What had become a familiar feeling of pacing around the ready room with Sam in tow didn’t feel the same this time. Fight nerves were normal for Coop, but this was different. Sam didn’t need to tell him what was going on and it was sweet of her to wait until after the fight. That much was true. Still, it was eating him alive, not knowing, wondering if there was something truly wrong like one of the newer mutations of cancer that were harder to treat or something worse. They’d been to some weird places together and humans weren’t known to have the greatest immune systems.

Whatever it was, they’d deal with it. That’s where they left it at.

After spending all afternoon warming up with Burns and Regis, Coop was as ready as he’d ever been to face down a raging Kriger. Very few combatants got this far in their careers to fight the champ, never mind getting a second chance after fumbling hard on the first time out. Chances were slim there would ever be a third crack at this level, not if he messed up like he did last time. His uncle and Burns headed off to their box high above the arena, Regis a gym owner now and reaping the benefits befitting of an official league partner.

An unexpected knock came, most likely his uncle trying to get one last deal solidified, before Coop stepped out for the fight of his life. When he looked up, though, the figure standing there was an unexpected one. It wasn’t his uncle or even Burns; it was instead the augmented dark figure that was TAKASHI. To the best of Coop’s knowledge, TAKASHI rarely left Ushinatta, and if he did, the league was the furthest thing from his mind. Perhaps it was bitterness at their harsh augmentation rules, or just his distaste for something so organized, political and fueled by money.

“TAKASHI,” Coop said. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.” His voice was quiet, echoing off the cavernous walls and filling the room more than his reserved presence would imply.

“That’s... you’ve never been to a fight out here, have you?”

“No.”

“Wow, so you came all the way to this planet full of things you hate to watch this fight?” Coop couldn’t quite wrap his head around this one.

“In a way, yes,” he said. “I heard about your eye.”

“Oh, right. It’s not doing great.”

“I have no love for the league and their Draconian augmentation rules,” TAKASHI muttered. “Why are you fighting for them?”

“What do you mean? I’m fighting because I have a chance to be the champion. No other human has gotten this far. This is history.”

“What does history matter when it’s not what you want?” TAKASHI riddled him. “These fights don’t matter. There’s no heart or passion, just money. You aren’t that man.”

“Maybe I am,” Coop said. “I’ve gotten this far. It doesn’t make sense to stop now.”

“Old friend, what I’m telling you is to be true to yourself.”

“You know the money isn’t why I’m here.”

“I can feel you.” TAKASHI reached out and placed his hand on Coop’s shoulder. “There’s no passion for this fight, for these people. The warrior I met isn’t before me.”

“Okay, look. This isn’t helping.” Coop brushed his arm aside and paced around, trying to decipher what the point of this was. “You know this is a big fight for me. If you’re here to wish me well, do that. If you’re here to... I don’t know? Convince me to stop for no reason. Fuck off, man.”

“That’s not why I’m here,” he said. “I’m here to remind you there’s always a choice. Ramirez belongs here now. His spirit is set on it. He’s still young and full of vigor.”

“Are you telling me I’m old? Enough of this speaking in riddles shit. You’re gonna get into my head.”

“I want what’s best for you. When you returned to Ushinatta we fought again, perhaps for the last time—”

“You don’t know that.”

“Don’t tell me what I know,” TAKASHI said. “Whatever passion for this remained needed to be rekindled in the pits of Ushinatta. Your life has changed and so have you. Sometimes it just takes an old friend to remind you of how much you’ve changed. That man I fought wasn’t the same one I fought before. Yes, you defeated me, but I’m not the man I was before, either.”

“Is this about the regen tank I left?”

“Sort of. That certainly was a bold move,” he said. “You showed me something there, though. Taught me a lesson I hadn’t learned yet.”

“I did?” That didn’t sound right.

“Yes. Technology holds together my body, the same technology that prevents me from entering this arena. So why was I so resistant to technology that could have prevented myself becoming a cyborg?”

“Oh c’mon, you aren’t a fucking—”

“By every sense of the word, I am,” TAKASHI said. “I’ve made my peace with it. As I assume you’ll need to, at least with your eye.”

“Can we talk about this after? I appreciate all of this, I—”

“My friend, be true to yourself.” TAKASHI stood, gave him a nod and walked toward the door.

“You came all the way here to tell me that?” Coop shouted across the room. “Are you kidding me?”

“He’s not wrong,” Sam said.

“Did you see that? What was that?” Coop motioned at his friend, the door zipping shut behind him. “What do you mean he’s not wrong?”

“You know this... thing I haven’t been telling you?”

“Of course I do.” He practically shouted it. “I can’t stop thinking about it, thinking that we’re wasting our time here and you could be sick and need care and you’re sticking with me through this, when I should be there for you.”

“It’s not like that, Coop.” She reached up and placed her hands around the back of his neck, pulling him in. “I’m not sick.”

“You aren’t? That’s great, Sam. But if you aren’t sick, then what’s wrong?”

“Oh Coop.” Tears welled up in her eyes, Sam looking away.

“What? Just tell me, already. It doesn’t matter what it is, we’ll get through this. I can’t go out and fight like this not knowing.”

“I don’t want you worrying before this fight,” she said. “I promised myself I’d wait. At least I tried to wait, it’s been so hard to hide it from you.”

“Hide what?”

“Coop, I...” Her eyes locked with his and it seemed that time had come to a standstill in that moment, her words cutting through and returning time to normal with a zip. “I’m pregnant.”

It was at that very moment the picture came into focus, whatever he perceived of his life until that point came to a dramatic close. They were going to have a baby. Coop was going to be a father. Him. A father.

“Holy fucking shit,” he muttered. “I’m gonna be a father?”