Owen hadn’t heard from Tuck for a few weeks, which Owen understood to a certain degree. They were laying low. He needed time to train anyway and he was living well below his means. He even cancelled his weekly subscription packages which meant he was missing Star Quest. He did miss seeing Amber Callahan in her tight space suit, but he shouldn’t have been enjoying one of the people he was fighting against.

  Routine was the name of the game. Owen woke up in his tube. Said good morning to his poster of Amber and ate a light breakfast of oat based cereal and drank a bottle of water. Then he went to the dojo, trained for five hours, broke for lunch and trained another four. He didn’t feel the ache in his knuckles anymore. Shin splints were a thing of the past and Sensei Hardknuckle had him adding low and mid kicks into his repertoire.

  “This is bullshit,” Owen said. He leaned on the staff made from a thick mop handle. Sensei Dan had him working with the staff as a way of introducing him to the wonderful world of Kobudo. Weapons!

  “The staff is a versatile tool with a storied past,” Sensei Dan said. He narrowed his eyes at Owen. “I won’t hear any slander against it.”

  “Not the staff. Tuck, the team.” Owen sighed. “Do you think they still want me on the team? I couldn’t do anything with the lock, I got sprayed. Maybe I fucked up? They would’ve called by now, right?” It would’ve been nice to know anything at all. The waiting was almost as bad as getting pepper sprayed.

  “If there was fault in the operation it was not with you.” Sensei Dan stowed his own staff. “You were given bad information, but you adapted well to the situation at hand. And you didn’t leave Vicky behind. I’m proud of you.”

  “Thanks,” Owen said with a smile. He couldn’t remember the last time someone said that to him if anyone ever had.. “What now? Should I do some more drills?” He gave the staff an amateur flourish and dropped it on the concrete. “I can punch the sand some more.” Owen nodded at a bucket filled with sand.

  “I think you’re too distracted,” Sensei Dan said as he patted Owen on the shoulder. “Let’s go for a walk. We’ll let the mind sponge dry out so it can do some more absorbing later.”

  Owen and Dan walked through the Gold Glow mall, merging with the afternoon crowd. Walks without a destination were another part of Hardknuckle training. Owen learned how to think through the cacophony of shoppers and beeping scratchpads. He meditated amongst the chaos. He kept his scratchpad in his pocket, the desire to keep his eyes glued to the screen fading the longer he trained. When he wasn’t sleeping he wanted to learn something new. From punches to kicks, to feints. Each new step in the Hardknuckle kata drove him to improve the previous. Hardknuckle consumed his every waking thought.

  The steady beeping of scratchpads and loud music barely registered to Owen as he made his way to the food court, caught in the current of the crowd. Hundreds of citizens sat at plastic tables, chattering as they enjoyed franchise food from one of dozens of restaurants staffed by overworked employees tending deep fryers and blazing hot stoves.

  “Not a single barbeque place in sight,” Sensei Dan said. “Is barbeque illegal?”

  “I don’t think so,” Owen said. “That is though.” He nodded at a group of Red Demons dragging a Doctor Wiener’s employee over the counter while his coworkers watched. Shoppers watched, diners watched, Owen watched. He was one of them again. A cog in City Seven’s machine. Someone who passively watched while a man got beat by someone.

  His movements were almost unconscious. He pushed through the crowd and when he got an opening he kicked a Demon on the back and sent him sprawling.

  “Hands off him,” Owen said, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat. “Get out of here.” He pointed in a random direction, the magnitude of what he’d done slowly dawning on him. Why the hell did he do that? He should’ve minded his own business.

  The Red Demons stared at him for a couple seconds, frozen by the sheer audacity of Owen’s attack. Citizens minded their business in City Seven. Owen didn’t know the Doctor Wiener’s employee. He didn’t have a reason to help the Doctor Weiner’s employee, yet there he was.

  “Get up,” Owen whispered to the employee. He was young, acne on his face and his arms scarred by fryer grease. Owen knew why he stepped in. The employee was him. Another battered cog in the City Seven machine.

  Owen remembered the tenets of Hardknuckle Style. Strength, Justice, Courage. He read the words carved on the dojo wall every day and they were becoming a part of him. If he didn’t put the philosophy of Hardknuckle into practice what was the point of learning anything else?

  More than that he was itching for another fight and antagonizing the Demons was the quickest way to get one. He just wished he thought a little more before he jumped into the fray.

  “Shit, that’s him!” one of the Red Demons shouted. “From the pizza spot. This is the guy. Get Daddy Spider!”

  “What’s a Daddy Spider?” Sensei Dan asked as the Red Demons surrounded Owen. “This isn’t a great situation. If you see an opening, get out of here.” There wasn’t an opening. They had him six to one. He didn’t do the math when he came to the employee's rescue and the employee was already gone.

  “Can you do the thing you did before?” Owen asked Sensei Dan as he slowly brought his hands up. He swallowed, regret making his guts twist. He should’ve left the Doctor Wiener’s employee alone. What the fuck was he thinking? He wasn’t some screen action hero, he was a repair tech with a few weeks of karate lessons.

  “Not a chance, Owen.” Sensei Dan shook his head. “I told you I’d bail you out once. These fights are yours to win or lose going forward. Why aren’t they attacking?”

  “We waiting on someone?” Owen dared to ask in his manliest voice. The demons laughed, tattooed faces contorted. “What’s so funny?”

  “Daddy Spider called you,” a demon said. “No one is allowed to touch you but Daddy Spider. You’re not going to like it when Daddy Spider touches you.”

  “I don’t like how many times he said Daddy Spider,” Sensei Dan said. “Punch someone in the face, Owen. If you go down, you’ll go down swinging. It’ll be an honorable death.”

  “I’ll wait,” Owen said. Minding his business was something pre-Hardknuckle Owen did. Sensei Dan was right, if Owen was going to go down he’d go down fighting. He swallowed a bit of vomit and looked a demon in the eyes. “Where is he?”

  “Someone is an eager beaver!” a man shouted. He was tall, every inch of his skin tattooed with demonic faces and thick spider webs. His eyes were dyed bright red and his hair was stuck up in eight pointed spikes. Face piercings shined in neon light as he moved the crowd aside with his presence alone. “And we all know Daddy Spider loves him some beaver! Woo!”

  “You the guy that smacked my boys around?” Daddy Spider asked as he glared down at Owen. “Are you?” He snorted. “You don’t look like that guy. Guy they described sounded like a grade a, ass kicking motherfucker that don’t take no shit. You look like you should be behind one of these counters. Do we have a case of mistaken identity?”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “I’m the guy,” Owen said. He swallowed as he held Daddy Spider’s gaze. The demon leader had a foot on him and a wild look in his dyed red eyes that screamed don’t fuck with me.

  “Alrighty then.” He nodded. “If you’re the guy.” Daddy Spider slapped Owen, grabbed him by his shirt collar and flung him into a nearby table. He smashed through a family of fours’ ice cream, cold soaking through his stained shirt. “Let’s get this mother fucking show on the road!”

  Daddy Spider pulled off his vest and handed it to one of his demons, leaving his chest bare save for a thick gold chain with a large spider pendant on it. “Make some room!” The crowd moved back, leaving their food behind. “I want everyone to see what happens to this bitch. This whole fucking building belongs to the Demons! Mind your fucking business, or I’ll mind your business for you.”

  Owen climbed to his feet, his chin sore and his shirt slathered with vanilla swirl. He didn’t even look at Owen. After working with Tuck’s group a gang member with shitty tattoos didn’t scare Owen nearly as much as they used to. He ran at Daddy Spider and cracked him across the face with a right hook. The crowd groaned, the demons almost rushed him. Daddy Spider laughed and held up a hand as he staggered a step.

  “Alright, Mr. Hero,” Daddy Spider chuckled. He dodged Owen’s next punch and shoved him back. “Anyone interferes gets what I’m about to give him.” He squared up with Owen, lanky arms swinging. “Take a shot.” He punched himself on the cheek.

  “You got this, Owen,” Sensei Dan said. “Remember what I taught you.”

  Owen threw a Hardknuckle straight punch at Daddy Spider’s nose, hitting nothing but air. Daddy Spider snaked around Owen and slammed him through another cheap table. The scent of ketchup and mustard mingled with ice cream as Owen struggled to breathe with the air knocked out of him. Daddy Spider cheered himself on as Owen rolled to his feet. Adrenaline kicked in, pain was for tomorrow. An announcement informed shoppers that MADAME’S was having a half off sale on all lingerie. As soon as he caught his breath Owen attacked.

  Hardknuckle punches flew fast. Pop, pop, pop. Long days of training paid dividends on Daddy Spider’s face. His lips split. Tis teeth cut Owen’s knuckles. A man couldn’t win a fight with defense alone. Hardknuckle Style drove an enemy back until the opportunity for a decisive blow presented itself. Daddy Spider’s eyes narrowed in realization as blood dribbled down his chin. This wasn’t going to be a beating. This was a fight.

  “Keep on him, Owen,” Sensei Dan said, his voice clear despite the gathered crowd shouting. “An enemy that can’t breathe can’t fight. Keep the pressure up and give him the claws!” Sensei Dan mimicked the crab as he snipped the air.

  The claws! Like the humble Hardknuckle crab Owen got low, his center of gravity strengthened as he prepared to deliver a devastating uppercut. He took a boot to the face. Tasted blood. Smacked his back on linoleum. Daddy Spider rushed in, a wild look in his crimson tinged eyes.

  He mauled Owen, fists raining down like a freak hail storm on a sunny day. Owen took the attack on his arms as the crowd watched. Demons cursed at Owen, mothers made their children look away, men made bets. Too many citizens were filming him, scratchpads at eye level as they captured Owen’s beating in high definition.

  “This ends right now!” Daddy Spider shouted. Daddy Spider grabbed Owen by the hair and pulled a folding knife from his belt. “I’m gonna wear your face.” He opened the knife with a flick of his wrist and hovered the blade near Owen’s eyes. Neon pink light from a nearby ad gleamed on the blade’s reflective steel. “I’ll cut out your eyes first.” City Seven watched Daddy Spider as he prepared to make the first cut. No peacekeepers were coming to save Owen. Sensei Dan wouldn’t save him. His life was in his hands alone.

  Owen used another of Sensei Dan’s techniques. The headbutt. Owen’s forehead cracked Daddy Spider’s nose. Cartilage collapsed with a sickening crunch. He ripped free of Daddy Spider’s grip. The demon went blind as blood poured from his nose and coated Owen’s face. He kicked Daddy Spider in the shin, cheap shoes gouging his flesh. He shrieked as Owen hopped to his feet, grabbed his gold chain, and yanked him down to meet a rising knee. Blood sprayed across linoleum. A woman in the splash zone screamed. Owen didn’t let go when Daddy Spider’s knife clattered to the floor. He had control of Daddy Spider’s head and a family sized serving of knees for him.

  “There you go, Owen!” Sensei Dan shouted. He stood a giant above the crowd, beaming with pride. “Keep him in the clinch. Do not let go. Finish it!”

  Owen’s knees were like hammers driving deep into Daddy Spider’s gut. Each hit produced a thud which in turn produced a shout from Owen’s victim. He beat the air out of Daddy Spider’s lungs. The demon gagged. Owen let go of the chain and threw the first strike Sensei Dan taught him. The Hardknuckle Straight Punch. Simple, elegant, decisive. Daddy spider didn’t see it coming. Owen’s knuckles caught him square in the chin and Daddy Spider dropped like a brick from a residential tower. Tables and chairs broke his limp body’s fall as another family lost their lunch to random violence.

  Owen saw it and he couldn’t believe it. He won! He really won. His knuckles ached and he already felt his cheeks swelling as he smiled. The crowd around him stood in disbelief and Owen didn’t know what to do next.

  “Look out!” someone shouted as Owen went down with a pack of demons on top of him. A blur of fists and feet filled his vision. The demons pummeled him. Owen’s meager defense doing nothing while they beat him on the food court floor. Fuckers didn’t fight with honor. At least he won a fight before he died. Then he was free. A table smashed through the demons and a large man stood between Owen and his attackers. Tom. The same Tom from the Citizens’ Liberation Brigade.

  Tom cracked his knuckles before he went to work. Thick fists cracked jaws. He man-handled a demon stupid enough to get close, smashing him against a concrete support pillar. He picked up a chair and bludgeoned a couple others. They fled, dragging Daddy Spider and their brutalized friends away.

  “That’s what I thought!” Tom shouted after them. “A bunch of pussies when it’s a fair fight! Fuck you!” Tom pulled Owen to his feet. “You alright?” He wiped blood off Owen’s face with a couple of floor napkins. “What are you out here fighting demons for? That’s a good way to get your ass killed. But you kicked the shit out of that lanky fuck.” His teeth shined when he smiled. “Tuck know you’re a real tough fucker?”

  “What are you doing here?” Owen asked. He blinked blurriness away and wiped blood and ketchup off his face. He almost didn’t believe the team existed outside of missions, but there Tom was saving his ass when he didn’t need to.

  “I wanted a smoothie.” Tom gestured for Owen to follow him. “We better not stick around. They’ll be back with reinforcements.” He clapped. “Once you got his chain it was over. That’s why I stopped wearing mine. Just a big handle at the end of the day.”

  “Don’t tell Tuck about this.” Owen didn’t know how their leader would take him brawling in the middle of the Gold Glow. He assumed lying low meant keeping out of sight. But he was definitely in sight and he couldn’t count how many scratchpads were trained on him during the fight.

  “I won’t,” Tom said. “But you owe me big time.” He slapped Owen hard on his back. “You want a smoothie. I’m buying. We’ll get you some ice too.”

  “Sure,” Owen said. He chuckled. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he whirled to throw a punch. The Doctor Weiner’s employee flinched.

  “Sorry,” the kid said, his voice breaking. He pulled off his Doctor Weiner’s surgical cap and held it to his chest. “Um, thank you.” He fled as Owen lowered his fist.

  “How does that feel?” Sensei Dan asked as he crossed his arms.

  “What?” Owen’s body started to ache as his adrenaline rush faded.

  “Not minding your business.”

  “Feels like I got my ass kicked again.” Owen’s heartbeat pounded in his ears.

  “Not what I meant.” Sensei Dan shook his head. “How does it feel inside? That kid didn’t get a beating because of you.”

  “I got one,” Owen said. He wasn’t sure if it was worth it. Though, he never had anyone thank him for helping before. Not sincerely. It felt like something tickling the bottom of his heart. That might’ve been the result of blunt force trauma.

  “That’s the fate of a Hardknuckle Warrior,” Sensei Dan said, smiling. “We take the hits so someone else doesn’t.”

  “Does that make me a Hardknuckle Warrior?” Owen chuckled.

  “Not even close.” Dan nodded at him. “You’ll get there though. For now we need to get you some more training. I’ll teach you how to manage groups, but you’ll need a weapon for that. Hands can’t solve every problem.” Dan thought for a moment. “I have the perfect suggestion.”

  “Owen,” Tom yelled across the food court. “Let’s go. The smoothies are getting hot!”

  “It can wait,” Sensei Dan said. “Go enjoy a victory treat.”

  A victory treat. The notion was foreign to Owen. He didn’t have any victories prior to his fight with Daddy Spider, but now he had one victory he could call his own. Even as his knuckles ached and his face swelled, he couldn’t wait for the opportunity to get another one.