Punch-Out!

Chapter 8: Obsession

Breathing heavily as he sprinted down the dark alley, Mac had to jump over fallen garbage cans and avoid derelict shopping carts while looking for a place to hide. He finally found a spot behind what remained of a wooden fence, and thankfully it was out of the areas illuminated by the flickering street lights. He couldn't remember how he had gotten there, or why he was dressed for a boxing match, but none of this seemed important as a very large figure ran through the very edge of the light. It stopped in the darkness, but Mac could still see its shadow as it looked around, and he tried to keep his breathing quiet so that it wouldn't hear him.

Suddenly all of the street lights became so bright that the whole alley was lit up as if it were high noon, and the now visible figure roared as it charged after him. There was no choice for him but to run away, even though he couldn't quite wrap his head around how ridiculous this situation was. It was not a criminal that was chasing him, nor was it the police or even a big scary clown. It was a gorilla. A massive brown and white gorilla, and for some strange reason it was wearing a large red tie. For a moment he wondered how a gorilla would ever learn to tie a tie in the first place, but then it roared and Mac decided to just focus on running.

There were so many cans and carts that he had to avoid that it was hard to run at full speed, but the gorilla didn't seem to have this problem as he could hear its heavy steps getting closer and closer. It would be on him at any second, but then he spotted a possible escape in the form of a ladder up ahead. Somehow the gorilla didn't catch him as he jumped onto it, and as Mac climbed, he started to hear what sounded like the cheers of a crowd. The ladder only took him up to a little above the street lights, where it ended at a large square platform.

The cheering of the crowd got louder as he crawled up onto it, and when he stood up, he gasped as he realized that it was a boxing ring. The ropes and turn-buckles were already set up, and he was standing on the red cobra emblem of the Minor Circuit. The bell rang a second later, but it was drowned out by a crash of thunder, and then it began to rain as he noticed someone else standing in the opposite corner.

This person was also dressed for a fight, and the next flash of lightning allowed Mac to see that his opponent looked just like him as he approached. Well, this guy had blond hair, but except for that it was like looking into a mirror. He was so taken back and confused by this, that he wasn't even able to react as his blond twin struck him with an uppercut to the chin as soon as he was close enough. This sudden attack was powerful enough to not only knock him off his feet, but it also sent him flying right over the top rope.

There was no time to scream before he landed on his back in the middle of the alley, and now Mac found himself unable to move as his opponent looked down at him.

"Piece of cake." His blond twin said while turning away.

Mac was just starting to be able to move, when the gorilla was suddenly on him, and then he found himself quickly sitting up in his own bed. Just like last time, it took a few seconds for him to realize that he was in his bedroom, and just like with the clown, the gorilla and his blond twin had just been another nightmare. At least this time he hadn't woken up Alice, since she was lying next to him while sleeping peacefully, and he didn't feel like trying to go back to sleep, so he decided to get up for the day.

There was nothing on Television, and he didn't feel like reading, so Mac decided to take a long hot shower. There was no rush, since he still had a couple hours before he even needed to wake up, so he just stood there in the bathtub, trying to relax as the hot water rained down on his head. He had always been into boxing, but never in his life had it consumed his mind like it was doing now, and it was even worse since getting knocked out by Piston Honda. For a moment he thought that Kenny had the right idea by just walking away from it all, but then Doc Louis's words pulled him back.

In a way, his failure in the Minor Circuit still accomplished his original goal of seeing where he was in regards to being ready for serious boxing, and the results were that he was not prepared at all for the W.V.B.A. What he needed to do was find a trainer; someone who knew boxing like the back of their hand, and who could teach him what he really needed to succeed. Someone like Doc Louis for instance, but that seemed pretty unlikely. There was also no way that he would ever enroll at Glass Joe's boxing school, so where was he going to find someone?

He stood there thinking about this until the water started getting cold, and then he quickly turned it off while hoping there would be more hot water by the time Alice had to get up. It did not take long after that for him to finish getting cleaned up and dressed for work, but he still had over an hour before he even had to get up. Only then did it dawn on him that having a key to the gym meant that he could go in whenever he wanted, so Mac decided that he would get rid of some frustration by going in for an extra early workout.

"Gonna make a comeback." He said to himself as he went out the door. "I'm gonna be the best."

He locked the door behind him before walking away from the apartment and starting to jog down the sidewalk. The street lights sort of reminded him of his dream since it would still be a while before the sun came up, but thankfully there were no gorillas or evil twins to chase him as he headed toward the gym. Now that his blood was pumping because of the run, Mac was starting to feel more confident. No matter what it took, he was going to find a trainer and then things were going to be very different the next time he appeared in the Minor Circuit.

Mac was going to intensify all of his workouts. He would run more, lift more, and even if Joe Laviere was a terrible boxing instructor, maybe he could get him in touch with someone who actually knew what they were doing. A new plan was now starting to take shape in his mind, and instead of consoling him, Alice would soon be cheering him on as he dominated not only the Minors, but the entire W.V.B.A. as well.

By this time he was nearing the Super Macho Gym, so he slowed down in order to get his keys out of his pocket, but continued to jog in place as he unlocked the door. It was nowhere near opening time yet, so he locked the door again once he was inside, and then turned on the lights. For now, everything in the place was at his disposal, and he would have to talk to Greg about how to order some training equipment, even if Mac had to pay for it himself. Yes, this was the beginning of an all new Mac Little, or rather - an all new Little Mac. And now it was time to get to work.