'It has none.' Slash managed to choke out.

[The man could tell he was lying. Slash's eye teared again but this time he wipes the tear away from his bloody, battered, and bruised face quickly.]

'You went through alot of work for something that means so little...' The man replied.

[The two sat there, the only thing that encircled the two was silence. They sat there, occasionally throwing blank stares at one another, but neither saying a word, but finally the elder man broke the silence.]

'Why?' He whispered.

[Slash knew what he meant. He took the chain, and fastened it around his neck. When it was on he released it. The chain dropped down, and light bounced off his chest, and swung there for a few seconds, untill he leaned back. The chain, and cross stopped.]

'I don't know.' Slash rudely replied.

'Well, lets get you cleaned up. Then maybe you'll feel like talk.' The man said.

[Slash had no reply for this, although a simple alright would do just fine.]

'Ok?' The man clarified.

[Slash just nodded, and stood up. The man to stood up, and lead him to a small bath room in the far corner of the gym. On the way they had past many older lots of equipment. Such as weight benches, that like the gloves were taped together so the stuffing didn't leak out, and many metal weight sets which were mildly rusted over time.]

[In the bath room the man went right to work grabbing a wash cloth, and a new bar of soap which he just took from the package. Slash was reluctant to grab the materials as the man extended his hands to give them to him. Finally Slash grabbed them. The man extended his right hand, and then pointed his long, crooked finger towards the shower.]

[Slash turned around and looked at the shower. The shower curtain was drawn over it. He couldn't see past the shower curtain, but if the way it looked entailed how it would be inside the shower, Slash wanted no part of it, but after thinking to himself, he pushed the curtain wide open.]

[Just as he expected, the shower was a filthy mess. It was an older tub for the base, with three handles. One for hot water, one for cold water, and one to turn the shower on instead of the faucet, which was there for baths, which no one in their right mind would take.]

[Around the tubs were rusty looking rings that were as thick as mud and just as dark too. He ran his fingers over the top of the tub at first, dodging the rusted areas where the paint had been completely tore off.]

'Be right back.' The man sternly said as he took off slowly out the door.

[Slash stood there. His eyes staring at the drain in the tub. Circling the drain was a common, black, house fly. It walked around in a circle, and when it felt it was going to fall, it let its wings flutter, and flew up to the faucet. Slash's eyes were fixed on the fly as he raised his left hand high. Oblivious to his surroundings his struck down, his hand moving nearer and nearer to the fly at a fast rate. ~SWOOP~ A hand scouped under his, his hand smacked hard against the faucet, and brought tears quickly to his eyes.]

[Slash's face grew red as he looked up. He felt sick, and his head, and hand were now pounding. He was now face to face with the man that moments before left the room.]

'To slow.' The man said as he raised a clenched fist. Slash's eyes were fixed on his fist. His pinky opened up, and the other hands followed suit. From his hand the house fly flew up, and landed on the ceiling, high above, out of harm.

[Slash didn't say a thing and the man held out the other hand which had a tooth brush, comb, and tooth paste, sitting atop a well folded blue towel he had in his hand. Slash grabbed the towel with his flat hand and set them down on top of the toilet bowl lid which was down.]

[With a nod the man left the room, closing the door behind him. Slash moved quickly to the door and hooked the latch that was on top of the door. The door was now locked, and Slash was now shut off to the outside world. He looked around the room, noticing there weren't any windows he first tore his shirt from his body. Not that it took much work, it was already torn to shreads all he had to do was swiftly pull.]

[Before removing his shorts he walked over to the shower. He grabbed the left handle, neither were labeled, and turned it on. From the faucet fell, at first cold, then steaming hot water. Slash moved his hand quickly. His hand was now red from the heat, and in pain from the fighting.]

[He brought his hand to his face, and looked at it like the man did earlier. He undid the tape but kept it straight so he could put it back on after his shower. He walked back over to the shower, and added some cold water to the mix. Then he turned the center knob, and after a few gargling noises water went streaming from the shower head.]

[The pressure was weak, but it was still enough to clean him off and stay warm in the shower. He undid the first button of his shorts as he heard a knock on the door. He quickly fastened it, and undid the latch. He swung the door open, and there the man stood, clothes folded in his hand.]

'Still not in the shower yet?' He asked knowing he'd get no response from the kid.

[The man handed him the clothes.]

'They're not your size, but they'll fit.' He said, and then turned around, walking out the door.

[Slash shut the door, and latched it up again. He placed the clothes on top of the other stuff he was given. Again he unbuttoned his shorts, and the scene faded...]

[...It picked back up about thirty minutes later. The bathroom door swung open and out stepped Slash. He was wearing the mans jeans which were a bit to big for him because he was pulling them up as he walked, and a 'Big Time Boxing' t-shirt. His face looked a little better, for the sole reason that it didn't have blood caked on top of it any longer.]

[It was still pretty well swollen, and bruised, but atleast it was clean. Slash had the necklace tucked into his shirt so all you could see was the shine off of the gold chain in certain spots.]

[Slash began walking over towards the table where the man was sitting. In front of him was a bowl of soup that was steaming up. Slash looked at it, thinking to himself how good that soup would taste. When he reached the table he sat down. With his eyes looking at the soup.]

[The man pushed the bowl more toward Slash. Slash looked up, and let a small smile spread across his face for a moment. The man handed him a spoon, and Slash dug in. Putting about seven spoon fulls in his mouth per second. The man just chuckled and the scene turns to black...]

~1996~ {One Year Later}

[His gloves went hard at work against the back, three lefts followed by a tremendous right. The combination was strong. The back bent every time it was hit. The gloves struck it again, this time more rapid, and more powerful. One more blow is what the bag endured before spinning around.]

[The camera backed up showing the man standing behind the bag. He has a good sized smile on his face, and his arms are now folded. On the other side of the bag is Slash Tannon. His hair grew out a bit, and his face was nicely healed, but there he stood, a bit taller, and alot more built then before. He began sliding the gloves off of his fists.]

'Very good.' The man said.

'When you first came here you flinched like a beat dog, and now, you've definatly got the heart of a champion.' He continued.

'I think you're ready...' He said.

[Slash looked up, not knowing what he meant by 'ready'.]

'Ready? For?' Slash replied.

[The man walked over by him and put his hand on his shoulder.] 'An opponent.' He said.

[Slash seemed shocked. I mean, yeah, he was doing good, his hits were becoming more powerful and he had alot of hours worth of training. Physically he was ready, but mentally he was still in shambles. It was a little less than a year ago when he suffered a killer beating, and he wasn't ready for another one so soon.]

'I don't know.' Slash choked out.

'What don't you know? You're probably my best student, you're definatly my most dedicated. What is there to not know?' The man asked.

'I just don't know...' He stopped.

'Just don't know what?' The man replied.

'I don't know if I'm ready to..To get hurt again.' Slash admitted.

'Kid, you'll only get hurt if you let yourself. You've got the talent to stay out of harms reach. You just have to use your head more than your power and you'll be fine.' He said.

'But if you go into a match throwing wild shots you'll last only a few short rounds, and you don't want that.'

[He removed his hand from Slash's shoulders.]

'When you're ready champ...' He paused and took a few steps back.

'Let me know.' With that he turned around and walked away.

[Slash didn't know if he was ready or not. He stood there for a few minutes. Thoughts raced through his young mind. 'Was he ready to go into his first match?' It's just not something easy like deciding weither to get a hair cut or not. There was much more to it then that. It was probably one of the hardest decisions for him to make because he's felt physical pain, and he wanted no part of it.]

[He had looked at boxing as a form of self defense. Not something that he'd do week in and week out, or even at all. During his year with the elder man which he later learned his name to be Hans he thought it would just be a tough training regiment so he could bulk up so guys wouldn't want to mess with him again.]

[Slash looked towards the office where Hans is sitting on the phone. Slash began walking towards the office knowing in his mind that he DIDN'T want to fight, and didn't think he was going to either...]

[He swings open the office door. Hans gives him a blank stare.]

'I'm on the phone with a booker for the teen league.' He whispered.

'Interested?' He asked.

[I stood there for a minute. Hans must have been on hold. I thought to myself, and came up with my decision, and was ready to answer...]

To be continued...

Are You Ready? For TOTAL IMPACT!!!