The punch came fast and hard, slamming into the side of his jaw and sending him into the soda aisle. A dozen twelve and twenty-four packs came crashing down on and all around the middle-aged man. Dazed, he pushed the twelve pack that landed square on his gut off, gasping for breath. Breathing in too fast, he began to choke on a loose tooth that had broken off, whether it was from the punch or soda hitting his jaw, he didn’t care. The attacker drove his foot against the man’s chest, both winding him and clearing his windpipe. The tooth flew out of his mouth and rolled onto the floor along with a trail of blood. He grasped at his neck as the air slowly returned to him, with the other hand holding his chest over a potentially broken rib. His attacker stood patiently, staring at him while he waited for him to recover.

“Wh—“ A coughing fit overtook him, more blood shot out of his mouth and onto the grocery store tiles.

“Come off it, mate. The great Jimmy Knockout down in one punch? Oh, how the tables have turned!” He extended a hand to the retired fighter and held it there. Jimmy wiped his mouth with his sleeve and took a long look at the Englishman, the lights above obscuring much of his features. His attacker was well dressed in a jean jacket and designer tee, his blond, maybe dirty blond, hair slicked back. The light reflected off of a pair of glasses, almost certainly custom-made. He lowered his eyes to the man’s hand, hesitant. On both sides of his black jean pants was a custom embroidery, an impressive display of needlework resembling twin snakes coiling around one another with the word “Venom” halfway down each leg. He reached out and took the man’s hand, if he were going to strike again, he likely would have already.

“What the hell man, I was just looking for the Cheerios.” He took deep breaths between every few words. Without a word, the other man pulled him in for a hug, wrapping his arms around him tight. The squeeze hurt like hell, he had definitely broken a rib. “Time out!” He said, gasping for breath.

“Aw, if you were looking for Cheerios, you ought to look in the cereal aisle two over. How the hell you been?” He let go and smiled with half of his face. Without the light obstructing his view, he noticed the man had a scar across his right temple and another snake design on the arms and rims of his glasses.

“Why did you—“

“Because you’re the guy, like The Guy! You were my hero as a kid, I figured what better way to introduce myself than with the language of the ring! But I guess I took you a touch off guard.” He pulled out his phone and showed him the wallpaper on his home screen; a younger Jimmy Knockout holding his first prized trophy. He had a smaller frame back then, although his muscles were far more toned.

“A simple hello would suffice. So, a fan of my MMA career, then?“

“Well, I sure wasn’t a fan of yours because of those sporting goods commercials. Yeah mate, I had everything. The posters, mugs, mag covers, even the Jimmy Knockout-themed lego set. I started my career because of you.” James raised an eyebrow, he had plenty of fans throughout his time but only a select few had claimed he jumpstarted their career.

“Glad to see I’m not lost to total obscurity yet, but it’s just Jameson Newson now. I put up my Jimmy Knockout hat a long time ago.” He winced and held his jaw.

“Careful now, you’re pretty beat up. Name’s Toby by the way, but in the ring, I’m known as Viper.” He gestured to the design on his pants before readjusting his glasses. “Truth be told I never thought to see you in a place like this. I had this naive dream we’d meet in the ring.” His smile softened, appearing far more genuine now. James turned and attempted to fix the aisle, but gave up as the pain shot through his chest. “Aye, careful mate, let me help.” Toby moved to the side of the aisle and lifted the shelves while James steadied them from falling forward.

“I’m afraid life isn’t a drama, how would we meet in the ring when I’ve been retired for nearly two decades?” The two began stacking the soda boxes back on the shelves.

“Ya haven’t heard? Next big tourney’s starting in a few months, “Return of the Old Guard” is what they’re calling it. A bunch of the second and third generations are coming back to fight off against the new guys, hard to believe you didn’t know.” James gave pause, why hadn’t he been told? Was he that washed up, did the world care so little about him?

“I… I’m going to grab my Cheerios.”

“If I sponsor you, you’ll secure a spot for sure! We can even sign you up under a new name, and leave the reveal for your first match, it’ll be a shock to the world. Come on, don’t just walk away!” Toby reached a hand out to James’ shoulder. James pushed it away as he turned to face him.

“Toby, look at me. You took me to the ground in one hit and who knows how long it’ll take me to heal, you expect me to be ring ready in three months?” He flexed his arms and raised his shirt. “I just don’t have the discipline anymore, there’s a reason the world only knows me from Wikipedia.”

Toby brought a right hook straight into James’ stomach, causing the man to flinch, but only flinch. “Yeah? You were taken out because I caught you off guard, and you’re still toned, not ring-ready, but you’re not some flabby old man! We can do this, I’ll have my trainer help you, I can fight with you to train, and—“

“No.” James continued to walk away, his pace faster.

“I’m not the only person who you inspired, you know.” Toby shouted, holding up a locket that was hidden under his shirt. He opened it to reveal a girl no older than seventeen. “We both started our career path because of you. I didn’t give a shit about MMA and from what I saw of you on the news, thought you were pretty full of yourself. But she did, she adored you and the sport.” James stood at the end of the aisle as he spoke, glancing over his shoulder at the young Viper. “She brought me to your fights when we were little kids, us and our mom. Our mom hated the events but it was all Sara would ever talk about. She wore me down and I finally started to cheer for the fighters, for you, too.” James walked back down the aisle.

“And?” He took the locket in his hand and read the inscription.

‘To my biggest fan, Sara Najule, if I could fight this battle for you, I would do it in a knockout. Keep fighting. - JK’ The words hit him harder than any gut punch or headshot ever could. He stumbled back, narrowly dropping the locket. Toby grasped him by the shoulders.

“At that signing, you told us we would always be in your corner, that nothing should be let go without a fight. Well, she fought and lost, and now it’s just me. I don’t think I have what it takes to win any big tournament like you did, but I can at least fight you in the ring and make her proud. So please, help me fulfill our dreams before it crushes me.” His face appeared to be on the verge of tears, but none fell.

“That was the last signing I ever did. And she was training to be a fighter too?”

“Yeah. She was a lot stronger than me, almost as fast too, until her muscles began to atrophy. She had hoped hearing you encourage her would be enough to keep her motivated. To fight the disease.” The two fighters moved from the grocery store to a sports bar, talking about Sara, James’ career, and Toby’s future. By the time they had worn themselves out talking, Toby spoke up again, intoxicated.

“Come fight with me. I have my team on speed dial and we can start first thing… Monday, not tomorrow, I get really bad hangovers. Do it for me and Sara, or just for her, just please fight in the tourney.” He slammed his beer down on the counter.

James took a long drink from his margarita. “No deal.”

“Wh—“ Toby hiccupped. “What, why? Why won’t yo—“ Another hiccup.

“I already have trainers and coaches just waiting for an excuse to get to work, but I could still use a proper sparring partner.” He put his glass down and extended a hand to Toby. “Sound fair?”

Toby’s smile lit up the bar like a spotlight. Had James believed for a second Toby had been lying, those doubts would have been extinguished in that instant. “Yes! Aw mate, I love you. Thank you thank you thank you! But you have to win every round until we fight, no losing any earlier!” He threw an arm around James and pulled him close, reminding him of the broken rib.

“You’ll win this tournament, for her. Got it? I’ll do what I can, but I don’t have the confidence I used to. So whatever happens, win. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to a hospital.” Toby gave him a big kiss on the forehead before jumping out of his seat.

“I’ll drive you!” He fumbled his phone to the ground as he tried to pull out his keys.

“I’ll see you Monday, Viper.” James patted him on the shoulder and left the bar. As reality sunk in, a pit in his stomach began to form. He had to be careful this time, to not let MMA take everything from him again. To not let it take everything from Toby.