Reunion (A Punch Out Fic)

.:Chapter 10 - Broken Bridges:.

"HOW COULD YOU LET HIM DIE!?"

Doc looked to his left to see Joe, pointing an accusing finger in his face. Soon a clamouring of yelling reached his ears, as fellow boxers swarmed his left and right. Faces of anger from Bald Bull, Soda Popinsky, and even Bear Hugger were in his face, yelling and demanding an answer from Doc.

"WHY WOULD YOU LET HIM DO THAT!?"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HIM!?"

"YOU COULD'VE PREVENTED IT! YOU COULD'VE STOPPED IT!!"

"YOU WERE TOO SCARED OF LOSING YOUR STUPID TITLE!!"

"WHAT? DOES A TITLE MEAN MORE THAN YOUR FRIEND'S LIFE!!"

"IT'S YOUR FAULT HE'S GONE!!"

"IT'S YOUR FAULT HE'S DEAD!!"

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!!"

"IT'S YOUR FAULT!!"

"YOUR FAULT!!"

"YOUR FAULT!!"

Doc covered his ears as the words rang through his mind. He felt himself grow weak as he tried to stand, only for his knees to buckle and meet on the ground. He let out a desperate scream of frustration as the words became louder and louder.

"YOUR FAULT!!"

"YOUR FAULT!"

"YOUR FAULT!!"

"ENOUGH!!" He cried. Suddenly the clamouring stopped. The room was empty, only he and the spotlight were still there. Doc's heavy breathing was the only sound heard for a while until faint footsteps reached his ears. Doc turned to where the sound was coming from, his jaw-dropping in horror as he saw the ghostly, mangled figure of Kid Quick standing in front of him. His whole body, clothes and features were coloured a faint blue, only just visible. His eyes were lifeless, dead...like the rest of him.

He looked at Doc and sighed, "Jeri..." he began, his voice strained and tired, "...why did you let me die?..."

"No...no...Jordan I...no...no, no, no, no, No, NO, NO!!"

--------------

"NO!!" Doc cried, shooting upwards from the bed. He looked around the room in a panic and sighed. Doc let his head fall into his hands and fell back onto his pillow in annoyance. This week has been nothing but painful, and now tonight he was living his worst fear. It was all because of that stupid accident on Monday.

He wasn't mad at Mac though. Was this situation frustrating because of him? Without a doubt. But he knew the boy didn't know any better. He just wanted to know...he wanted to help...he's always wanted to help...but he didn't know how. Doc certainly didn't help in any way...

...But that changed now. Doc grabbed his phone and flicked a message to Sandman.

"Hey Mason, can u run training today? I need to talk to Mac"

A few seconds passed before a message popped up on his phone.

"Algudz"

"Thank you"

Doc chucked his phone to the side and sighed. This was gonna be a long day.

--------------

9:00 dawned in New York. Yesterday's training went much better once most of the steam was out of everyone's system. Lost and wasted on the bags. The Friday night bout lingered around the corner, and everyone needed to focus. It was increasingly difficult for Tiger, however. He was without his friend, his consult, his comfort. He was getting more and more irate as the morning went on, and it had no signs of getting any better. His gem was flashing more and more, it was giving Tiger headaches. A frustrated groan escaped him. He wiped away angry tears and grabbed his phone, dialling Hugger's number.