I love Michael B. Jordan. He's a great actor and he did awesome as Apollo Creed's son, Adonis aka Donnie. When I saw the scene where his character Killmonger saw his father in Black Panther, I wondered what it'd be like if Donnie saw his father in Creed. Well, this is how I saw it. I hope you enjoy it.
Adonis Creed, aka Donnie fell with a thud. His opponent, Ricky Conlan had just knocked him out cold, and now, he was in a dark room. Suddenly, a light came on and filled the room. Now, he could see glazed hardwood floors, a training ring, punching bags. He was in a boxing gym.
Looking over to another wall, a banner hung that said 'MIGHTY MICK'S BOXING'. He was shocked at the sight of the place. It looked different. It looked old. Not as much space. Old punching bags, boarded floor with a few crack in them.
'Must've been before dey remodeled da place,' Donnie said to himself.
"You really did it," a voice said.
Donnie turned towards one of the rings to see a man standing in the middle of it. His eyes widened at the sight of him. He couldn't believe it, but the man standing there was none other than Apollo Creed.
"Apollo?" Donnie said as he slowly walked towards the ring.
"That's right, son. Looks like you've been havin' fun with the Stallion, huh?" Apollo laughed as he noticed the marks on his son's face.
"Aw yeah, just um... Just tryina' make it the best I can."
"You're doing pretty good at that."
"I don't think so." Donnie said as he hung his head low.
"What makes you say that?" Apollo asked.
"I'm worried."
"Worried bout what, son?"
Donnie hung his head once again. This wasn't something easy to do. To some, he was already viewed as nothing but a mistake. And he didn't want that to ruin his father's legacy even more. Donnie took a few breaths before confessing his fear.
"I'm afraid of losing and puttin' shame on ya' name."
Apollo nodded in understanding. The times were different and rougher than they were when he was growing up. So it was easy to see how Donnie felt.
"Trust me, Adonis. Even if you do win this fight, you'll have brought more honor to my name than I ever could've done."
"What do ya' mean?"
"Well for one thing, you've fought to get here. Both literally and figuratively."
The father and son laughed at that. It felt good to be able to do this with his father, even though he was dead.
"But my point is, not everyone will look at the outside appearance of you. As some result of a mistake I made. Cause that's how some will see it. But others who're smarter will look at the inside and see exactly what me and Rocky have. And that's the heart of a warrior. The fire that powers you. The Creed spirit. And you sure as hell got it."
This made Donnie think. He had more than his father's good looks. He'd been fighting, literally fighting his whole life for this. And he made it. And it was all thanks to Rocky, Apollo, Bianca, and of course, his mom. And he was glad to have them in his corner.
Wiping away a few tears before looking back at his father. "Thanks Pop." He said.
"Nah, its my pleasure, Donnie." Apollo replied as he hugged his son hard and Donnie didn't waste any time returning the hug. "I love ya', son."
"...I love you too, Pops."
"I'm prouda ya too. Keep listenin' to the Stallion, he knows what he's talkin' about."
Donnie nodded against father as they broke the hug with smiles.
"Now you gotta get back up there and finish this," Apollo said patting his son's shoulder.
"How?" Donnie asked confusingly.
Apollo chuckled as he held up his fist, signaling he had to be sent back the same way he got here.
"Eh, figures," Donnie said as he readied his jaw.
"Oh, and by the way, you look good in those shorts." Apollo laughed.
Donnie scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"
Before he could say anything thing else, he felt the fist connect to his face, sending him flying through the darkness and back towards the light of consciousness.
Donnie gasped as he awoke. That punch his father gave him had felt so real, but it sure woke him up.
It gave him an adrenaline rush to get up quickly as if he hadn't been knocked down at all. And he was ready once again. Ready to fight.
***After The Fight***
"Adonis, I know you never met your father. But if he was here tonight, what would you wanna say to him?" A reporter asked.
Little did he know, that in a way, Donnie had met his father.
'If only they knew,' He said to himself.
"I'll just tell him I love him." He replied, "And I know he didn't leave me on purpose. And I'm proud to be a Creed."
"Thanks, Adonis, and congratulations on a sensational performance."
The crowd was going wild over Donnie victory. "Creed! Creed! Creed!"
"Go on, talk to them," Rocky said holding up his arm with a proud smile, "Go on!"
Using whatever strength he had left, he raised his other arm in victory and pride. Know good and well that he'd earned the name, Creed.
***Rocky Steps***
As Rocky and Donnie looked out on Philly from top of the stairs, a feeling of relief passed over Donnie. A feeling of love from his surrogate father, Rocky Balboa.
"'Ey, thanks Unc," He said with a grin.
"For what?" Rocky said, finally getting his breath back after climbing all those steps.
"For making all this possible. If Pops hadn't chosen you, you never would've met 'im. And I might've never met Mom, or Bianca, or you. You made all this possible. Thanks for bein' there for me."
Those words made Rocky's heart soar. He may have already had a son, and he loved him dearly. But if he'd had another son, he'd be proud for it to be Donnie. And he knew Apollo would feel the same.
"It's alright, son," the Italian Stallion replied, "Now whadaya day we go get some food? You're gonna need to bulk up with some nice meat, and I know a great place that has the best Philly Cheesesteak ever."
"Aight, I'm in!" Donnie replied as he walked back to the van.
"Hey wait! Don't get in!" Rocky paced himself as he slowly walked back down towards the van.
"Why not?"
"I drive, you run alongside."
"C'mon, Unc. Really?"
"Yeah, you're still in training. You think Conlan was fast, who knows how fast your next opponent's gonna be."
As Rocky got into the driver seat, Donnie sighed heavily as he loosened himself up to get ready, remembering he didn't get a chance to last time.
"Aight, how far is this place?" He asked through the open window.
Rocky turned on the car with a smirk, "Not too far," he laughed as he sped off.
"Ey no fair!" Swiftly, Donnie took off to catch up. After a block or so, he was finally alongside the van, trying to keep up with Rocky.
"That was your next lesson, the element of surprise!" The Italian Stallion laughed as he drove on.
Donnie smiled as he ran, knowing that things were gonna get better and crazier as he and Rocky kept working together.
So what do ya think, emotional enough? I always liked scenes in movies where the father is passing the torch to their kid. And I just had to do this. So I hope you guys enjoyed it. Plus, it's just in time for Creed 2. Should I make a sequel one shot where Donnie and Robert Balboa(Rocky's son) meet? Make like a family dinner type of deal? Lemme know, and I'll do it. Later guys! Ninja-boy OUT!
