Chapter 1

I'm the biggest idiot in the history of idiots.

That was Danny's only thought as he faced down his opponent. His foe was a massive man to the point it felt like he was casting a shadow over the young boxer. His competitor growled as he raised his dukes, preparing himself to fight. Danny nervously gulped and tried to shake away any reluctance he was feeling. Deep down he knew he wasn't ready for this kind of fight. The guy looked like he'd crush him with one mere hit! But worrying wasn't his style – he convinced himself he could do it. He wasn't sure how, but in some way he was going to power through. He readied his hands and stood in his battling stance. There was a moment of anxious silence and then the bell rang. The eager crowd jumped from their seats and began to cheer. The fight had officially begun.

The behemoth was the first to strike. Danny quickly hopped to the man's side, dodging his powerful punch. His opponent turned to look at him as a confident smile crossed his face. In that glimpse of brief confusion Danny smacked him upside the chin. The man stumbled back and braced himself against the ropes of the ring. Danny paused, surprised by the impact that he just caused. His competitor wiped his nose with his arm and saw that blood was already trickling down. He glared at him, roaring in anger. Danny's eyes widened and he braced himself. He felt he already a pretty good tactic. Just keeping dodging his attacks and hit the man by using his blindside. However, it had only just begun and it was too soon to assume a specific outcome.

Using the stretchy ropes, his foe lunged himself back into the battle. The young fighter sprung to the side of the ring. The man stopped himself abruptly, looking back at him. Danny readied his right hook and was preparing to sock him again until the unthinkable happened. When he threw his fist, his arm began to uncoil from its fleshy shape and morphed into looking like a spring. It went by his opponent with incredible speed, even reaching to the other end of the ring. He paused in shock as his eyes widened. At that moment he felt his left arm act similarly as it twisted downwards. His arms were failing him and they became limp as his boxing gloves hit the ground. Danny scrambled and moved his shoulders around wildly in an attempt to get some kind of response from them. It was already too late as his combatant began to pummel him without hesitance. The world became a painful blur as eventually Danny fell to the ground, quickly losing his consciousness. He passed out near immediately and the fight was already over.

"Kid, wake up," A voice spoke, "You've been out cold for close to half an hour. Everyone's left."

The referee was nudging the young man's side with his foot. Danny opened an eye and looked around his surroundings. Every inch of his body felt like it was in pain. He groaned as he slowly sat up, hearing his bones faintly crack with the mild movement. He attempted to open his other eye and flinched. Even the process of doing that hurt slightly. While there was no mirror in sight, he didn't need one to know that the damage against his eye was going to leave a nasty and noticeable shiner. As he gained awareness he looked at the direction of where he heard the voice. It was one of the sponsors of the fight who currently looked greatly displeased in him.

"Here's your mask," He dropped it beside the boxer, "And the money."

Along with the protective gear he placed the stack of cash beside it. Danny grabbed the red mask and tied it at the back of his head. His unusual arms uncoiled with ease and went back to their original shape. He opened and closed his fists to make sure he was gaining back the circulation in them. After everything checked out, he reached for the money. His heart sank after realizing the amount he had. It was an even fifty bucks. He was expecting a lot more, regardless if he won or not.

"Uh, hey," Danny wasn't sure how to phrase the question, "Is this right? I mean, is this all I'm getting?"

The sponsor rubbed his tired eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. He then put his hands on his hips and looked at him with a small glare.

"Yes," He answered bluntly, "Not many people bet on you and I can't say that I blame them."

Danny frowned and looked away. The backer then realized his words were rather harsh. Regardless, he felt that it needed to be said to the newcomer.

"Look kid, it really shouldn't come as a surprise," He replied, "You can't win in a fight like this with those arms of yours. There's already a sport for people like you, join that one."

But that was the problem, it wasn't that easy as he assumed it was. His words seemed to be an attempt to comfort him but it accidentally caused the opposite effect. Danny had nothing more to say to the man, he sadly took the money and left. He sat in his car, aimlessly looking up at the sunroof while the radio faintly played. It was becoming increasingly obvious to the athlete how difficult it was to get recognized for anything. He had lost count of how many times he's felt like he has risked his life to catch the attention of the ARMS League just once. Of course, they knew he existed. Since developing the condition when he was only ten years old he had become the most loyal fan any sport would want. Of course, the organization wasn't just that – they also existed to help those with the peculiar and rare condition. That's how they knew Danny as his mask was an officially licensed ARMS regulator. But if you asked anyone that wasn't diagnosed with it about the League they would probably just reference the sport.

Danny breathed in and let out a quiet sigh. His disappointment wasn't about the money or his unusual condition. It was the fact that he has worked so hard to even get to this point, but his attempts remained fruitless. He knew he had the talent to become a professional ARMS fighter, even a minor one. A voice in the back of his mind kept telling him to quit. It was easy to ignore at first, but with the trail of defeats he couldn't help but to consider it briefly. He leaned back into his chair and wondered if he took the worst route to get his career started. Who was he kidding? That was something else he was aware of but denied for some time. His overzealousness caused him to make some stupid choices – like convincing himself that he could successfully take down able bodied opponents. He didn't want to give up, that wasn't in his nature. As he watched the rain fall onto the windows of the car he thought about taking a break, only a small one though. He could hang back for a while, focus on taking care of himself and make some kind of plan. It sounded great in theory, but simple planning was something else that just wasn't in his nature.

He knew he could sit there and feel sorry for himself until the sun came up. His dazed expression became a determined scowl as he twisted his keys and turned the car's motor completely on. It was fairly late at night, making the city have a small lull in traffic. Arriving back to the apartment was an easy feat. The real challenge was getting into his home quietly. As he left his car and looked up at the building, he noticed that the lights were off. This gave him a sense of confidence – he can easily get in without being detected! Regardless, when unlocking and opening the door he tried to be as quiet as possible. He opened it slowly, peering into the dark room. He entered the apartment and gently closed the door. Now he just had to quickly leave the front room, head into the hallway and enter his bedroom without making a sound. He made one step forward and then the lights turned on. He jumped back and let out a shocked yelp, covering his eyes from the surprise.

It was his mother that turned on the lights. She was standing near the entrance way of the kitchen with her arms crossed.

"Where were you?" She asked, not taken back by his startled reaction.

Danny opened his eyes and blinked. He frowned briefly as he continued covering up his new black eye.

"I had a late shift," He grinned awkwardly, "I guess some people get really hungry at 12 am." He shrugged.

His smile quickly faded as he saw no change in his parent's expression. She merely narrowed her eyes.

"Alright," She replied, "Why are you covering up your eye?"

Danny then panicked internally. His mind was grasping at straws trying to come up with a believable explanation as his mother began to approach him. She grabbed his currently weak arm and moved it aside. She gasped and then looked at her son angrily.

"You went to one of those fights again!" She raised her voice.

He flinched at the intensity of her tone before attempting to explain himself.

"It's not that big of a deal," He quickly replied, "It's not the best gig, but I made some money off of it." He forced a smile again.

She let go of his arm and looked at him sadly.

"Not that big of a deal?" His mother fired back, "Your eye is swollen and it's turning purple, Daniel."

Around the small holes of the mask you could see a little of the skin of whoever was wearing it. Even with an obscured look the wound was noticeable. He understood the seriousness of the conversation when she didn't refer him by his more commonly used nickname. The young man put his hands in the pockets of his hoodie as he looked at the carpet. She looked at him sadly. She knew that what she was saying he didn't like nor did she enjoy yelling at him. She reached for her son and gave him a loving hug.

"You can't keep doing this," She spoke gently, "One day you're going to experience something far worse than a black eye."

As much as he didn't want to admit it, she had a point. His mother broke up the hug and then tenderly held his head as they looked at each other. She gave him a concerned smile while he returned a halfhearted one in an attempt to be polite. His smile didn't last long. She gave him a curious look as she let go of him.

"You know," She mused, "I think I have some shades of concealer that would cover up that perfectly."

Danny moved away from her, slowly making his way to his room.

"Thanks," He spoke tiredly, "But no thanks."

The blinds of his window were currently hiding the view of the city. He put them up, took off his shoes and then flopped onto his bed. Where his bed was positioned gave him a clear look of the surrounding neighborhood. He couldn't help but to star up at the sky – it had a calming aura with the rain. Danny sighed quietly and looked away, covering himself in the warm blankets. He wanted this terrible night to end, but at the same time he dreaded what tomorrow was going to bring. With his body feeling exhausted and the soothing lights of the city it didn't take long for the young man to fall asleep. Being in a metropolis unfortunately you didn't have the best view of the stars. That night however there were several of them decorating the sky, glowing faintly. Before fully falling asleep, a thought came to Danny's head. There's a million, billion, even a trillion stars scattered across the universe but they all shared something: all of them came from nothing and became something eventually.