Page 47 of The Explorer
“Whoa, did you see that?” Alex turned to Banni, who stood biting his nails.
The Gorilla shook his shoulders and took a fighting position again, this time less playful. Pushing his tongue against his cheek, he scowled at her.
Fueled with the classic need to show this woman that she couldn’t beat someone as mighty as him, he attacked again – this time with sound and force.
Aubri could have simply moved out of his way, but she was clearly in the mood to show these people that she was a next-level warrior. Using his momentum, she acted like he was an oncoming vehicle and jumped up and rolled over him. He looked like he’d never seen anything like it and turned to catch her. I chuckled at her showmanship when Aubri stayed down in a frog position with one leg stretched to the side. She looked up at him with her head tilted as if his rage was a mystery to her.
Another attack had him on his back with a howl of frustration. It was like watching a cat play with a mouse. She never attacked him but waited for him to do all the work while she gave an excellent demonstration in blocking techniques.
“It’s like she knows what he’s going to do before he does it,” Alex said in awe.
I laughed. “That guy fights in slow motion so it’s not that hard.”
Both Banni and Alex stared at me.
“I’m serious. The kids at my local school could take that guy. He’s all muscle and no technique. Don’t you have fight schools here?”
“We have wrestling and martial arts, but those disciplines are strictly regulated. Underground fighting like this is illegal because there are no rules.”
The Gorilla’s fans were shouting demands at him to take Aubri down, and the poor man’s skin had turned red from anger and exhaustion while his bushy chest was glistening with sweat.
Unlike the Gorilla, who was arguing with the audience, Aubri kept her focus on her opponent when Banni called out to her. “Keep going, Aubri, you’re doing great.”
“She’s in a bubble, she won’t hear you,” I told him.
“How did she get to be this good?”
“This? This is nothing. You haven’t seen her fight yet. All she’s doing so far is block his attacks. Aubri is the daughter of a legendary fighter called Magni Aurelius. Her brothers Mason and Solomon are equally phenomenal so it’s not so strange that she has the same gene.”
“I wish I could be that good,” Banni muttered with his eyes glued to my young grasshopper, who moved fast and smiled as if this was playtime for her.
“If you want, Aubri and I could teach you.”
“Are you as good as her?”
With a smug smile, I crossed my arms. “I’m better.”
“How is that even possible?” The admiration in Banni’s voice made me warm up to him.
“We have different styles. She jumps and kicks more than I do, but that’s because I have sufficient force in my arms to knock you out if I want to.”
Just then, the Gorilla charged Aubri again with a roar of humiliation. The fight had been going on for a while with the man about to collapse from all the times he’d been kicked to the ground. This time, Aubri took mercy on him and ended the fight with a flying kick that made his head whip to the side and blood spray out on some of the audience members.
Alex, Val, and Banni screamed with joy and ran to congratulate Aubri on her win.
I stayed where I was, watching others try to wake up the Gorilla, who lay knocked out on the ground. When he moved his hand, I sighed with relief because the last thing we needed was for Aubri to be accused of murder.
When the squad came toward me, Aubri was smiling. “What did you think?”
“What’s wrong with your hands? Aren’t they working?”
She laughed.
“I’m serious. I felt like you were back at the school teaching a class on how to block with your legs and never touch your opponent.”
“Did you see how sweaty he was? I’m sorry, but I didn’t want all that sweat on my hands or body.”
Lifting my hand, my face softened as I ran a finger down her cheekbone. “You did great, grasshopper, but then I knew you would.”
