Reunion (A Punch Out Fic)

.:Chapter 5-Family Matters:.

That night, the boxers had all retreated to their accommodated apartment complex to rest for the night. The WVBA provided free rooms for the boxers during the boxing season. Each and their own room, and a shared kitchen space. At the moment, the latter area was being inhabited by the two strongest champions.

Macho and Sandy sat, quietly chatting over a nice cup of coffee. Except it was mostly Sandman talking as Macho, for once, shut his mouth. Unable to muster any words. The Cali man simply sat on the barstool that stood by the kitchen island and stared at his hands. They were slightly trembling. He tried to make them stop, but an unconscious feeling in his head wouldn't let him. Sandman knew why he was quiet, this sudden change of behavior didn't come out of nowhere. In fact, he was partially responsible for starting it.

----Earlier That Day----

"Come on you two! Crack on!" Doc cried, timing the two giants as they went at it on the bags. Sandman, as to be expected, was in the lead, and by a mile too. Aran and Don both cheered him on from the side. Macho was trying his best to keep up with his friend's pace. However, as he kept going at it, he felt himself beginning to lose his breath and stumble. Often missing the bag. Frustration grew on his face. "COME ON, CARLOS! YOU AREN'T EVEN TRYING!" Doc teased. Sandman gave a small chuckle and shot his friend a cheeky look. "What's wrong? Are you not feeling Macho enough today?" He asked. "SHUT UP!" Macho screamed back, his punches growing faster, but still missing the bag. His face was growing red and flustered and the corner of his eyes began to sting.

Finally, he gave a scream of defeat and yanked the bag down from the hook in a huff before storming off to the locker rooms. Sandman rolled his eyes with a chuckle, "Aw come on now, Carly" he joked, following after him. He pushed open the locker room doors with a laugh, "Really now, you gonna be that bad of a sp-" Sandman started, his smile dropping when he saw Macho in the corner of the Locker room. His head rested on his right hand, and gripped tightly around his eyes. Quiet, choked sobbing could be heard from the man, he brought his hand down from his eyes and over his mouth as he gripped his necklace tightly in his other hand. He sniffled before wiping away any excess tears, catching Sandman in the corner of his eye. “Sandy! I-I…I was just…I got some cologne in my eye and-” he said, fumbling around with an excuse. Sandy shook his head and sat next to him, “What’s wrong? Surely this wasn’t because of what I said, right?” he asked. The other man shook his head, wiping at his nose. 

The other man had to ponder for a reason as to why this was happening, when suddenly, it clicked. “This is because of Aran yesterday, isn’t it?” he asked, Macho didn’t respond for a bit, instead staring at the floor of the locker room. “It…it reminded you…” Sandman had to pause, and really think about the next words out of his mouth, “...reminded you of…of him…didn’t it?” Clearly the wrong choice as Macho suddenly began to cry again. It was such a rare sight to see. Macho’s…well Macho personality shielded any outward emotional bursts like this. Sandman could only recall one other time that this happened…the day he retired his dad after winning a match. Admittedly, it was a happy moment for both of them. He got to box his dad in one of the grandest matches of that time, and his dad got to go out of the ring with a bang. But it didn’t take away from the hurt. Being the reason someone has to stop doing what they love? It sucked. Albeit, his dad was getting old anyways but even then…

Sandman sighed and brought a hand to Macho’s shoulder and gave a reassuring pat. He wasn’t good with comforting others. That was usually Disco’s job. He tried to give the other man a smile to let him know it was alright. “It’s ok, Carlos,” he said, quietly, “It’s not gonna happen again…we won’t let it happen again, alright? I promise”, “You can’t promise that” Macho growled through gritted teeth, “No one in this damn building can promise that!”, “Yeah, well I-” Sandman went to speak, but he cut himself off. He really couldn’t guarantee his claim, and he knew saying anything more might make it worse. “Just…go…” Macho said quietly, turning away from the other man, “...I-I’ll come out in a bit”