Part 3: Recover

Third part in the series of short stories written by LFNPark

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Part 3: Recover

Left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Straight.

The punching bag shook with every blow, violently twitching in response. The massive woman held her hands back for a moment, growling in frustration as she adjusted her footing.

The blows weren’t striking where she wanted; often her fists overshot the bag or missed all together. She let loose another flurry, and again she found herself falling short and losing her balance trying to overcorrect…

Again she growled, the sound echoing in the empty gymnasium. It was early morning….earlier than usual, but sleep had evaded her much like the punching bag was. Raising it higher had been a chore as it wasn’t meant for someone over 7 feet tall, but Maki had obliged her.

She reached for the bag to steady herself and fell short, dropping to her knees on the hard floor.

The caramel giant bellowed in frustration, cursing the bandage still over her right eye...not that it mattered.

Even if the bandage wasn’t there….I still couldn’t see out of a non-existent eye.

She’d been warned the adjustment would be hard. Her depth perception was gone...the words were easy to say, but the reality was far more difficult to comprehend.

The giant sat back, curling her massive legs to her chest and resting her head against her knees. Her side ached slightly, especially where the knife had pierced her breast….

“Useless.” She murmured, clenching her wrapped fists.

“Hardly.” The voice cut through the silence of the gym like a chill breeze in summer. She turned her head, and saw her savior walking towards her.

The olive-skinned Maki strolleed towards the sitting giant, her hips swaying gently in a red robe tied loosely at her waist. Bare feet left no sound as she crossed the distance, hazel eyes looking down on her.

“It’s far too early for this, darling, and the doctor said to stick to the physical therapy for now.” Her voice clucked in disapproval as she folded her arms over her large breasts.

The giantess remained quiet, keeping her head against her knees and her gaze stubbornly away from Maki’s.

“Such a stubborn ass.” Maki sighed, crouching next to the larger woman. “Look at me, dear.” Again the caramel giant refused.

“If you think I’ll eject you from the island just because you won’t look at me when I speak to you? Darling, you are underestimating my tenacity.” Mak chuckled. Again, she was met with no response.

Maki sighed, running a hand through her disheveled hair.

“You’ve only been in the states for a few weeks. Your stab wound isn’t even fully healed, let alone your ribs. You can’t be doing this yet.” Maki sat down next to her, rubbing her face. “You’ve been surly and short with the nurses and the therapists, while we’re at it. My charges are well-trained and attend medical school like everyone else, so I don’t appreciate you throwing tables at them. There’s lots of money invested there, darling, let alone the unprofessionalism you’re demonstrating.”

Maki took a deep breath as the silence persisted.

“Look, darling--”

“Just kill me.” Her baritone cut off Maki. The smaller girl sighed, taking a moment to contemplate her response.

“Why?” Maki asked, leaning backwards to lay on the cold concrete.

“You’re a Master. All are killers.” The giant said simply, head still against her knees.

“I’ll not deny it; I’ve had to do some murderous things.” Maki said slowly, closing her eyes in thought. “I’m not happy when I have to resort to it, but I can’t maintain my reputation and power with sunshine and bubbles, darling. Too many depend on me.”

“You’ll kill me eventually. Do it now.” The amazon murmured.

“Why? Because you think you’re useless?” Maki sighs, reaching into a pocket in her robe. She withdrew a small silver case and withdrew a cigarette from it. “Darling, you’d have to hit me before I consider killing you.”

Maki gave the woman credit; for being over seven feet she could move quickly. She saw the large woman pounce towards her from her sitting position in one fluid motion. Maki rolled to one side as the amazon’s hands clawed at where she’d been, quickly crouching as she watched the giant growl in frustration. Her robe had come loose, revealing her black nightgown beneath the red silk.

“Really? This is sad.” Maki slid the cigarette between her lips as she stood slowly. The giantess’ growl rumbled through the gymnasium as she stood, fists clenched tightly as she towered over the smaller woman.

Maki saw her swings coming and avoided them with ease, ducking under them or sidestepping them as she casually pulled a lighter from her other pocket.

She’s still not figured out how to compensate without depth perception…. Indeed, many of her swings fell short of Maki without her even moving.

The giantess paused, her breathing heavy as she clutched her side after overextending on a swing.

“You’re right; you’re useless as a fighter right now. You’re injured...slowed, even..” Maki flicks the lighter, producing a flame to ignite the end of her cigarette. The caramel woman growled in frustration and dashed towards Maki once more. With casual ease Maki stepped inside the giants swing and gave her a light jab into her tender ribs with the tips of her fingers. The large woman gasped and stepped back, clutching her side again.

“I love your fire, darling. You’re a fighter. That’s why you want me to kill you.” Maki dropped the lighter back into her pocket, curling her fingers around another object within as she took a long drag from the cigarette. “You feel despair, betrayal, distrust…”

“Quiet.” The large woman moved again, swinging a massive kick at the smaller girl. Maki sidestepped behind the punching bag, blowing a cloud of smoke into the air.

“You’re angry. Angry at your old Master. Angry at yourself. Angry at the world. Angry at me. Pretty much just angry, darling.” Maki sighed boredly, taking another drag of her cigarette as the woman swung again. Maki simply stepped away, letting her fist strike the bag.

“The problem is you can’t simply punch this problem away, dear. You can’t even let a Master deal with it. This is the most personal of battles.” Maki continues sidestepping each of the amazon’s swings with casual ease until she stops, her breathing heavy and sides on fire with each breath.

“What you want is the coward’s escape.” The giantess’ face curled into a snarl as she bellowed in frustration. She lunged at Maki, and this time the smaller woman didn’t not move as she leaves the cigarette hanging between her lips. Maki stepped forward, catching the amazon’s left arm with both hands and ducking underneath it, twisting it behind the larger girls back while jamming her heel into the back of her knee. The large girl fell to one knee, her arm pulled painfully behind her back with her wrist nearly between her shoulder blades. She froze when she felt Maki press something cold and metallic against her neck.

“Sweet girl, you’re not the only one on this island that knows how to fight. Were you at full fitness, it would be up to fate and my wits for I could not match you physically. As you are now? No contest.” Maki’s voice was pure ice, sending chills up the larger woman’s spine. “I’m not giving you an easy out. You’d rather me kill you because that’s how you’re trained; you don’t fear death when it’s against someone else….but alone? In the quiet moments where there is no opponent but yourself? Well. That’s another matter, isn’t it? That’s so much harder...” Maki pulled at her arm, eliciting a grunt of pain from the amazon.

“So easy to die in battle rather than stand and face yourself. What a coward.” Maki kicked the woman’s other leg, driving her down to the concrete. “I expect better from you.”

“Why?” The woman gasped, her face twisted as it was mashed against the concrete floor.

“Because you are magnificent, whether you realize it or not.” Maki released the arm, letting the woman push herself on to her hands and knees. 

Maki sighs and releases the object that had been pressed against the woman's neck. The metal writing pen clatters down next to the prone girls hand.

“If you wish to end it, use it. I’ll not do it for you. You know anatomy; enough pressure with this through your carotid and you’ll die quickly.” Maki knelt down in front of the girl, grinding her cigarette into the concrete floor. The larger woman shakily picked up the pen, sitting back on her haunches as she stared at it with her cyclopean eye. She didn’t know when she started crying, but she could feel tears sliding down her cheek.

“Well?” Maki asked, staring at her. The smaller girl moved closer, her knee’ almost touching the larger woman’s as she locked gazes with her. “I told you back in that locker room; sometimes there is no choice. There definitely is one here; you take that pen, shove it into your neck, and I watch you bleed out, or you toss it aside and face your pain.”

The amazon stared at the pen; its sleek silver case with the sharp nib at the end for the ink to flow. It would be nothing to drive it through flesh….Her hand shook as she started to close her fingers around it. The tremble traveled down her caramel arm as she tried to raise it to her neck, her eye shut tightly.

So much easier….

The pen clattered to the floor as she pitched forward. Maki caught her, cradling her as the giantess pressed her face into the red robe with gutwrenching sobs.

“Shhhh. It’s okay, darling. It doesn’t feel like it now, but I believe you will recover. You’ll be stronger and wiser than before...you will be even more magnificent than you are now.” Maki whispered, running her hand through the larger woman’s hair as she sobbed.