For Sherlock of some flavor or another

[tofightinjustice]

There's a heavy bag hung up on one of the trees at the edge of the Milliways forest. It's a little off the beaten path, which is nice, and Bryce finds that working in the cool not-Scottish air is a lot less dehydrating than working in the California sun.

For her size (she's middling tall but not very bulky), she's giving the bag a fairly thorough beating.

Comments

[tofightinjustice]

Sounds like a go to her.

She doubts she'll be able to actually get the drop on Sherlock, but attacking now with a kick to the gut might give her a second's advantage. There's a lot you can do with a second.

[sicaria]

She blocks forcefully and retaliates in kind.

Sherlock is very fast, very precise, and... oddly hesitant, as though she has to think for far too long about every offensive move she makes.

[tofightinjustice]

They're pretty well matched in strength and speed, though Bryce's fighting is a little less polished than Sherlock's. But she's also used to inflicting damage, not death; she doesn't have to pull her punches, and she's using Sherlock's hesitation to her best advantage.

The moment an opportunity presents itself, she moves in to wrap a hand in the back of Sherlock's dress and sweep her legs.

[sicaria]

The fit is too close to offer decent purchase, but Sherlock takes a little too long deciding on a countermeasure; she stumbles.

[tofightinjustice]

Bryce presses the attack, tackling Sherlock.

[sicaria]

Which should work quite well, except that apparently Sherlock is a cat, because Bryce is on top of her when she starts falling but when they land it is the other way around.

[tofightinjustice]

Well, it took the fight to the ground, anyway.

She wraps her hands around Sherlock's wrists and bucks her hips, trying to throw her off to one side.

[sicaria]

(Under other circumstances, Sherlock might be blushing right now. But she's too focused to make that connection.)

She digs her fingers into Bryce's shoulders and stays stubbornly put, at least at the first attempt.

[tofightinjustice]

So Bryce digs her nails into Sherlock's wrists.

Nobody ever said it was going to be a clean fight. Just minimally damaging.

[sicaria]

Sherlock utterly faiils to react.

[tofightinjustice]

Well, damn. Probably should have expected that.

Given that Sherlock has chosen to leave Bryce's hands free, though, she still has the opportunity to aim a punch at Sherlock's solar plexus.

[sicaria]

Dodging opportunities are limited; it connects. Sherlock's grip loosens, of necessity.

[tofightinjustice]

Bryce resists the urge to follow it up with a palm-heel to the chin -- minimal damage -- and instead grabs Sherlock by the shoulders and twists, trying again to throw her off.

[sicaria]

This one works.

[tofightinjustice]

Over they go.

A moment of grappling ensues, in which Bryce attempts to pin Sherlock's hands to the ground.

[sicaria]

Much less effective—she is both agile and strong, and with a relatively clear goal in the moment, suffers very little of her usual hesitation.

[tofightinjustice]

Bryce's lip curls up into a silent snarl of effort. She lets go of Sherlock's left hand so she can pull back for a punch with her right.

[sicaria]

She doesn't know what to do, is the problem.

[tofightinjustice]

What she's going to do right now is get punched in the face, apparently.

[sicaria]

So it is.

She blinks thoughtfully, considering this new information.

[tofightinjustice]

Bryce pauses.

"Wanna tap out?"

[sicaria]

"Not sure," she says, slowly. "I'm doing something terribly wrong, but I can't figure out what it is."

[tofightinjustice]

"Okay."

Bryce pins her hand again, absent-mindedly. If the fight's not over, she's not letting her guard down.

(Not that she generally lets her guard down when she's not fighting, but that's beside the point.)

[sicaria]

And Sherlock thinks.

What's her problem? It's almost inconceivable how bad she is at this. The first time she ever fought, she was better at it than this.

The first time she ever fought, she had more at stake.

Is it stress that elevates her performance? Yes and no. Adrenalin has its effects, but she's fought completely calm and done better, even accounting for the differing skill levels of her opponents across cases.

(She hasn't fought someone as good as Bryce since—actually, even the people she killed in the Games weren't as good as Bryce. Some of them were close, though, and she took them apart without any trouble.)

What's the common factor?

[tofightinjustice]

"Either fight or think," Bryce suggests. "Your dress is going to be ruined."