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Description
After his spectacular win against Glass Joe, Mac spent the next two weeks resting before even considering doing a workout to train for his next fight. Doc wanted to let Mac relax while resting, so he let the boy rest in peace and would check up on him once a day. He also bought him a giant chocolate bar, but warned him to ‘nurse it’ over the two weeks.

Mac spent his recovery days to full use by spending most of it playing old NES games and watching a show about busting myths. Every once in a few days, while heading towards the kitchen for a bite, he would take a moment to jab the punching bag and smile when he saw it fly backward. Besides Doc, know one came to see him during the first week, but a surprise came in the middle of his second week.

He was heading towards the kitchen for lunch when a loud knock was heard on the gym’s main doors. Grumbling from both mouth and stomach, Mac turned around and went to the doors. When he opened the door, he was expecting a salesman or something, but his mouth hit the floor in surprise. “Lora?”

“Mac?” The same age as Mac, the teenage girl standing in the doorway was wearing a green T-shirt with a white miniskirt. Her dark brown eyes, hidden by a few strands of black hair tied back in a ponytail, grew wide when she realized that it was indeed him. “MAC!!” Not knowing what else to do with all her excitement, she dropped her back pack and purse to give him a tight hug.

Even though his body was completely healed, her hug caused his lungs to give out short breath again. “L…Lora, can’t breath!”

“Wah? Oh, sorry Mac.” Realizing her mistake, she quickly withdrew from the hug and stood back a few feet. “I’m so sorry about that, are you still recovering from the fight?” She bit one of her finger nails as she grew worried that she might have hurt him.

“I’m fine Lora, but what are you doing here and how do you know about the fight?” He stood there waiting for her answer when he realized his house manners and stepped aside while motioning for her to come in. Reluctant at first, she finally stepped in, gathering her belongings, and faced Mac again.

“Well, I was on my way to work after a day of college classes when I went past the Minor Circuit boxing warehouse and I saw your name on the billboard. Not believing it, I went back there the night of the fight and watched you duke it out with Glass Joe. By the way, you were fantastic out there.” She went a little rosy in the cheeks before she regained herself.

Mac didn’t acknowledge the blush or that she didn’t answer his first question for now. He was about to answer when he heard his stomach growling. “Sorry to be rude but can we continue this conversation in the kitchen, I’m starving.”

She smiled and nodded as she followed him while looking around. “This place looks a little run down, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, but this is my home for the time being. My parents weren’t too thrilled about my career choice.” He didn’t turn around or even stop while he told her about his life, which only made Lora’s shame and guilt drive deeper.

“I’m sorry Mac, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s alright Lora,” he turned around as they entered the kitchen and gave her a warm smile. “Want a sandwich while we catch up from high school?”

Lora’s mood brightened when she heard one of Mac’s key personalities. He rarely got hot tempered and never held a grudge, which was why the two of them became best friends. “I’d like that, thanks Mac.”

The rest of the day went by talking between the two as they shared their lives from graduation up until they met just a few minutes ago. Mac told Lora about his training and his dream to become a World Circuit champion one day. He was surprised to find that she didn’t laugh at his dream and was actually supportive of it. Lora then told him about her dream of being a writer for the New York Times or even Time magazine. Right now she was working as a waitress at a local diner to pay for her apartment while she went to college. On the side, she was writing for the college newspaper.

“Check out my first column!” She pulled a newspaper from her bag and handed it to Mac. He went to the page she told him to go and was surprised to read the title: Little Mac’s first Win! “Surprised?”

“I’ll say.” He read the story and was impressed to find it to be quite detailed but not boring as well. “I’m flattered.”

“Well, you’d better get over it, because…” She waited until he looked up at her from the paper. “They asked me to cover your fights from now on and get an exclusive interview too.”

“Wait,” He finally got his answer to why she was here and was saddened by it. “So that’s why you’re here.”

She noticed his mood go down and decided to cheer him up again. “Well I also wanted to see my old friend again.” Lora smiled when she saw his grin come up but noticed the time on the clock behind his head. “Sorry Mac, but I have to get to work. Thanks for the interview and it was great to see you again. When’s your next fight?”

Mac didn’t want her to go just yet, he still wanted to talk about the good old times again, but he understood her situation. “Well, my next fight is with Von Kaiser in about two weeks. Hope to see you there.”

“I promise, later Mac.” The two hugged before Lora left through the main doors.

--

“Alright Mac baby, it’s time to start your training again. We have to make up for those two weeks of resting. Let’s go son.” Doc started Mac off with his usual routine with the punching bag. He had the kid do hooks only for a while before switching to jabs. When that was done with, the next set of routines were the weights and finally technique.

The two of them went into the ring they had in the gym and Mac started punching the boxing pads that Doc had on his hands. Doc was holding a chocolate bar in his mouth during the whole exercise.

“There’s one thing missing that would make your workout complete.” After their session was over, Doc took a bite out of his chocolate bar.

“And what would that be Doc?” Mac carefully picked up a nearby water bottle with his gloved hands and took a swig from it.

“A sparring partner to help you get as close to a real boxing match as possible, but we don’t have the money.”

“Vous avez dit match de boxe?”

The two turned around to see Glass Joe standing in the main gym doorway holding a sports bag in one hand with a piece of paper in the other, most likely with directions scribbled on it.

“What’s he doing here!?” Doc looked at Joe suspiciously and waited to see if he wanted to start a fight out of revenge.

“I invited him to train and maybe to spar with me.” Mac laid a hand on Doc’s shoulder to reassure him.

“I would love to spar with you Little Mac. It seems I was right to bring this along.” Joe set his bag down and opened it up to reveal a headgear before stuffing it back in. “If that’s alright with you Mr. Louis.”

“Uh…” Doc thought it over for a bit before looking to Mac, who gave a nod to him before smiling. He chuckled a bit before motioning Joe over to the ring. “Sure why not, I guess I wouldn’t mind training both of you. I’ll stand as referee.”

Joe quickly changed, attaching his headgear in the process, and stepped into the ring. Mac found his own headgear and stitched it on as he went to his own corner. Doc pulled another chocolate bar out of his pocket and took a big bite before signaling the start of the fake match.

“Fight!!”

Description
After his spectacular win against Glass Joe, Mac spent the next two weeks resting before even considering doing a workout to train for his next fight. Doc wanted to let Mac relax while resting, so he let the boy rest in peace and would check up on him once a day. He also bought him a giant chocolate bar, but warned him to ‘nurse it’ over the two weeks.

Mac spent his recovery days to full use by spending most of it playing old NES games and watching a show about busting myths. Every once in a few days, while heading towards the kitchen for a bite, he would take a moment to jab the punching bag and smile when he saw it fly backward. Besides Doc, know one came to see him during the first week, but a surprise came in the middle of his second week.

He was heading towards the kitchen for lunch when a loud knock was heard on the gym’s main doors. Grumbling from both mouth and stomach, Mac turned around and went to the doors. When he opened the door, he was expecting a salesman or something, but his mouth hit the floor in surprise. “Lora?”

“Mac?” The same age as Mac, the teenage girl standing in the doorway was wearing a green T-shirt with a white miniskirt. Her dark brown eyes, hidden by a few strands of black hair tied back in a ponytail, grew wide when she realized that it was indeed him. “MAC!!” Not knowing what else to do with all her excitement, she dropped her back pack and purse to give him a tight hug.

Even though his body was completely healed, her hug caused his lungs to give out short breath again. “L…Lora, can’t breath!”

“Wah? Oh, sorry Mac.” Realizing her mistake, she quickly withdrew from the hug and stood back a few feet. “I’m so sorry about that, are you still recovering from the fight?” She bit one of her finger nails as she grew worried that she might have hurt him.

“I’m fine Lora, but what are you doing here and how do you know about the fight?” He stood there waiting for her answer when he realized his house manners and stepped aside while motioning for her to come in. Reluctant at first, she finally stepped in, gathering her belongings, and faced Mac again.

“Well, I was on my way to work after a day of college classes when I went past the Minor Circuit boxing warehouse and I saw your name on the billboard. Not believing it, I went back there the night of the fight and watched you duke it out with Glass Joe. By the way, you were fantastic out there.” She went a little rosy in the cheeks before she regained herself.

Mac didn’t acknowledge the blush or that she didn’t answer his first question for now. He was about to answer when he heard his stomach growling. “Sorry to be rude but can we continue this conversation in the kitchen, I’m starving.”

She smiled and nodded as she followed him while looking around. “This place looks a little run down, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, but this is my home for the time being. My parents weren’t too thrilled about my career choice.” He didn’t turn around or even stop while he told her about his life, which only made Lora’s shame and guilt drive deeper.

“I’m sorry Mac, I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s alright Lora,” he turned around as they entered the kitchen and gave her a warm smile. “Want a sandwich while we catch up from high school?”

Lora’s mood brightened when she heard one of Mac’s key personalities. He rarely got hot tempered and never held a grudge, which was why the two of them became best friends. “I’d like that, thanks Mac.”

The rest of the day went by talking between the two as they shared their lives from graduation up until they met just a few minutes ago. Mac told Lora about his training and his dream to become a World Circuit champion one day. He was surprised to find that she didn’t laugh at his dream and was actually supportive of it. Lora then told him about her dream of being a writer for the New York Times or even Time magazine. Right now she was working as a waitress at a local diner to pay for her apartment while she went to college. On the side, she was writing for the college newspaper.

“Check out my first column!” She pulled a newspaper from her bag and handed it to Mac. He went to the page she told him to go and was surprised to read the title: Little Mac’s first Win! “Surprised?”

“I’ll say.” He read the story and was impressed to find it to be quite detailed but not boring as well. “I’m flattered.”

“Well, you’d better get over it, because…” She waited until he looked up at her from the paper. “They asked me to cover your fights from now on and get an exclusive interview too.”

“Wait,” He finally got his answer to why she was here and was saddened by it. “So that’s why you’re here.”

She noticed his mood go down and decided to cheer him up again. “Well I also wanted to see my old friend again.” Lora smiled when she saw his grin come up but noticed the time on the clock behind his head. “Sorry Mac, but I have to get to work. Thanks for the interview and it was great to see you again. When’s your next fight?”

Mac didn’t want her to go just yet, he still wanted to talk about the good old times again, but he understood her situation. “Well, my next fight is with Von Kaiser in about two weeks. Hope to see you there.”

“I promise, later Mac.” The two hugged before Lora left through the main doors.

--

“Alright Mac baby, it’s time to start your training again. We have to make up for those two weeks of resting. Let’s go son.” Doc started Mac off with his usual routine with the punching bag. He had the kid do hooks only for a while before switching to jabs. When that was done with, the next set of routines were the weights and finally technique.

The two of them went into the ring they had in the gym and Mac started punching the boxing pads that Doc had on his hands. Doc was holding a chocolate bar in his mouth during the whole exercise.

“There’s one thing missing that would make your workout complete.” After their session was over, Doc took a bite out of his chocolate bar.

“And what would that be Doc?” Mac carefully picked up a nearby water bottle with his gloved hands and took a swig from it.

“A sparring partner to help you get as close to a real boxing match as possible, but we don’t have the money.”

“Vous avez dit match de boxe?”

The two turned around to see Glass Joe standing in the main gym doorway holding a sports bag in one hand with a piece of paper in the other, most likely with directions scribbled on it.

“What’s he doing here!?” Doc looked at Joe suspiciously and waited to see if he wanted to start a fight out of revenge.

“I invited him to train and maybe to spar with me.” Mac laid a hand on Doc’s shoulder to reassure him.

“I would love to spar with you Little Mac. It seems I was right to bring this along.” Joe set his bag down and opened it up to reveal a headgear before stuffing it back in. “If that’s alright with you Mr. Louis.”

“Uh…” Doc thought it over for a bit before looking to Mac, who gave a nod to him before smiling. He chuckled a bit before motioning Joe over to the ring. “Sure why not, I guess I wouldn’t mind training both of you. I’ll stand as referee.”

Joe quickly changed, attaching his headgear in the process, and stepped into the ring. Mac found his own headgear and stitched it on as he went to his own corner. Doc pulled another chocolate bar out of his pocket and took a big bite before signaling the start of the fake match.

“Fight!!”