“Fátima!”

The kendoka turned her head and saw Spencer ready to toss his bokken her way. She then looked back at Rodney; he kept her weapon angled towards her with while maintaining the same furious glare as before. Fátima took a step back, her eyes keeping a lock on the studio’s owner. On her face was a look anxiousness as she contemplated what to do next. She then raised one hand towards Spencer, indicating that he wanted him to wait.

“Can’t you count, Rodney?” she said with hesitation. “Even with your two students over there, you’re outnumbered. I’ve heard stories about what you’ve done, but you’re still just one single old man. Doesn’t matter how tough you are. There’s limits to even what you can do.”

“Uh-huh. You’re acting like I haven’t heard that before in my life. You’re just like all the other knuckleheads that roam around Isla Lucrecia that bully their way to make a living. But I’m not gonna let you and your goons wreck everything I’ve worked for without putting up a fight.” Rodney darted his attention towards Spencer. He jumped back from receiving the menacing glare, quivering his lips as he clutched the bokken tighter.

“Give her the weapon!” Rodney barked. Spencer obliged, tossing it towards his superior. Fátima caught with both hands but didn’t unsheathe it, instead letting it rest by her side.

“I guess the stories about you are true,” she said. “When you’re your age and all you have to your name is a studio devoid of students, you have no choice but to be stubborn.”

Rodney rolled his neck. “I used to have a bit of respect for you, Fátima. Could have been a contender for world championships if you stuck with your craft. But looks like you chose to go with the easy money instead.”

“You don’t know me!” Fátima snapped. She drew her bokken from its sheathe and took up a defensive stance. Her frustration became more apparent by the way she gritted her teeth. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t want Hudson and his Union to start tearing this place apart. But you’re making it real difficult for me to be on your side for much longer.”

“Then why are you here in the first place? Did that clown Belanger tell you to come here and try to scare me off? He threaten your job or something?” Fátima remained silent, but her eyes narrowed in on Rodney. He twirled the bokken in his hand, demonstrating his familiarity with the weapon.

“That’s it then,” Rodney said slowly while nodding his head. “Your easy paycheck is on the line, yet you don’t want to deal with the guilt of tearing my place down. Pick one or the other. I’d respect you more if you started smashing my stuff. At least then I’d know you had at least a bit of conviction.”

Fátima growled as she attacked Rodney with a forward lunge. He took the bokken he was holding and deflected the attack to the side. Both weapons remained cross. Fátima pressed her sword further but she couldn’t overcome Rodney’s strength. “Don’t go telling people that you weren’t warned,” Fátima said in a low tone, not breaking eye contact from Rodney as she struggled to push his weapon back.

“Like-wise,” Rodney replied in a voice barely above a whisper. He eased back with the bokken, returning to a neutral stance. Fátima followed suit. They both remained motionless, maintaining the same offensive stance where their weapon rested at an angle that pointed the tip of their bokken towards their opponent. Despite their stances being identical, their expressions were vastly different. Rodney was calm and confident. Fátima, on the other hand, was clearly bothered. Her lips pursed. A bit sweat formed on her forehead. Her eyes were narrowed and focused. There was a faint trembling throughout her entire body.

“I don’t like to play the waiting game, Fátima,” Rodney said. “That strike was just you testing the water. If you don’t want to make the first move, I will.”

The kendoka didn’t respond. She kept her guard up, waiting for Rodney to attack first. He advanced with a stab towards Fátima’s arm. Fátima deflected it, making her weapon and Rodney’s clack in the process. Fátima struck back, this time with a horizontal swing. Rodney performed a swift parry, intercepting the strike with the center of his blade. The two continued to exchange swift attacks sparingly, both unable to penetrate the other’s defense.

As Fátima and Rodney continued with their stalemate, Hudson jaunted towards the pair standing by the exit. “Well, well, well,” the Union leader said in a cocky tone. “Looks like you two are bad luck. That’s two places that are getting totaled because of ya.”

Quang clenched onto his nunchucks behind his back until two Union members took hold of his arms. “We’re not falling for that again,” Hudson chuckled. On his face a look of enjoyment as he watched Quang try to free himself from his men’s clutches.

“Let him go!” Selene shouted. She held both of her tonfas tight and in front of her. The remaining Union men surrounded her, making her back into against the glass window. Each one held a weapon as they stared her down. She soon lost her confidence as her stance went from aggressive to defensive in an instant.

“You two aren’t in any position to be making demands,” Hudson said.

“You’re trying to appease Belanger, right?” Quang asked, cutting his eyes at Hudson.

“He’s the one who sent us here. And he does pay his dues, after all. On time and in full. So he gets his benefits.” Hudson walked closer towards the captive Quang. He looked him down, smiling at him as he rested his hammer over his shoulder.

“Then it’s me that he wants!” Quang said exasperatedly. “Going over to Dragon’s Bite was my idea. I asked Selene to come along. I haven’t even been to Rodney’s studio in months, maybe even a year. He had nothing to do with what happened today!”

“That’s nice to hear. But it don’t change things. Belanger said he wanted Rodney’s studio out of the picture and that’s what he gets. Making a bit of cash smashing that geezer’s stuff is just the icing on top,” he said as he pointed towards the skirmish in the center of the room with his thumb. Fátima was on the defensive, blocking a pair of fast lunges from Rodney.

“Why are you doing this, Hudson?” Selene asked with tears forming in her eyes.

The Union leader adjusted his hard hat as he turned towards the teary-eyed woman. He leaned in closer to her, making her back press further against the glass window. “Because it’s my job,” he said with a snarl. “The boys and I have to get by in Isla Lucrecia just like everyone else.”

“But you’re ruining lives! First the Nghiems. Rodney. That seafood restaurant. Your livelihood comes at the cost of someone else’s!” Selene said with a stomp of her foot.

“You don’t think I haven’t heard this spiel before? You’re still pretty young, so you probably still see the world as nothin’ but hugs and kisses. You work hard and you get where to be in life, right?” Hudson said with a slow nod while maintaining eye contact with the distressed woman. “You do what you’re supposed to for a few years then you move up. Get a family. A house. Then you retire. I hate to break it to you but that’s not how reality works. Definitely not here in Isla Lucrecia.” He eased back and adjusted his hard hat with his free hand. “You play by the rules and people will take advantage of you in this city. I learned that he hard way. And now it’s my turn to teach. I’m doing you a favor, kid. It’s better to figure this kind of stuff out sooner rather than later.”

“I’m not a child!” Selene said with her fists clenched. “You think I haven’t gone through my fair share of lows in life?” she said with a raised tone, pointing her finger in Hudson’s face while still clutching onto the handle of her tonfa. “You don’t see me tearing down restaurants, do you?”

Hudson stepped in closer again, but Selene didn’t back down. He was still angry, but not towards Selene. There was a look of distress on his face as he took in a deep breath through his nostrils. “All I’m telling ya is that it’s a dog-eat-dog kind of world here in Isla Lucrecia. Either you do the stepping or someone’s going to step all over you. The sooner you learn that the better.” Hudson turned around and watched Fátima continue to back away from another one of Rodney’s strikes.

“Are ya almost done, Fátima?” he shouted.

“Shut up!” she replied, trying to push back Rodney’s bokken with her own.

“You know us Union folks don’t get paid by the hour, right?” Hudson said. The rest of men let out a laugh. “So we’ll get started on our little project while you keep that old man distracted.”

“What?” Fátima turned her head to watch Hudson strut over towards Rodney’s weapon rack. As her gaze left the duel, Rodney attacked with an upwards swing, grazing the outside of her hand and knocking the bokken away. The weapon flew across the studio as Fátima held onto her injured hand. Even though she hunched over from the pain, she could still make out her crew watching on in shock from the edge of her vision.

“You’re rusty. I guess those magazines aren’t doing much to help with your craft,” Rodney said, pressing the tip of the bokken on the ground and leaning on it like cane. Fátima shook her hand and stood upright. Her eyes were as red as where Rodney had struck her hand. She turned to look at the Dragon’s Bite instructors. All three were awestruck, staring back at her in silence with fear written on their faces.

“Join them.” Fátima muttered in a low tone.

“Huh? But you said…” Jake replied.

“I know what I said!” The kendoka’s voice loudened. “It’s obvious that Rodney doesn’t want to listen! Tear this place down!”