He was fast.
Very fast.
Maya barely escaped the first takedown.
The second nearly caught her.
Victor smiled.
"You're not Elena."
Maya looked at him.
"No."
Victor attacked again.
Maya moved.
"That's why you'll lose."
Victor grabbed her.
Maya shifted.
His weight changed.
She redirected.
Victor hit the mat.
The room erupted.
But Victor didn't stop.
He attacked again.
Harder.
Maya defended.
Adrian watched.
Something was wrong.
Victor wasn't training.
He was trying to hurt her.
"Victor!"
He ignored him.
Maya escaped.
Victor grabbed her collar.
Maya's expression hardened.
She remembered her sister.
The old academy.
The screaming.
The accident.
The fear.
Then she breathed.
One breath.
Two.
And relaxed.
Victor pulled.
Maya moved with him.
He fell.
She established control.
Then she stopped.
"Tap."
Victor refused.
Maya looked at Adrian.
Adrian stepped forward.
"Match over."
Victor pushed away.
He looked furious.
But Maya stood calmly.
She had won something more important than the roll.
She had faced the past without becoming it.
After Victor left, Adrian found Maya outside.
"You knew him."
Maya nodded.
"Yes."
"What did he have to do with Elena?"
Maya looked toward the parking lot.
"He was her coach."
Adrian's face tightened.
"I remember."
"Elena trained under him."
"What happened?"
Maya took a breath.
"Victor believed fear made fighters stronger."
Adrian closed his eyes.
"I remember hearing rumors."
"They weren't rumors."
Maya explained.
Victor had pushed Elena beyond safe limits.
He demanded harder rounds.
Longer sessions.
More punishment.
When Elena complained about pain, he told her pain was weakness leaving the body.
Then one night, during an intense training session, Elena's knee gave out.
Victor blamed her.
He told everyone she had failed.
She never returned.
Maya had been seventeen.
She had watched her sister disappear into herself.