Topic: The Force of a Great Typhoon

Nordem Sparks · Date: 2012-07-11 08:04 EST

The date was right in the middle of June at the fourteenth. Adenna had been through some changes: some seasonal, some economical and some business-wise. On the west side of the market a new library was going up and down on the south side an old carpentry shop was going out of business. Those were the best times to get those 85% off sales, and people were practically walking away with exquisite porch chairs and two or more hauling off the dining tables.

One of the constants had been the Nest Boxing Gym. Its bags were constantly getting hit, its floors getting scuffed with shoes and jumpropes, and its doors constantly opening despite the small membership because the fighters there did more training outside, running, than they did doing anything else inside. A testament to this would be Robin Mackay's workout sheets, and her star boxer: Nordem Sparks.

Over the months from Terry getting his license back in April and having his professional debut match scheduled for May, it was now June and near the end of it, and only now was he nearing that pushed back fight. Robin hated it as much as anyone else, and working with her paper-covered desk like she did, you knew she wasn't lying. But that was how these things went sometimes. A lot of relaying between gyms and officials to go through, especially off-realm, which this was.

?Not bad, Terry,? Robin said, returning her mittened hand to her person after he had knocked it back. He was learning where to put his shots in this upcoming fight, and now, he was done for the day. ?Go wash up and get dressed. We'll be going to RhyDin soon to support Nordem,? she watched him moving by her and that he wasn't going as quickly as she'd like, so she bopped him on his way. She made sure not to compliment him very noticeably at all ? no matter how hard she might have liked to. Did she regret leaving emotion outside of her gym? After what she's seen it do inside of it? No, she didn't regret it at all.

?Now where the hell are the rest of my fighters?!? she complained, hanging over the ropes of one of the only two rings that made up the Nest.

Outside ? and not very far off ? Nordem and Kruger had been running apart of one of Nordem's more intermediate workouts. They both jogged with paper masks over their masks which greatly decreased their ability to breathe easily, thereby training their lungs to the harsher settings of requiring less oxygen and improving their endurance. It was no easy workout, and both men made it look far easier than it actually was; they made it look like it was nothing at all.

Jogging behind Nordem, beside him, or ahead of him on occasion was something unique in and of itself. In a world ? no ? a universe of drama... the whiners and the doers will always be separate. The doers keep moving. They take their punches and roll with them, and they keep right on climbing the ladder, moving towards their goal, and getting back on the horse, while the whiners are left behind back there somewhere. You couldn't say where they were. They were too far behind you, and you'd already been running so long, and were only putting more distance between you. That was a great feeling. You knew you were in good company, too. You would only find people keeping committed just as you were.

Nordem's big fight was today. He'd waited far longer than he had wanted for it ? because the competition was so scarce ? and that contributed to his silence during training as the weeks went on in Adenna. There was no workout scheduled for today. His muscles had to recuperate. But some things you could not cut out of your daily regimen, and running was one of them for Nordem. He always ran. But some things on the usual workout were being left out today ? even spared Kruger ? because of the fight. Boring index card scribbles, but a few of them included: 60 wrist curls, 60 reverse wrist curls, 10 Long Goodnight punches on the heavy bag and 10 Long Goodnights on the double-end bag. All that would be left out ? all except the 5 miles run, which they just completed.

?A lot of fog out this morning,? Nordem said, coming into the gym and removing his sweatshirt hood and paper mask.

Robin looked none too pleased to see him, but rather upset and toe-tapping at a fighter ? her fighter ? that was about to be late for his first fight in months. ?You did plan on fighting today, didn't you?? Go get dressed! Everyone! You're not going to earn that 18th KO telling me what the weather's like outside. Go! Go!? she said, ushering him and Kruger back with the same enthusiasm she had shown Terry.

The two bumped elbows and looked over their shoulders at Robin on their way to the lockers, never unsurprised by how serious she always is, and how big of a mistake that it is when someone suspects she's anything other than it.

Only when they were gone was she able to seize a handful of her blonde hair and pull it back to the back of her head with both hands ? like a ponytail ? but because it was not yet long enough, strand by strand did they begin to fall back into place around the sides of her face. It was a frustrating start to the day: Nordem was supposed to be resting while he was out training, and Shannon was the opening fight to Nordem's main event, and he hadn't even gotten here yet!

?What else can go wrong today?? she sobbed out, and that was when the thunder grumbled in the distance.

Robin pressed her head against the only window pane at the front of her gym as the rain began to glisten down in long streaks on the other side. ?Yajuu Kai must be upset with something,? she speculated quietly, pouting her lip while she waited for her fighters to come out of the lockers and for Shannon to come running in.

The overhead bell chimed when the front door opened, and much to Robin's surprise, it wasn't Shannon who had entered ? it wasn't even a man ? but the forbidden of the genders to enter this gym: a woman.

Nordem Sparks · Date: 2012-07-11 08:12 EST

?Sh*t it's really coming down out there,? Techichi complained, shaking like a dog and bouncing like a woman.

Robin saw and understood the circumstances. Techichi's reasoning had been to get out of the rain, so Robin did little more than smirk at her entrance and hold her tongue from touching upon the issue. So long as it wouldn't become a habit. ?I can see that. What are you doing on this side of the city anyway??

?Huh?? Tetch replied, ?I'm a protector of this city, remember? I used to look over all these streets at one time, unless you've forgotten that. Ah well... keeping crime off the streets is something that often goes unnoticed. Let's hope you haven't forgotten that I'm a Siovanui,? she said, looking at the girl and trying to remember her name. It had left her for whatever reason.

?Tetch, you know you're not supposed to be in here,? Robin replied, choosing to step up and enforce her rules now because this could only get worse.

Tetch blinked. She wasn't used to being told where to go, not unless it was someone's home she wasn't invited in ? which could be considered the case here ? but it was also pouring down outside. Telling her to go out in a rain like that was beyond rude; it was insulting. ?You telling me to get out? I think Nayon is giving you a little too much free reign over here in your little punch house,? she approached her and stuck her pointer finger into the girl's chest.

Miraculously, Robin kept her cool.

Out walked Nordem with Terry, having himself another walking 3-minute shadowboxing session to loosen up on his way over to the double-end bag. He noticed Techichi briefly and then removed her from the gym by removing her from his eyes. He did not dislike women, but he disliked Tetch. He began getting the bobbing bag going while he waited to go, and Terry thought he would get himself a water, so he did just that.

?Well, well, well,? Tetch said, hands on her hips, big smile on her face. She looked Nordem up and down like a bully ? like someone who was trying to figure out what was so great about him and not seeing it at all. ?It's the pussyfooted pillowpuncher. We meet again, chump. Is this where you hide from me at?? she looked around the place with an even brighter smile. Tetch was happiest when she was ragging on somebody, but there may have been a deeper-seeded issue to it.

?Tetch,? Robin said right after her and just in case she had anything else to say. She looked at her with shocked eyes. Was she really going to make a scene here? At least this time ? an incredibly rare occurrence ? Robin gestured with her head for Tetch to stop; she begged, and though it was just a wordless gesture, that was what it was, and that was something she never did. Thankfully, Nordem had stuck to his exercising, but Techichi's clawing was bound to scratch something sensitive eventually, wasn't it?

?Hey, did you hear me, b*tch?? Tetch asked again to him, looking away from and discarding Robin's plea to be on her way. No, it was raining outside. The pride of the Ichi house was ? apparently ? on the line, and she was going to have any disrespect bend the knee at the end of the day. That may just have been the Nest's bad luck for the day. Again, Nordem showed his immunity to antagonizing and continued to ignore Tetch's vulgarities and antics, though he did stop hitting the bag to accept the water bottle that Terry handed him.

?Hmph,? Again Tetch scoffed at him, ?Is this what she's been teaching you? How to be a p*ssy?? she made herself to laugh, even if she hadn't found it funny. She had trained herself to believe her insults were funny, and she spat them out like machinework on an automatic production line. But that would be the last one she'd give. How curious a thing, though a thing she wanted, that Nordem now approached her with a wholly different look than the concentrated, bigger man from moments earlier. ?Ohhhh, I knew that one would work. Always diss the master and the apprentice steps forth every time. What ya gonna do now, punk?? she asked, leaning into his face.

Nordem Sparks · Date: 2012-07-11 08:16 EST

Tetch was no boxer. She could be called a fighter, sure, but much like her daughter, Seirichi, she endured more experienced things like technique and form and such to rise above in the end. But she wasn't quick, she had virtually no guard, and lacked speed. She had power in her corner, but not much else, and now she carried surprise ? much like the rest of the gym ? when she was punched, not once but twice, in a blur of speed that made it seem as though she was only struck once. Though Nordem was a mortal man, he had managed to cause the Siovanui to fall to the floor, leaning on her wrists for support.

?That was ? that was the Long Goodnight! He hit her with the Long Goodnight!? Terry whispered as loudly as he could in the shock he was in.

?No one's ever shut you up before, have they? Certainly no man,? Nordem began, standing over-top of her, ?Now you keep quiet and you listen to me. I won't let you stand there and insult the people who have poured their sweat and their blood and their lives into this sport.
I don't know if you'll ever understand what it means to believe in something with all of your heart, but we do here at the Nest. When I see you showboat around with that power of yours, I get sick to my stomach. You've done some good, and you think that's all you have to do. You think you're done, and that's fine. But don't you dare disgrace those who have done just as much as you if not more with nothing but their bare hands. Don't you dare,? he couldn't have been frowning harder, and he was unmoving. Techichi did not like opponents who did not back down.

Things could have gotten very real, very fast, and very vigilante judicial in the next few moments if it weren't for the quick thinking of Robin Mackay. Techichi ? not thinking clearly ? began to transform into her Siovanui body. That would have made for a very one-sided fight had not Robin shouted to everyone's attention her name and restrained her as best she could, not to conquer her, but to make her realize what she was doing.

?Think for a minute, Techchi! Think about what you're doing!? she shouted into the ear of the metallic-bodied Tetch. Her eyes were wide, and they saw nothing else but Nordem, but even Techichi could prove that she was capable of surprises today as well. She began to power down and return to normal.

Sighs were shared all around, but Nordem was unmoving. He was still ready to fight if she was, because immediately behind his shoes where he stood in unmoving stance were the beliefs he had devoted his life to, and he was nothing if someone was able to discredit them in-front of him.

Tetch panted, back in her normal form. She looked around at everyone while she tried to calm her breathing that was not taxed in the slightest. What she had been was eager to kill a man, and for what? She was actually asking herself this question. What had happened just now? It didn't make sense to her, and she immediately regretted her decision. But there was no rebuilding from a situation like this when you were who she was. The logical next step was to save face, and that's what she proceeded to do.

She headed for the door, but stopped in its doorway to point back at Nordem. ?We'll settle this between us real soon, Sparks,? the fun out of the name-guessing game out the window now, ?You've had it your way. That was a free one. Next time we'll do it the Adennian way: with a circle and a knife in the dirt,? she stormed out into the rain, slamming the door. Robin had gotten her wish after all.

Now the silence filled the gym. No one knew what to say, and that was when Shannon at long last walked into the gym.

?Sorry! Sorry! I know I'm late! You can talk my ear off about it later, though. It's Fight Day! And we need to ? huh?? noting their faces,?...what the hell did I miss??

Nordem Sparks · Date: 2012-07-11 08:18 EST

It was always a unique experience being around a large crowd several thousands strong. In attendance tonight: fourteen-hundred filled the fourteen-hundred seats. Cameras went off randomly in the sea of people, as numerous and predictable as a late evening firefly watching. Shannon's fight had just ended in the seventh round, and the crowd morale was healthy afterward from seeing the KO they'd waited for, and even the winner himself with a swollen face. It wasn't an easy fight, and nobody wanted to pay for an easy fight.

This venue: The Sonnen Grand Sports Arena. It was what you could call a transforming stadium. It was used for various things ? as various things occurred in Rhydin ? and was stripped down and redressed to cater to what was required of it. Be it a concert, a theatrical show, a debate or what have you, the Sonnen Grand has been a constantly shifting structure. What never changed from it, however, was the name and the amazing turnouts it always pulled in.

It was time for Nordem's first fight in almost eleven months. The seats reserved by the Adennian group were over in Row F, that's the east Row F, not the west of the same name, and it was pretty lonely over there at least where home support was concerned. Shannon had gone straight back to his dressing room after his win, and Robin was down with Nordem in the N.B.G. green room. That didn't leave much but Terry and tag-along, Christopher Andan, in the seats, and nervously awaiting what it would look like to see Nordem fight in his first title defense.

?It's easy to forget how different Rhydin is from Adenna, huh,? Terry said, trying to take his mind off the anticipation and getting the butterflies out of his stomach, and it helped that the arena was so marvelous and so packed that there was more than enough to talk about.

?Yeah, you could say it's a lot different than home. But you could also say they're identical, too, couldn't you? A lot of excited fans gearing to see a fight and support their favorite. When you think about it like that,? Chris said with a large smile, and he reclined back in his chair to look around and really enjoy being out like this before gauging Terry's emotions, ?Well, we're one in the same, aren't we??

?I suppose so,? Terry replied, but he wasn't really convinced yet. He could agree that they could all get along and laugh and things like that, but when it came to fighting, he really felt that Adennians were far more superior to any other country, and Nordem was representing them tonight in a way. ?But these fans will see. Nordem will give them the most amazing KO they've ever seen. He's got more artillery in his arsenal than any other fighter. We'll make some Rhydin fans today.?

?Oh ho ho, is that what you think?? an older man asked on the descent of his laughter. He appeared to be walking through their row to get to his seat on the other side, but when he didn't stop and instead began talking to them, Chris and Terry looked over at him. He had short gray hair and some of it white, a tan suit and matching fedora that didn't look good at all. But in your old age, people let you wear whatever you want.

?Yeah, I do think so. Heavyweight division is where all the best fights are,? Terry defended.

?I think you'll be pretty surprised then,? the suited man said, taking a seat beside Chris and removing his hat. He grinned and seemed to know something that neither Adennian did. ?You've got yourself a world-class athlete... but you need more than that to have a world-class fight,? he focused on the empty ring ahead as their nearby staircase lights dimmed down and many other systems of light all around the coliseum. Many overhead lights began to flicker and spasm for the introductions of the upcoming fight.

Chris clapped his hands, taking his eyes off the old man. ?Alright! It's about time.?

All of the lights were flashing, but one flicked on and it remained constant, and that soon lit the way for the challenger coming out to threaten the Light Heavyweight Championship belt of the low-key and reasonably new Rhydin Boxing Association. The crowd was instantly in an uproar at their local fighter, Brock Hannon, entering the ring to the popular, high-charting track ?Loving Looks & Left Hooks? off The Judes' new album, Keepers of the Hopeless, currently on-top of the billboards. Behind him, his trainer Kent Archer entered the ring.

Coming in next to the cues of Robin's selected alternative rock music, and in more confident contrast to the cheerier music of the challenger that came before, Nordem made his way to the ring. Robin walked beside him, wearing gym shorts, a wriststrap of cotton swabs, and a shirt written all over with N.B.G. Nordem's face was concealed by the hood of his ceremonial robe ? ?Sparks? written on the back ? ?Sparks? written on his shorts ? and glistening from the ends of its sleeves were two cherry red gloves. The crowd received him strongly.

?There's Nordem!? Terry cheered.

?Heh,? Chris laughed, seeing the familiar face down there. ?Almost looks like another person, doesn't he? He's completely different from at home.?

?No...? the old man riled down both of their excitement with his immediate pessimism, ?He looks exactly the same,? he said, rising from his seat and leaving the way he came. He went back up the stairs and didn't look back, like a disappointed fan.

Chris watched him go while Terry's gushing over Nordem had gave him tunnel vision enough not to even notice. ?Huh, the fight hasn't even started yet.?

?No, but look! It's about to!? Terry exclaimed. The boy was sure right, too. The fight was definitely about to begin, and he couldn't wait to see what a championship fight looked like.

Ding! The bell rang and started the fight. The Adennian seats were grouped together but were not ringside by any means. Seeing the two fighters moving around one another was about all there was to notice, and that wasn't so bad because it was not exciting by any means, much to Terry's disappointment.

Nordem Sparks · Date: 2012-07-11 08:20 EST

There was no action. The punches were scarce, and when they weren't circling each other, Hannon was diving in and clinching. Popular RBA referee Ricardo Hosono ? and frequent officiator of WestEnd's underground fighting circuits was officiating tonight. He'd see them lock and have to remember the rules of boxing, and how different they were from the more 'anything goes' rules he was used to enforcing. As such, they often remained in extremely close quarters for longer than usual, and tried to hold one another's arms from throwing punches from their blind spots.

When the bell rang again, Nordem returned to his corner and sat down on his stool looking very aggravated by something. Robin could read it on his face as she ducked under the ropes and examined his face while applying petroleum gel to it.

?He's still conscious. What's the problem, huh?? she asked, looking into his eyes but not looking into them ? checking his dilation.

?I don't know,? he answered in a most-lacking of energy and enthusiasm, though he was not fatigued in the slightest. Robin didn't know what to make of his attitude, and neither did Nordem really.

?Yeah you do,? she said, wiping his hair aside with force and smoothing a glob of petroleum rub on his cheek to a slightly-less thick glob. She didn't want it in his skin, she wanted it on his skin, and she wanted Hannon's fists to slide right off it if they had to hit him at all. ?You listen. Listen! When it's you in the ring and the other guy's still conscious, that is the problem. Knock this guy out, okay?? she smacked him in the face and then the bell rang.

From the stands, it might've looked like something truly inspirational was being told to the boxers from their cornermen. The other side of that coin said that it could have just as easily been nothing worth knowing, and that would have been the side that reflected what really happened. Robin and Nordem had teamed up as something magical in their past fights together, but today, whatever that was, it was absent.

For three more rounds Nordem went out and did this with Hannon. He returned to his corner with the same heavy gravity upon his spirit that hadn't lifted since the first round. At the start of the fifth round, Hannon tried to throw one of those any wild punches that can end a bout of this weight division, and Nordem unforgivingly punished him for it with experience. The man was down, the count was stopped and the fight was declared a Knock Out for Nordem and his glove was lifted into the air.

Record: 22 Wins.
0 losses.
18 K.O.s
22 Frowns.

Chris Andan whistled from their seats and Terry similarly applauded, though with a lacking spirit than he had started out with. The truth was, Nordem felt the way he did because of how people like Terry had seen him fight ? as opposed to how they and him would have liked to see him fight. A world-class demonstration... and this was not.

Nordem Sparks · Date: 2012-07-11 08:22 EST

Back in the green room, Nordem watched the television replaying their post-fight interview and analysis. He held his hand out to Robin who was busily cutting the intricately wound tape from his fingers and wrist and metacarpus. All he could focus on, even through her conservative compliments, was his slightly swollen face and his bruised side where those punches had all hit him during all of that clinching. It disgusted him.

?Fifth round Knock Out. Quickest win of the night. You lived up to your main event status,? she said, having undone enough to rapidly wind the tape from his arm to her fingers and then discard it.

Nordem flexed his naked fingers like he'd been waiting to since the glove came off. He looked at her quickly and then closed his eyes to rest, leaning his head back on the cement wall.

?Hey,? she punched his chest with a whipped out fist, ?What's eating you, really? You defended your title, we should be celebrating!?

?This belt's only as good as the people I won it from, and that isn't much of anything. Here I am dyin' a little more every year, and I defended a title probably majority of the people in this realm don't even know exists. I've never felt more wrong in my life... which is why I know relinquishing this belt is the right thing to do.?

?What? What??? Robin hung her head and shook it from side to side just enough to look dumbfounded for him and show him that his idea had really made that little sense. ?Is this some old idea you've been keeping from me?? You think that RhyDin is going to let you continue to fight here if you evacuate the champion's seat of their second most popular weight class? Hell, Nordem! We're supposed to be at a press conference to contract who your next opponent is!? Robin threw her hands out to her sides.

?You go. Lay the belt on the table. Tell them their fighters aren't worth my time because it's true. I don't know what I'm going to do, but this isn't where I need to be,? Nordem said with his arms on the insides of his legs as he begun to stare a hole right through the wall ? at least until Robin flung her arms out again ? this time carelessly.

?The answer's easy, son. Go where the fighters are. No one's ever gonna see how good you are beating nobodies like that kid tonight. Beat the best, be the best,? the old man said in the doorway of Nordem's green room, the one in the same that had been with Chris and Terry out in the stands. They hadn't known who he was, but Robin and Nordem both knew, and they both felt very differently about the man.

?The hell are you doing here?? Robin asked, but it wasn't an answer she was looking for from him. She was as disgusted by the sight of him as she was with the sound of him that brought on the sight of him. His name was Bruce Mackay, and he was her father.

?I'm watching a champion waste away in his prime on amateur fighters is what I'm doing,? he said, old in his age but still sharp and blunt as the day he opened up the Nest that Robin manages now.

?You don't know what you're talking about ? neither of you do. RBA is where the champions go. Of course no one's as good as Nordem. That's why he does what he does. But as far as competition goes, I'm positive this is as good as it's gonna get,? Robin explained more to her father than to anyone.

?I know Nordem's getting old... and you don't stay young in this sport for very long... no not very long at all,? Bruce said, leaning off of the doorway and coming in to step ahead of his daughter, almost to the point of ignoring her, and focusing on nothing but the fighter he'd once trained. He grinned.

Robin could take a hint, ?Don't insult my intelligence like I haven't done my homework. I've read too many damn mags to not know people in this business and the fighters they follow. I'm sticking to my guns on this one. You two wanna talk? Then talk. But I will only coach a fighter in the RBA.? She walked out of the room.

Nordem looked at Bruce then once they were alone and they stayed quite for a while. It'd been some time since the two of them had had a word. The last time, in-fact, that Bruce coached Nordem had been here in RhyDin, and somehow they were both able to hold their tongues during Robin's explanation from spilling an in-joke between them that RhyDin boxers were all ?sh*te.?

They stared a while longer, each of their grins gradually beginning to grow until Bruce stepped over and took his other hand that hadn't had the tape removed yet. He'd do it for him, rewinding the clock in-effect and taking them both back to younger days.

Nordem Sparks · Date: 2012-07-11 08:23 EST

At the press conference, Robin had gambled on Nordem's overcoming whatever this was he was going through and coming out, sitting beside her, making a statement, thanking the organization (for their money), and signing his next fight. Well, the cameras were shooting like crazy and lighting Robin and Hannon and Hannon's coach and crew even more than the setup lighting had been doing. It was something of a big deal, so you can imagine Robin's discouragement when she looked to the seat next to her and Nordem wasn't there. She looked down the hall where he would've come from, but he didn't come from it. She sighed unnoticeably, but she kept watching. She couldn't stare at it forever, especially since enough photographs had been shot of her doing so that already immortalized her despair. The conference was canceled, and Nordem was stripped of his RBA Light Heavyweight belt.

It was an enormous slap in the face and show of distrust in your trainer, but Robin's history with Nordem allowed her to get over it that night. The next morning she was prepared to move on and eventually bring it up with him ? perhaps on his run ? about the direction to go in after that falling out with the RBA. It was a problem, but there wasn't nothing that couldn't be worked out, and important to that, she was willing to.

She was pleased to see Nordem's bike parked outside that he took with him on his long route that alternated biking and endurance hiking with it over his back. She entered the Nest Boxing Gym and never sighed so happily ? glad to be back in Adenna and with the sounds of her own equipment being used by her own fighters. It was going to be a good day.

?Nordem!? Robin called authoritatively to the locker room ? the only other place Nordem could have been if he hadn't left already ? while dropping her bag and keys off on her desk. She was back to her trainer-self, and though sounding mean, no one could see her, so she was able to grin. But Nordem never answered her. That wiped it off soon enough.

She had time to drape her paper mask around her neck and stuff her stopwatch into the front pocket of her sweatjacket before swinging around the corner her office door was on and peek in the locker room, ?Nordem? We doing road work or what? Come on. Just cause you don't have a fight set doesn't mean you're on vacation.?

Robin gasped, and it was not the surprised sort; it was terror. Nordem was fully dressed, his belongings in his bag he so rarely brought to the gym, and to paint the entire picture to her, her father was behind him in the suit he wore when he was working again ? and he'd been retired for years.

?What's... going on... here?? she asked, she asked even though she knew. Still, hearing it was a necessary evil just to put it in writing, even when it had already been put in drawing for you.

?RBA isn't where I'm going to spend my remaining years in this sport, Robin. I'm only getting weaker fighting these guys you find for me. I'm forgetting what a good fight feels like. I'm going back under Bruce's camp, and I'm moving up to Heavyweight. We're going to Earth, and we're going to collect all their belts. If there are good fighters left, that's where they'll be,? Nordem explained.

?Get out. Get out of my gym. Get out of my gym and don't come back!? Robin shouted with the guiding pointer finger. Nordem was already obeying her request by the first time she'd asked. It was unfortunate, but he had the say in what he wanted to do with his fists. It was his life out there every time in twelve three-minute rounds. What made this hard though was that Robin deserved some say as well; he just wasn't giving it to her.

?There's something you need to remember, Robin,? Bruce began, placing the hat onto his head that completed his suit. ?Nordem's not your fighter. I know you can get immersed in that fantasy because you've trained him for so long. But you were always only the custodian of that fighter, just like I was and am once again until he needs someone else's teachings. He wants to do this, so we're going to try it. But the Nest still needs a Mackay. I put you in charge cause you churn fighters out these old doors. Don't forget about all their goals just cause your star boxer walked out on you.? He had the gall to lecture her after stealing her champion from right in-front of her, but he didn't look like he was necessarily rubbing it in. Could be he was telling the truth to Robin ? something she didn't take well when it was against her.

?We'll mail you when we get settled in!? Bruce said, walking out the door behind Nordem Sparks, leaving Robin just as motionless as her paused exercising fighters littered throughout the gym.

Robin thought very briefly about yanking down that line of framed photographs of all Nordem's KOs. Ultimately, she went back into her office and left them on the wall. She grabbed a handful of her blonde hair and reasoned pulling it out might help bring her closer to just what in the hell she was going to do now. She removed the stopwatch from her jacket and looked at it before starting the timer and watching it some more and then laying it on her desk. Those seconds just began climbing, and to Robin, it read as the official time that started when the Nest Boxing Gym had changed forever.