The sun was setting on a Saturday evening. Joe was in the locker room, wrapping his fists in preparation for his match against Aran. He was rather nervous; after seeing how aggressive Aran could be in a casual setting, he was not excited to find out what he would do in the ring. And he didn't even have Von Kaiser there to reassure him; he had gone on a business trip to fight against the LCVB, and wouldn't be back for many days.

After having his fists inspected, he got his gloves on and entered the ring. Aran vaulted himself over the ropes into the ring; Joe noticed he hadn't waited for Pierce to check his fists.

"In this corner," began Pierce, "we have the WVBA's trooper, our unrelenting jobber, Glass Joe!"

He turned around. "And in this corner, we have a diehard Dubliner with a deadly Shamrock Squeeze, Aran Ryan!"

The moment the word "Fight" passed Pierce's lips, Aran went straight in for the kill. Pierce had never seen someone land such hard attacks so fast. He was like a blur!

Joe tried to swing at Aran, but for every one hit he landed, Aran came back with at least three. Joe stepped back a bit and tried to get a running punch in, but before he could land it, Aran bashed his head against Joe's. Joe, disoriented, stumbled back, and Aran gave him one last blow in the side of the head.

Pierce cringed. One step further, and that would have been a rabbit punch. Nevertheless, Joe went down.

"One. ...Two. ...Three."

Pierce kept a close eye on Joe while giving the ten count. He barely looked alive. Was he unconscious?

"Four….five…."

Pierce sighed and shook his head. This fight had to end now. He turned to the crowd and waved his hands. "TKO!"

After Aran left the ring, Pierce called over the medic. "Joseph?" The medic kneeled by his side and slammed her hand on the ground near his ears. "Joseph, can you hear me?"

The medic felt relieved when he jumped a bit when she pressed her fingers to his neck to check for a pulse. "Come on, let's get you to my office."


Katrina and a few of her friends were hanging around the elementary school playground one last time before they started high school in September, watching the last few seconds of the sunset. "It feels weird now that we're all getting too big for this stuff," said Annie.

"Yeah," said Jackson. "They don't exactly make this kinda stuff with teenagers in mind."

The group chuckled. Janet then showed them a picture of the high school's drama club. "My sister Luz does drama there. They get to put on a big musical at the end of the year."

"Oh, that's so cool," said Annie, "I'm definitely gonna join."

Just then, Katrina's phone buzzed. She took it out of her pocket and answered.

"Hello? …Yes, it is. …Oh, oh my god. Okay, I'll be there-what? …Okay. Hang on, I'm coming. Okay, bye." She got up off the swing. "I gotta go. My dad's hurt."

She rushed off towards the city bus stop. Annie, Jackson, and Janet looked at each other. They didn't exactly know what to say after that.


Back in the arena, they were prepping for the last fight that night; Bald Bull vs. Super Macho Man. The two were sharing some banter when Katrina burst in, frazzled.

"Ain't that Rugrat?" Super Macho Man said to Bald Bull.

She rushed up to them. "Where's my dad?!"

They looked at each other. A kid bursting into a building in a panic demanding to know where their parents are is bad enough, but Glass Joe's kid? Some major crap must have just gone down.

"In there." Super Macho Man pointed her towards the office in the back. Katrina nodded and ran inside.

"Dad!"

Dad was deeply battered, with deep purple bruises all over his body. As injured as he was, he seemed to brighten a bit when he saw his daughter.

"He's concussed," said the nurse to Katrina, "but not majorly so. A few days of rest, reduced lights, and no carbs should fix him right up."

Katrina sighed, helped her father up, and walked him to the bus stop.


Once they had gotten home, Katrina made sure the lights were off, then brought her father upstairs to his room. Dad curled up in bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

Katrina sighed and went to her own room. She opened up her phone and went to her friends' group chat.

sunshine123 sent: Hey Trina is your dad okay (8:01 pm)

kittykat08 replied to sunshine123's message: He's concussed :( (8:03 pm)

riverclanwarrior sent: ouch (8:03 pm)

kittykat08 sent: The nurse says he'll be fine in a few days (8:04 pm)

_.xjanetx._ sent: That's good. (8:05 pm)

Katrina put her phone down, laid down, and stared at the ceiling. This is all that new guy's fault, she thought. He's the one who beat my dad into a concussion!

She wished Vati was here, instead of out of town until the end of the month. He would know what to do. There had to be something she could do to get justice.

…Right?