Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

The moment Morales dropped on the ground unconscious, there was a momentary silence before cheers erupted from all around us.

The final hook went straight for Morales' jaw, shaking his brain in the process, making him lose control and consciousness. Everyone thought Artem made a perfect counter by changing the trajectory of Morales punch but that right hook headed for him brushed a part of his head. No one could notice it right now but his body was leaning on the ropes.

I immediately called for medical assistance to check Morales first and I took the time to approach them and raise Artem's arm.

"Ah- do you have to?" Artem grimaced as he leaned on me.

"It's mandatory, just doing my job. Wanna fight now? I'll give you the first hit." I chuckled.

"Fuck me, can I have a drink first? Not one of those your old man gave me."

"The hidden rule of this compound, never accept any drinks from that old dude. I've been burned so many times that- here they come."

"Ah, my head is spinning."

"Yeah, that happens if you took shots to the head willingly."

I felt his whole body leaning even more on me but his team soon came up to the ring to support him. Mikhail was carrying Artem effortlessly but he threw him over to Katya feigning he had to do something quickly.

"MIKHAIL!!!" Katya exclaimed, fuming yet embarrassed.

"Ah, I forgot some blinker fluid and I need to feed my pet cactus..."

"What?!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

I let them have their own moment first as I approached the rest of Morales' team wearing different expressions. Some of them were unwilling, pissed, excited, somber, but a few were sport about it.

This kind of thing would be unavoidable but I got just the solution.

"If you want to have revenge or another go, we could do this sort of thing every week or two. Of course, the wagers are still on from my side as long as you bring something to increase the pool. However, a few rules will be changed and we would be doing it with more regulations with the moves used. We're here to kill those fuckers outside, not beat each other to death. I just let the two have a go at it to bury the hatchet, hopefully."

They gave looks of excitement and understanding though there were still some of them who were sour. It was understandable because they would be coming back with several losses on their belt and several items lost on the wager. The way I would go about this was the next time we do this, they would be betting against the person they would be fighting against though I would be taking a small percentage to increase the prize pool.

'I'm gonna slowly have these events like what Mr. Cuervo is doing… Less deadly though… I'm gonna find a way to have the people from the Intercity involved too...'

It took some time before everything settled down and I let Morales and his team stay in this place to spend the night. The bulk of his team would be giving proper accommodation in the DDR Camp or even Woodlands but I gave Morales the option of checking out my compound the moment he was brought back to consciousness.

"What would be the difference?" Morales replied, slightly pissed while looking at me.

"None actually, I'm just extending an offer because I'm a great host. You could do whatever you want, I'm not forcing you to do anything." I replied, raising my hands up.

"You're really one uptight motherfucker, aren't you? You're gonna come with me to drink because I lost a really important bet with this kid. I'm not the only one receiving Oscar's gloating. Iskoh, you're coming as well! Let your wife spend some time with her brother more!" Rod came up from behind us.

"But sir-"

"It's an order."

"...understood."

"Why am I included?!" Iskoh was losing his mind.

"You lost a ship, that's why! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

We eventually drove back with everyone and I didn't forget about Kaley. The rest went on their own ways but the two of us were alone in the gym. Our guns were placed by the side of the wall but our blades were right in front of us. She was nervously waiting for me to start but I just smiled and calmed her down.

"Why are you so tense? Breathe." I said as I chuckled.

"Then stop looking at me like that!"

"Like what?"

"I dunno how to explain it! It's like I'm walking naked while everyone's looking at me!"

"What~? You just explained it."

"Hngh~ Not like- fine! Fwoo~" Kaley closed her eyes to breathe deeply then she turned her eyes towards me once more.

"Okay, do the basic movements first."

"Okay..."

Kaley started with the first thing I taught her and it was movements for guiding your blade into the form of an asterisk. It represented the basic ways a weapon could travel in close quarters and she did it with just a slight bit of nervousness.

"Okay, good. Do it with your other left hand."

"Huh? I- Okay… it's not as good but here it goes."

As soon as Kaley performed the movements from her left hand, the form immediately suffered and she looked at me embarrassedly. However, I just chuckled and waved her off, telling her the progress she already made these few couple months was already monstrous. To move forward, I made her do the flower pattern I showed her before.

It was performed by moving your blade in one swift motion, following the path of the asterisk but without any abrupt turns. The gentle curves would appear by the end of each path, looping around to get back to the first path. The challenge here was to keep the image of the flower perfect on all eight sides without any overlap or extension.

Kaley did it perfectly then she looked at me.

"How about the one I showed you?" Kaley asked, correcting her breathing.

"Do this one first 10 more times."

"Ten? O-Okay..."

"Now do the other one."

"Just once or-"

"Ten times as well."

"O-Okay..."

As I carefully looked at her movements, the pattern started to lose symmetry from each abrupt turn the more she did it. The abrupt turns were represented by a point right before the gentle curve, adding more details to the flower petals. Despite that, she kept on it, continuing on until I asked her to do more repetitions over and over.

"Ah!" Kaley exclaimed after the 23rd cycle, clutching her hand.

"Okay, stop for a moment. Good work, wait for the sting to pass. It would hurt more if you try to force it." I said as I took my wakizashi away from her hands.

"Wait, what's the purpose of that?"

"Flowers in Full Bloom." I replied, smiling.

"Full Bloom?"

"Yep, Full Bloom."

"Is that what you call the technique?"

"One of them, yes… why?"

"Sounds kinda cheesy..."

"..." my heart dropped.

"I'm joking! I'm joking! Sky! I'm joking!"

"..."

"I'm sorry, okay? I thought it would sound different..."

"You watched anime, right?! RIGHT?!"

"Wh-Wha- I watched some with you, why?"

"It's subbed, right?! RIGHT?!"

"Y-Yeah, what's your point? Why are your eyes so wide?!"

"When does a fucking direct translation sound cool?! Just- wait here, okay?! I'm gonna grab a camera!!!" I exclaimed as I rushed outside.

"A c-camera?! What?"

The moment I opened the door, Tatiana, Rin, Cynthia, Micah, Vera, Daisy, and Natasha were actually spying on us with a camera I was looking for. I snatched it in front of their eyes as I planted it in the middle of the gym, directly pointing at me. As soon as I changed it to the proper settings, I breathed deeply then I moved.

'Mankai no Hana...'

I moved much faster than Kaley did but I performed the proper movements. The petals were perfect the first time but they slowly morphed into something different after each complete cycle. I did three repetitions before I paused and did three more in front of the camera. As soon as I was done, I placed the camera in front of Kaley with a pout.

"Play it."

"Umm- O-Okay..."

"Play everything first then watch it frame by frame, check each one."

"O-Okay..."

Kaley picked up the camera and she looked at the first one. It would be hard to notice it the first time but I saw a twitch in her eyebrow. Her eyes changed the moment she noticed the differences from each one and I was just staring at her face that was glued to the screen of the camera for several minutes. She kept on switching back and forth with two frames and then doing the same thing with a different set of frames once more.

Kaley's eyebrows were still scrunched as I kept glaring at the others outside trying to come in but she finally put the camera down and looked at me with a glint in her eye, "How?"

"Want to see a clearer view?"