on October 26, 2024, 9:16 am
These days it was different. Most of his time was spent outside the ring, a get-up of dress trousers, a shirt, jacket and brogues completing his garb instead of knee pads, elbow pads and silver-and-blue trunks. His body ached more these days, his knee twinging, his back spasming and his head spinning more and more after each outing inside the squared circle. It was like Father Time was charging him each time he climbed through the ropes. A penance for continuing to defy him. And that penance was that slowly but surely, he’d eat away at the One Man Tartan Army until either he made the choice himself or it was made for him.
Butch leaned back on the ropes, his arms extended outwards as he stretched his lower back and his shoulders. He brought his arms forward into big swinging circles, ignoring the ache that creaked from his shoulder joint. He squatted down a few times, again ignoring the cry out from his surgically-repaired right ACL. And then he ran. Sprinting towards the ropes, the sound of the soles of his boots crashing into the canvas underfoot creating an echo in the empty building. Suddenly, a a familiar voice caught him off-guard, startling him.
(???): Seems like we both had the same idea.
Butch came careening to a halt, like an eighteen-wheeler putting on the brakes. He turned his head towards the source of the voice and couldn’t help but smile. Walking towards the ring, adorned in a pair of shorts and a loose-fitted y-back vest and training boots was Matthew Kiriyama, aka Red Dragon.
(Butch): Do you ever leave this place?
Red Dragon smiled, waving a finger towards his old friend.
(Red Dragon): Preaching to the choir, are you not, Butch-San?
Butch merely shrugged in response, a knowing smile remaining on his own face as Red Dragon climbed up onto the ring apron, leaning his weight on the top rope.
(Butch): I guess we’re both creatures of habit in that regard.
As Red Dragon proceeded to step through the ropes, there was a long silence, but like most things between the two old friends, it wasn’t an awkward one. The two seasoned warriors both looked around the room and then back to each other; azure blue meeting emerald green.
(Butch): Who would’ve thought we’d still be here twenty-five years later. You, me, Hans.
The subtlest of smiles made its way to Red Dragon’s face along with a matching nod of acknowledgement.
(Red Dragon): I don’t know what’s more surprising. The fact we are all still here or that we haven’t killed each other yet.
Red Dragon’s out-of-character joke caught Butch unawares, drawing an involuntary laugh from him. The laughter transferred to Red Dragon himself and the two old friends found themselves chuckling away to themselves as they stood there in the quietness of the squared circle. As the laughter between them eventually died down, they stood in silence for a moment. Butch craned his neck around to look at his friend.
(Butch): Let me ask you something, Matthew. Do you regret it? Coming back? After all those years of not having to worry about all the drama, all the bullshit. I sometimes wish I shouldn’t have bothered you with that phone call. You were happy, Sean was happy, you had a daughter… and I selfishly pulled you both from that.
(Red Dragon): It has been a long road from where we both were once upon a time, to where we are now. But regret? No, Butch-San.
He held Butch’s gaze, his voice calm and measured.
(Red Dragon): The journey has been… costly, yes. But I knew what I was choosing. A man is defined by the choices he makes, and leaving that life behind that was only ever a pause, never an end. When you called, the decision was mine to make. It was Sean-kun’s to follow me.
Butch nodded slowly, absorbing his old friend’s wise, measured words. It was easy to see why Sean held him in such high esteem. Though something else tugged at the corners of Butch’s expression.
(Butch): Yeah, I know. But sometimes, I think about you out there in that quiet life in Okinawa. Somewhere far from this… from this chaos. After everything you’ve been through, you finally had some sense of peace.
(Red Dragon): Peace, yes. But not purpose.
He said it simply, like a fact, though there was a faint glimmer of something else in his blue eyes.
(Red Dragon): The quiet is… different when you’ve walked through fire, Butch-San, you know that as well as I do. When you choose the kind of life we have, whatever form it takes, it never leaves you. It is a calling. And once it touches you, it leaves its mark, does it not? Like ink under the skin.
Butch scoffed lightly under his breaths.
(Butch): A mark. Maybe even a curse.
He shook his head, almost as if there was a hint of sadness clouding his face.
(Butch): Isn’t it funny, though? This life we both chose. It took us in vastly different directions yet it’s pulled pieces from us we’ll never get back… yet here we are. Older, carrying the scars and bruises, and somehow still chasing it like it’s all that matters. I should have no business still thinking this is something I should be doing. Maybe I need to take a leaf out of your book…
Red Dragon regarded him for a moment.
(Red Dragon): It does matter, Butch-san. Not because it’s all there is, but because it is what we chose to give ourselves to. The things we sacrificed, the nights we lay awake, the scars we carry… They mean something. That is the lesson we pass on to those like Sean-kun, Michelle-chan, Jeremy-San, even Erica-chan.
Red Dragon placed a comforting hand on Butch’s shoulder.
(Red Dragon): And yes, Butch-san, I knew exactly what I was sacrificing by stepping back into this world when you called that day. But my daughter… I fear my decision is one she will never understand.
Butch could see the pain and hurt behind his friend’s eyes. He had never spoken much of his estranged family; truth be told a lot of his personal life he had chosen to keep to himself. This was the first time he’d begun to open up.
(Butch): Kids are stronger than we give them credit for, my friend. She’ll see that one day, trust me. Look at Sean, look at who he is now compared to who he was ten years ago; what you shaped him into.
(Red Dragon): The man who Sean-kun is today is a testament and a credit to the man who chose to raise him as his own. You’d do well to remember that; I know he does. As for me? I must walk the balance. The man they call Red Dragon, he is a perception, a state of mind. And there’s the man I am when I step through my front door. Butch-san, one truth I’ve learned in this life is that to give anything of value, you must be willing to give of yourself completely. And to know when to take back what remains. That is why I am a happy man, at peace with the decision I have made; with every decision I have made.
Butch’s gaze softened, and he nodded knowingly.
(Butch): You were always the one with a sense of clarity. Maybe that’s why I called you that night; I knew you’d see the bigger picture, even if it was a risk.
(Red Dragon): Clarity comes with scars, my friend.
A faint smile crossed his lips, faint and almost elusive.
(Red Dragon): And maybe I was the only one stubborn enough to chase it, even when the cost was high. But here we are, as you said, standing once more in a ring, knowing what awaits us but still steadfast against Father Time’s machinations.
(Butch): Still here.
Those last words Butch said were almost spoken to himself, as he looked around the empty, dimly-lit atrium of the Academy.
(Butch): Funny how life circles back around, isn’t it? Maybe we’ve changed a little, but this… this part of us, it’s the same.
(Red Dragon): Because some things, Butch-san, are meant to be constant. And for what it is worth, I am glad to be here, with you, I am glad you brought me home, brought Sean-kun home.
Butch returned Red Dragon’s gesture with his own hand finding its place upon his old friend’s shoulder.
(Red Dragon): Of course, all this talk of wisdom…
He raised an eyebrow, a glint of amusement breaking through his stoic demeanor.
(Red Dragon): …won’t save you from the lesson I’m going to teach you at Road to Ruin.
(Butch): Oh, is that so?
Butch’s grin was equal parts challenge and nostalgia.
(Butch): I know you’ve been calling this a “retirement tour,” but if you think I’m about to go easy on you just because you’re riding into the sunset, you’ve got another thing coming.
(Red Dragon): Good.
He smirked, rolling his shoulders as if shaking off the weight of the past few minutes.
(Red Dragon): I would be disappointed if you did.
(Butch): You know, for a “wise man,” you sure sound like you’re asking for trouble.
He slapped Red Dragon on the shoulder, laughing.
(Butch): But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
(Red Dragon): Agreed. Just don’t be too disappointed when you’re staring up at those lights, wondering what hit you.
(Butch): Oh, I’ll be the one looking down at you, old man. And when I win, I’ll even help you back up; so you don’t hurt yourself on the way out!
They shared another laugh, the weight of years between them dissolving into the easy banter of two men who’d fought side by side for a lifetime, about to fight each other for the first time. And with that, the lion and the dragon stood together in silence as the scene faded to black.
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