A Pounding Headache: Typical Way to start the Day (Open, Semi-Mature Content in First Post)

Noelle rolled over and slammed the snooze button on her alarm clock, groaning in annoyance. The lack of heat in her bed made her purse her lips, and when her eyes finally adjusted to the light in the room she confirmed that her date from last night had left. She let out a hiss of pain at the pounding in her head, pulling herself out of bed. She only had a half hour to get ready. After showering, quickly putting on only the most necessary parts of her makeup, and forgoing breakfast in place of a few pills of aspirin, she hurried from her apartment to make her way to the Academy. It took her a good five minutes to get there, and the sun in her eyes certainly didn't help her headache, but finally she made it to her classroom, heading to the front desk and falling into it, letting out another groan before checking to see who was already there.

Stephen was bored. Oh so very bored. His boredom, in fact, was so great, that if he could sell his boredom, he would be able to make a living for himself. He was sitting on his bench in the college style classroom, or better yet, he was laying face-down trying to regain some of the sleep he lost. Sometimes he wished he had the nerve to throw his cellphone out into an open lake, but if he did that, his girlfriend would come to visit instead of annoying him in the wee hours of the morning.

All of the people around him were fuzzy, making them look like civilized little trolls, obediently waiting for the teacher to return. None of them at a glance were interesting or special in any way, just a normal group of boring kids whom he had to sit through a SUPER boring class with. Thing is, Stephen was already almost qualified to graduate from the academy, even though this was his first year, but three special classes got in his way, this one being "Self-Defense 101". "Oh goody me, I have to sit through another easy class with a bunch of lifeless sacks of dull... wonderful." Usually, Stephen was one of the nicest guys around, but only if he got his proper rest.

As Stephen lay there in a daze, the teacher finally showed up, stumbling into the classroom and dropping exhaustedly into her desk. He couldn't help but let out a slight giggle, after all, she did look kind of sloppy. "Heya Hot Stuff, you wake up on the wrong side of the bed too?" Saying something like that to a teacher could get you suspended, but Stephen didn't care. He was going to pass at the top of the class even if he got suspended for a few days.

Rage walked into this now very zesty classroom. "Nice try kid." He said, walking over to Noelle's desk. "I could hear your ego on the other side of the door!" He said, letting out quick chuckle as he looked at Stephan. He grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to the desk and stared at Noelle. "You're a new teacher aren't you?" Rage took a sip of his coffee he had been holding. "I'm psychic or anything. I can just tell. All the new teachers have the same look. Tired, pissed, and dropped up on aspirin."

She first shot Stephen a look, then cast her glare in Rage's direction. "I'm not new, I'm just tired as all hell. Been teaching here for 2 years, assisting for 3. That's 5 years of working here." That said, she reclined in her chair, watching the clock as it, at least to her, agonizingly ticked towards the beginning of class.

Stephen stared at his red-headed accomplice and chuckled uncontrollably. Of course, this being his first day in this class, Stephen had never seen the kid before, but he figured they would get along just fine. "So, teach. What are we learning today?" Stephen laughed at himself on the inside, it was really fun to pick on the teachers, he would have to partake in these shenanigans more often. "Or, instead of learning something, we could have nap time! You look like you could use one, Mrs. Hangover." How could he tell she was in pain? Stephen was a master at people skills and could tell immediately that she was HAMMERED last night.

"That's Ms. Hangover, short stop. And why don't you come down since you're so eager to make nice. You're going to be my volunteer for our first lesson." She groaned, covering her eyes at the fluorescent lights.

Stephen stood up from his chair, half reluctantly, half gratefully, and strode over to the front of the room, giving the red-head a glance as he passed. "Okay then. What can I do for you babe? I certainly hope you got something fun cooked up for me."

She stood slowly, shaking some at first, and then standing solidly. She curled her hand into a fist, letting out a sigh and closing her eyes. Then, opening them suddenly, she slammed the bottom of her fist squarely into his stomach, putting most of her strength behind the blow.

Stephen was standing there, smirking at the teacher like a cocky prick, when all of a sudden, something slammed into that sweet spot right above the stomach and below the sternum. The little pocket of tissue that bears no protection of the lungs behind. "GUH?!" The object, a slender fist, seemingly made of iron, protruded from his abdomen. The wind was released from his lungs and Stephen fell to a knee, struggling to regain his breath. A single, bitter tear streamed down his left cheek and plopped onto the floor, an involuntary action after taking such a blow. One could tell, this lady wasn't someone you should mess with... he only figured that out a few seconds too late. "Nice shot sweet cheeks, I'll give you a point there for pulling one on me." After regaining his breath, he strained out a sentence as he struggled to right himself in a standing position. If it wasn't for his dislike of hitting girls, they would have gone at it. "That all you got? Or you got some more in you?"

She didn't bother looking towards him, instead holding her fist up to the class. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is referred to as a hammer fist. Contrary to a punch, it can allow much more power, and in a vital situation could save your live. As oppose to the forward momentum of a punch, this allows you more force be swinging your elbow or your arm." She glanced over at Stephen, smirking some. "And as you've witnessed, it is readily capable of stopping an opponent in their tracks."

Noelle was standing there, with what Stephen thought was a look of triumph on her face. Having just surprise attacked her student, she was awfully calm. No matter how much he hated it though, she did just give him a decisive punch. "Say teach, how about you and I have a little sparring match to demonstrate some true martial arts? I'm sure everyone would love to see how one of their own would hold up against Ms. Hammerfist." With this woman, Stephen wasn't sure if he'd whoop her ass, or get his handed to him on a silver platter. Regardless, a fight would be more fun than a boring lecture.

She raised a brow, looking back at him. "You've got balls, I'll give you that. But I know I just cleared your lungs of a good bit of air. You sure you wanna try me?"

Stephen looked at the high-and-mighty teacher and released a snort of challenge. "C'mon teach, you know a cheap shot demonstration is not enough to scare me away. Besides, a little 1 v. 1 is more thrilling than sitting through a boring lecture." Stephen stuck out his knuckle in-between Noelle and he, prompting a friendly knuckle touch. "Show me what you got, Ms. Hammerfist."

She shrugged his gesture off, moving to one side of the room. She cracked her knuckles and her neck, and then removed her yellow tee, leaving her in nothing but her bra and a black camisole. "Right then..." She adopted a standard fisticuffs stance, watching her opponent. "Don't expect me to go easy on you. This isn't going to end until one of us is on the floor."

Stephen stared at his teacher dumbfounded. First off, she wants to fight in a classroom?! There is a training ground, so that isn't allowed. Secondly, she just stripped in front of him, revealing her well-developed bosom... THAT'S SO HOT!!! "WOAH THERE COUGAR!!! As much as I'd love to see your junk swing in our classroom, that isn't allowed. Let's take a field trip to the sparring area in the training grounds, okay?"

"How about you just get ready to get your ass whooped. People fight in this room all the time. Hell, get a UV light and you'll probably find a fair amount of blood splatters. This room would likely look like a Jackson Pollock painting." She rolled her shoulders, keeping her eyes on Stephen, unyielding.

"Alrighty then babe, as per man code, ladies first!" Stephen readied himself in a stance. In reality, it wasn't a stance, but rather a position that maximized defensive capability and reactionary time. Stances are so irrelevant. They make you move slower, and desire that you react by strict movements. No-stance combat is the most advanced, most difficult to master art there is. It's sort of like the Drunken Fist without the requirements of being slam drunk.

Noelle furrowed her brows, taking first one, then two, then three quick steps towards him. She stopped there, still several feet away from him. She bobbed from one foot to the next, looking like a boxer in her movements. She kept her distance from him, still trying to figure out the best way to proceed.

Stephen stood still as a tiger, waiting for the perfect moment when his prey took a move. His hands were lax, not scrunched up into a fist and his arms were dulled, waiting to pulse to life in a swing which moved inhumanly fast. Most people would excuse him for a novice at this point, but Noelle was moving like Bruce Lee in "Return of the Dragon", watching for a fault in his stance, sadly, she will not find one. Noelle was certainly an expert in hand-to-hand combat, but was she as good as his teacher?

Noelle let out a slow breath through her nose, keeping her eyes locked closely on Stephen. She allowed a smirk to replace her scowl, softly chuckling. "Having a good time?"

Stephen considered Noelle's words for a moment, not daring to lose focus, and replied with a short but effective statement. "Perhaps, though I would like to get started" Seeing that things were going nowhere fast, Stephen decided to try a facade. He shifted his right foot forward slightly and raised up his hands half an inch. This made him look more vulnerable, when he really had given no extra ground as far as a perfect defense goes. Will she fall for it?

She let out a final breath, then dashed forward, spinning on her left heel and sending her right leg swinging towards his midsection. She kept her hands close to her core, careful of his inevitable response.

Stephen was expecting her to start with a punch, but knew better when he saw her shift her body weight onto her left leg. He dodged lightly to his left with minimal effort, allowing Noelle's foot to graze the hem of his hoodie while he countered, with a left hook aimed at her face while keeping his right arm on the defensive.

She kept with the momentum of the spin, ducking low and continuing to slide. She felt the air pass over her as his fist moved where her head had used to be, and instantly bounded upwards, aiming to hook him in his chin.

This was what Stephen had been trying to draw out. An uppercut was a move that required a complete follow-through and couldn't be redirected without some form of support. Stephen had Noelle in a very good position. Stephen spun on his left heel, shifting over to the right and grabbed after her raised arm, intending to use her own in-correctable momentum against her and sling her over his own body.