Stepping out onto the mats, surrounded by the people he’d made no attempt to show even remote kindness to, made the knot in his stomach twist and burn. Even though he deserved that pain, it didn’t make him feel any better about his previous lack of humility. Although names remained foggy to him, the faces were etched into his memory from his time in the compound, as brief as it was. That period of his career remained dark, but not the kind of darkness that was easily forgotten. Instead, now it burned inside of him. The gawking at seeing him, donning the eye patch and again entering the mats of their fancy, modern training facility. Coop snatched up a wooden cudgel for practice and made towards a heavy bag in the corner of the giant open room.

“What are you doing?” Regis approached before he could warm up.

“I’m here, right? May as well get some reps in.”

“Thought you were waiting for that thing to heal up?”

“If it does,” he said. “We still aren’t sure it will. If it doesn’t, I’m gonna need to be ready to fight with one eye. I figure if Skidz can do it, I’ll be fine with some work.”

“Kriger is no Skidz.”

“No shit.” His uncle was a firm believer in tough love and always pushing, never showing weakness. While he couldn’t fault him for being that way, it only helped to harden him and taught him plenty of bad habits he was attempting to unlearn.

“Well, whatever. While you’re here, you’re free to use the facilities as you please,” Regis said. “Although I know, it’s just a bunch of losers.”

Those words hung in the air, Coop squaring himself up toward the bag and gripping the cudgel, trying to get a feel for the heft and weight, and for his uncle to fuck off. And yet, he remained, letting his words sting while awaiting a reply. Coop took a few deep breaths, knuckles white, gripping the bat with his surging anger, doing his best to not smack him over the head with the crude weapon. Regis chortled at the display, knowing he’d hit a nerve with Coop. The duality of the man who bent over backwards to ensure Coop’s safety and recovery just wanted to dig in further let him feel it.

“I know I was an asshole,” Coop said. “While I’m here, I’m gonna try to give back.”

“Give back?” Regis laughed louder. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“These kids need more than they can get from you or that red-faced asshole you call a coach. So yeah, it’s gonna be real nice, you piece of shit.”

“Can’t wait to see this.” Regis shook his head and waddled away, leaving Coop alone with the bag and the cudgel.

The first shot came from his pent up rage, contact coming far too low, closer to the hilt of the bat than he’d ever throw, sending vibrations through his hands. He cursed under his breath, stepping back and landing another blow, this one flush and proper, getting the expected thud and resistance. With each successive blow, he needed to temper his expectations, understanding his newfound limitations and need to give himself time to relearn what had been instinctive.

It had been years since he’d trained in a setting like this under his own volition, instead opting to spend his time in his rented warehouse near his flat with his proprietary combat mech. A few of the cheaper, off-the-assembly line Kaijutech bots were littered about, but Coop refused to work with them, which always angered his uncle, who saw it as a branding opportunity. They’d been chasing Coop for years to slap his name on one of their models, along with his likeness for adverts and such, but it was one area Coop wouldn’t budge on. A few mats over, a younger hulk of a man swung a massive hammer at a Kaijutech bot, putting in his reps until something hit Coop. He knew the bastard.

The cudgel still in hand, Coop stopped smacking away at the bag and being frustrated with himself, instead watching the kid from a safe distance. The square jawed Robert Burns, with his hammer attempting to look like an ancient god of thunder, wearing his training gear and not the same, skin tight bodysuit. Since their fight, he’d tightened things up, or at least seemed to have done so. The unchecked aggression that didn’t work against Coop wasn’t present, which is what being bettered in front of your peers would do to you. After a few moments, Robert landed a crushing blow with the hammer head to the robot’s jaw after setting it up with a jab from the hilt, forcing the bot onto its back. Coop couldn’t help but laugh, tucking the cudgel under his arm and clapping.

“Well done,” he said.

“Uh, oh...” Burns stopped and glared over at Cooper, taken aback by who was standing there. “Hilarious. Well done for a loser, right?”

“I probably deserve that,” Coop said.

“What the fuck are you doing here, anyway?” Burns asked. “I’m trying to train.”

“You’ve slowed down, you’re thinking things through more, picking your shots.” It was true. That’s what Coop had seen.

“That’ll happen when someone embarrasses you,” he said.

“I was trying not to hurt you too bad,” Coop said. “I’m sorry if it came off otherwise.”

“You think?” Burns lashed back. “You came here, into our gym, had the red carpet rolled out for you and called us all losers? Then, when we fought, you couldn’t show me an ounce of respect. No shit, I’m not on your level, but you didn’t give me anywhere near the same respect you gave that biker guy with the chain.”

“Ramirez?” he asked.

“Yeah, that guy.”

“Ramirez is someone I bonded with,” Coop said. “It’s different, but yeah, I’m sorry, no matter what. I should’ve shown you some respect. You’re a big deal up here and eventually, you’ll be in the big time.”

“Eventually, huh?” There was an edge to his voice. He was still pretty pissed.

“With what I just saw? There’s something there, man. That big ass hammer needs control if you’re married to it. I get it, right? The whole barbed wire bat thing? Not exactly a normal weapon, nor the best. Still, I love it and it’s my thing. If the hammer and the whole Thor thing is for you, embrace it and figure it out.”

“Why are you even here?” he asked.

“You didn’t see Skidz try to tear my eye out?”

“Of course I did. We all saw it. You still beat him.”

“Yeah, I beat Skidz, alright. Still not sure if that eye will ever work the same again. My uncle showed up, though, and brought me here to your doc.” Coop let out a deep sigh, knowing this wasn’t enough. “I... look, I know I was an asshole before. There’s no excuse for it, even if I was going through some shit. You all looked up to me and I big timed you guys.”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Trust me, I’m figuring this out.” Coop walked over to the fallen bot, prodding it with his cudgel. “They got you working just with these things?”

“More or less, yeah. We do plenty of sparring, but these are mostly what we work with.”

“Never liked the Kaijutech.”

“Are you kidding me?” Burns asked. “Kaijutech is the gold standard.”

“No they ain’t, bud,” Coop said. “Fucking hell, I feel pretty bad. How about this? I’m gonna call my buddy Brent up, get my custom bot boxed up and shipped up here and I’ll show you how a champion trains.”

“Custom bot?” Burns turned to him. “Custom how?”

“These things are fine, but their AI is shit, the subroutines are predictable and they can’t imitate most of those big bastards we’ve gotta fight out there. These things are repurposed service bots with a few fight programs in ‘em. Nah, they’re fine, but I’ve turned down their money enough times to know they’re shit.”

“You’d do that?” he asked.

“I’ll go do that right now. I know it doesn’t make up for being an asshole or anything, but it’s something.