Ficlets

Before the Showdown

“Bruiser Joe, we meet again.”

“Well, if it isn’t my old friend the Dynamite Fist. My, how the years have been bad to you.”

“I certainly didn’t expect to see you here today.”

“I never turn down the opportunity for a good competition… or to crush you like a lemon.”

“Some things never change, Bruiser.”

“Some things do. I can see, for example, that you have become even weaker than you already were, if that was possible. There’s fear behind your eyes. Have you forsaken your training?”

“I have not.”

“Then you are prepared to face me today?”

“Should you make it that far without being eliminated, I will happily bring you to ruin.”

“That’s the Fist that I know. I almost hope that you will last to the final round so that I can see your dismay firsthand.”

“Would you care to make a little wager?”

“I would, if it were truly a gamble. But against you, I would merely be taking your money. No sport in that.”

“Then onward to the poles. No one has ever bested me at tetherball, and you certainly will not today.”

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