Chapter 1
Boom. Ivan's gloved fist struck Rocky across the cheek like a hammer, and an excruciating clap of thunder sounded inside his head that made him sure he had broken something. His jaw, his nose, maybe even his brain, but how could he tell? Everything hurt. All of those thoughts whirled through Rocky's mind in the matter of a second, and before he knew it, he was sprawled on the ground, unconsciously but desperately grabbing at the ropes to pull himself up. He couldn't lose. Not to Ivan, for the monster had killed Apolla in cold blood. Apollo...a dozen emotions crashed over Rocky, and he fell back against the floor of the ring, overwhelmed and fatigued.
"Eight! Nine! Ten! You're out!" The crowd erupted into pandemonium, but he could do nothing except lay motionless and wish he could fall into a darkness where he could feel nothing. He had lost; worse, he had failed to avenge Apollo.
"Adrian.." The word was soft at first as it escaped his broken and bleeding lips, but it soon grew to a yell. Rocky couldn't open his eyes, couldn't move. He felt so helpless, and without Adrian's gentle hand gripped tightly within his, he felt himself slipping...slipping down, down into blackness.
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"Yo, Rocko. It's Paulie...can you hear me? It's okay if you can't but the doctor said you should be waking up any time now. You put Adrian and the kid through a lot, y'know that?" At the mention of Adrian, Rocky somehow found the power within himself to surge up with a great gasp, only to fall back down onto the bed because his entire body was wrought with pain.
"I didn't train enough." He mumbled to himself. Paulie surged up in his chair, and through the blur of his vision, Rocky noticed the bags that appeared like bruises beneath his eyes. He had clearly been fighting, but with life and not in the ring.
"What was that, Rock? Hey, take it easy!" Paulie exclaimed, concern written all over his face.
"I should've trained harder! I let down Apollo! I let down you and Adrian." Rocky covered his eyes with his hands as if it could shield him from the fight that he was reliving over and over again.
"Rocky...you did everything you could. You did exactly what Apollo would have wanted you to do."
"This time I'll beat him. I'll break Drago's smug face." Rocky whispered angrily, ignoring Paulie. His jaw throbbed, but his fury overpowered the pain.
"No. I've been thinking, y'know? Maybe...maybe we've been going about this whole thing wrong. Maybe we shouldn't try to fight Drago. Maybe...we should get to hear his side of things. Help him." Rocky's stomach dropped. Was this really Paulie talking? He slowly eased himself up, clutching at his ribs he knew were broken, and stared into Paulie's wide, nervous eyes curiously.
"What do you mean? Since when have you thought this, Paulie?" Hesitating, Paulie shifted anxiously in his seat before answering carefully, "I've done some thinking, Rocko. I think this is the best way to go about things. I, uh, had a change of heart."
"What kind of a change?"
"I, uh, found the Gospel." Jaw dropping, Rocky could do nothing but stare incredulously, mind whirling. Paulie? His Paulie? Losing the fight must have been harder on him than he had imagined.
"That's...I don't know what to say to that."
"It's alright. You don't have to."