked away for a moment, catching sight of a few nurses in the area. Well, probably good they'd taken the short break, lest they get wrapped up with them. They could pick up with punching once the nurses had settled down whoever it was they were after.
"OK. I think something that might help you would be figuring out how to keep your center of gravity balanced. You don't need to compensate for the weight difference as much as work out its advantages. Was your height different, too, or are you about the same height as you were before?"
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That was it. The nanoklik he started to talk about 'fleshlings' and fell on his knees in hysterical worship every time someone said the word 'Megatron' he was going to have to find an energon scalpel to fall on. Stat.
Coughing, Depth Charge returned to the matter of height very quickly indeed. "The height's a lot closer than the weight- guess I'm about a foot smaller at most." He smiled wryly. "Got any ideas, coach?" Akihiko's new 'title' was thrown on the end with a level of humour that surprised even himself. Hah. He must have been enjoying this more than he thought he was.
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He hummed thoughtfully, thinking about the situation and grinning just a little at the name 'coach'. "All right. Try that combination again, but first balance the weight between both sides of your body." He demonstrated by moving from one foot to the other and then centering again.
"Once you're sure about that, then try it. Don't lean in with your shoulders too much, and don't tense. You shouldn't need to worry about the height difference too much, though it might help to drop your shoulders a little."
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