Daniel (An X-Men Story)
Chapter Twenty-Five: Finals
It's the final two matches of the tournament. The four remaining teams will fight to see which two teams will meet in the championship match. The Lions and Eagles would the first two of four to fight. The winner will move on to the championship match. They'll either face the Dragons or the Trojans.
Daniel and his teammates are in the locker room getting ready. Daniel is sitting in front of his locker wearing his yellow and black Lions team trunks and matching T-shirt wearing his team sneakers. One of the trainers in the back is putting on the tape around Daniel's hand. Donovan and the team with the exception of Joey come over to him.
"Hey retard." Donovan said as Daniel ignored him. "We never wanted you on this team. It was supposed to be Evan not you. You weaseled your way onto this team. You may have won your matches but you still suck. We hate being known as the team with the retard on it. Don't fuck this up for us Daniel." He said turning to leave. "Oh and if you think Joey likes being friends with you, you're mistaken. You're a joke to him. Only here for his amusement. Think about that retard." He said as they walk away from him. Daniel said nothing. The trainer applying his tape felt for him. How could they treat their teammate that way? He didn't know and it wasn't his job to ask. He only worked for the arena. Joey came to him from the bathroom.
"Hey you ready to kick some ass buddy?" Joey asked Daniel. Daniel just looked over at him wondering if what Donovan said had some truth to it. "What? What's wrong?" He asked. Daniel said nothing.
Arriving at the collisium are Logan, Rion and Alex. All three wanted to see Daniel compete. Logan especially wanted to see his son compete. All three were curious to see how well Daniel handled himself in the cage. They'd get to see it up close and personal. Rion brought three tickets before the three head into the arena. They had front seats. They made their way to their seats. Logan is the first to speak.
"Ok Rye, you're familiar with this atmosphere. Which teams fight first?" Logan asked.
"The Lions will face the Eagles. So to answer your question, Daniel's team fights first." Rion said. Alex smirked. He knew Logan was anxious to see Daniel fight. They all were.
Back at the house, Ororo is pacing back and forth. The avengers team members had left earlier. She was worried about her son. She was worried that he'd get hurt or killed in the cage. Daniel had handled himself well in the cage and is by far the best fighter on the team. Yet he was still treated like had a disease. Ororo didn't know how good her son was and spent the better part of his young life trying to protect him from the world out there not realizing her efforts were doing more harm than good. She had no idea how Daniel truly felt but knew that she loved him the same way she loved her other kids. She'd had to wait to see how Daniel faired in his fight.
Since they are the first teams to compete, the Lions and the Eagles were introduced. The fights commenced with Walter leading the way. He faced off against Matt Allistair a wrestler with quality submission skills. He easily submits Walter putting the Eagles ahead by twenty points. Billy faced off against Cody Bannister a kickboxer by trade. Billy and Cody went the distance. Billy got his team close but the decision went to Cody and the Eagles. Steven went toe to toe with Corey Bannister. Corey is Cody's identical twin brother with the difference being that while Cody is a kickboxer by trade, Corey is an excellent striker. Steven did his best to get the points his team needed to tie with the Eagles. He took Corey down four times gaining points but did nothing with the takedowns. Instead, Corey would get back to his feet and continued to dominate the fight with his strikes. Corey won that fight by five points. Chris faced off against Gabriel Dunkin a submission specialist. Gabriel took Chris down and submitted him in the first round. The Eagles expand their lead to fifteen points. Michael Kyle went head to head with Paul Gasteneau. The first round belonged to Michael. With his team within eight points of the Eagles but Paul knocked him out expanding the lead back to fifteen points. Donovan faces off against Chad Perez a well rounded jujitsu specialist. Donovan tried to knock him out but was submitted in the first round. Now the Lions were down by thirty points. Joey would face off against Luis Perez another wrestler. The key for Joey was to keep Luis on his feet. Do that and he wins. So that's what he did. Joey used his striking and kickboxing skills to gain the points need to get close to the Eagles. They went the distance with Joey winning the match. The Lions now trailed the Eagles by ten points. It was Daniel's turn to fight. Logan, Alex and Rion stood on their feet to watch closely at his fight. Daniel entered the cage ready to end this fight and send his team to the championship match. He'll be facing Sean Almonte a boxer by trade.
When the bell sounded, Daniel ran at Sean meeting him in the middle of the cage. Sean did his best to throw punches to Daniel's face but Daniel dodged those punches and threw several of his own. Logan, Alex and Rion cheered him on. Daniel used kicks to take out Sean's leg. He got his team tied as the bell sounded and the first rounded ended. In the second round, Sean did his best to throw punches at Daniel but Daniel immediately lifted Sean off his feet and slammed him into the mat in the cage. The Lions take the lead just from that take down alone. They are ahead by ten points. Daniel mounts Sean and pounds him into oblivion. Sean's face bled from the nose, mouth and his right eye. The ref stopped the fight declaring Daniel the winner.
The Lions cheered because they just became the regional champions. Logan, Alex and Rion all cheered watching Daniel fight. Logan was proud of his son. Daniel watched as his teammates cheered hugging each other and excluding him yet again. This one hurt though cause what Donovan said to him was true. Logan, Alex and Rion watched as the team celebrates without Daniel and feel bad for him.
Tom enters the cage with Sam and the trainers. They all hugged Tom, Sam and the coaches with the exception of Daniel. Daniel put his shirt and his cap on along with his teammates. The fighters were given their trophies eight personal checks of fifty thousand dollars. Tom got a trophy for the facility as well as a check for one hundred grand. Sam and the trainers also got checks for seventy grand a piece. Joey turned back and saw that Daniel was gone. The team was to take a picture together with the trainers, Sam and Tom. Daniel was nowehere to be found. He felt bad.
Daniel took his trophy and check then left heading in the back to the locker rooms. He quickly got changed into his clothes before grabbing his duffle bag to leave the collisium. His bike was out back and decided to grab it and ride home. His face was filled with tears.
"Daniel." A voice called to him. Daniel stopped. He turned to see his father and uncles standing there. Logan, Alex and Rion all walked up to him. "Hey son." He said as Daniel stood there crying. He didn't care that they saw him crying. It wasn't the first time and certainly wouldn't be the last. Logan knew why he was crying. Alex and Rion realized it as well. "I'm so proud of you." Logan said hugging him. Daniel leaned his head on Logan's shoulder. "You ok?" Daniel nods.
"We're proud of you. You really can handle yourself in the cage. We taught you well." Rion said smiling proudly at his nephew. Daniel could see they were being sincere. He gave them a half smile.
"Need a lift home?" Logan asked. Daniel nods. Alex took his bike and put it in the back of Logan's truck. Daniel got in the back Rion sat next to him. Logan drove back home. Rion put his arm around Daniel who wiped his tears away.
They arrived back to the Howlett house with Daniel. Ororo was there with their other kids along with Scott, Jean, Emma and Megan. Ororo was relieved to see him.
"We're home." Logan said.
"Oh thank god." Ororo said running up to hug Daniel who accepted it. She checked his face and noticed there weren't any noticeable bruises. He had a red mark over his left eye but was otherwise unharmed. In fact he was the one that did the punishing.
"How did it go?" Jean asked. Daniel reached into his bag and took out his regional championship trophy. He placed it on the table and then headed up to his room. They watched him wondering what was going on.
"Logan what happened?" Ororo asked.
"His team was losing until he stepped in the cage and kick the ass of the kid in front of him." Logan said proudly.
"You should've seen him go. He kicked the kid in shins trying to take out his leg at the same time knocking him around." Alex said smiling as everyone listened.
"The second round, Danny lifted this kid up and took him down, mounted him and then punched him into oblivion. The referee stopped the fight and Danny had won the fight." His team won the regional championship and will move on the MMA Team Championship Match." Rion said.
"Holy crap? Danny won?" John asked smiling. Logan, Alex and Rion nods smiling.
"Awesome." Lucas said high fiving Jamie and Oliver.
"Cool." David said.
"Cool indeed bro." Azari said as they smiled proud of Daniel.
"So he was able to handle himself in the fight?" Ororo asked.
"Yep. Daniel is definitely capable of holding his own in a fight. It's what followed that worries me." Logan said.
"What do you mean?" Emma asked.
"Well when the fighters realized their team had won, they cheered excluding Daniel from their celebration. Daniel caught this and was hurt. He got his trophy and check before leaving the arena. We caught up to him outside of the back of the arena. His face was filled with tears." Logan said. Everyone felt bad for him.
"You mention a check. What was that for?" David asked.
"I'm guessing the check is part of his award. I'm not sure how much it is. You'll have to ask him." Logan said.
Poor guy." Megan said.
"His teammates are jerks for excluding him in the celebration." Emma said.
"Yeah they are. He was the one who scored the points the team needed to win and he gets treated poorly." Alex said. "I feel for him."
"Me to. I'm also proud of him. Aren't you proud of him Logan?" Rion asked. Logan smiled.
"Yes, Yes I am." Logan said that while smiling something he hadn't done much where Daniel was concerned. Now he could, cause he was proud of Daniel.
To Be Continued!!!!!