Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Because you know that little reversal won’t work twice.”
Daniel looked toward Sophie.
Then back to Travis.
“I’m not here to beat you.”
“Convenient.”
Daniel bent down and picked up Sophie’s backpack.
“Good night.”
Travis laughed bitterly.
“Exactly.”
Daniel stopped at the edge of the mat.
He turned.
Twenty years of restraint held for one second.
Then he said:
“If beating you mattered to me, Travis, that would be the saddest thing I’ve done in a very long time.”
Nobody laughed.
Daniel walked out with Sophie.
They reached the truck before she spoke.
“What.”
Daniel unlocked the doors.
“What what?”
“What was that?”
He climbed in.
She did not.
She stood outside the passenger door staring at him.
“Get in.”
“No.”
“Sophie.”
“You just turned a black belt inside out while wearing jeans.”
“He made a technical mistake.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is literally the answer.”
She got into the truck.
Daniel started the engine.
Sophie stared.
“Who are you?”
“Your father.”
“Mom married Batman.”
Daniel laughed so hard he had to put the truck back into park.
Sophie did not laugh.
“I’m serious.”
Daniel’s smile faded.
“I know.”
“You lied to me.”
“I didn’t.”
“You said you trained a little.”
“I said a long time ago.”
“Dad.”
Daniel rested both hands on the steering wheel.
Rain began tapping lightly against the windshield.
He watched it.
Then said:
“I trained for about seventeen years.”
Sophie’s eyes widened.
“Seventeen?”
“Yes.”
“What rank?”
“Judo black belt.”
She waited.
“Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.”
Her mouth opened.
“Boxing?”
“Twenty-three amateur fights.”
“You said badly.”
“I lost six.”
“That means you won seventeen.”
Daniel shrugged.
“That was a long time ago.”
“Anything else?”
“A little wrestling.”
She stared.
“You are unbelievable.”
“I agree.”
“Why did you stop?”
Daniel became quiet.
“Dad?”
He turned off the engine.
Then told her about Michael.
Not everything.
Enough.
He told Sophie about her uncle’s talent.
His pride.
The challenge.
The slam.
The hospital.
The years afterward.
Sophie knew Uncle Michael.
Barely.
She remembered a thin man with a slow smile who gave her puzzles when she was little.
She had never known why he walked with a cane.
“Mom knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t anybody tell me?”
“You were young.”
“I’m not young now.”
Daniel looked at her.
“No.”
“Is that why you hate fighting?”
“I don’t hate fighting.”
“What do you hate?”
Daniel thought.
“The part where people start believing winning proves something about who they are.”
Sophie looked toward the academy.
“Travis does that.”
“Yes.”
“So did Uncle Michael?”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“Sometimes.”
“And you?”
He smiled sadly.
“Absolutely.”
That answer surprised her.
Daniel continued.
“I was good enough to become arrogant and not good enough to understand what arrogance could cost.”
Sophie said nothing.
They drove home.
The next morning, a video appeared online.
Someone had recorded the reversal.
The title:
RANDOM DAD HUMILIATES BJJ BLACK BELT.
Daniel hated it immediately.
By lunchtime, it had twenty thousand views.
By evening, eighty thousand.
Sophie showed him.
“Don’t read the comments.”
Daniel took the phone.
“Why would you say that before handing it to me?”
“Because now you’ll definitely read them.”
He scrolled.
OLD MAN STILL GOT IT.
TRAVIS GOT COOKED.
WHO IS THIS GUY?
THAT REVERSAL WAS CLEAN.
Some comments attacked Travis.
Others attacked Daniel.
Fake.
Staged.
Travis let him escape.
Old guy would get destroyed in a real match.
Daniel handed the phone back.
“This is why civilization was a mistake.”
Sophie smiled.
Victory Forge felt different after the video.
Travis stopped making jokes.
That was good.
But he also stopped speaking to Sophie.
That was not.
During her next class, he corrected everyone except her.
She noticed.
Elena noticed.
Daniel learned about it when Sophie came home.
“You want me to talk to Mark?”
“No.”
“The owner should know.”
“I can handle it.”
Daniel studied her.
“Handling something doesn’t always mean handling it alone.”
“I know.”
“Okay.”
The following Monday, Mark Lawson called Daniel.
“I think we should talk.”
Daniel nearly declined.
Then agreed.
Mark met him in the academy office.
Old photographs covered the walls.
Daniel recognized several names from martial arts circles decades earlier.
Mark closed the door.
“I watched the video.”
Daniel nodded.
“Unfortunately, so did Earth.”
Mark almost smiled.
“Travis was wrong.”
Daniel waited.
“I spoke to him.”
“Good.”
“He says you challenged his instruction in front of students.”
“I did.”
“You probably shouldn’t have.”
Daniel nodded.
“Agreed.”
Mark looked surprised.
“But he also kept a submission after you clearly asked him to release.”
“Yes.”
“That’s unacceptable.”
Daniel said nothing.
Mark leaned back.
“Who trained you?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Frank Delaney.”
Mark’s eyebrows rose.
“Cleveland?”
“Yes.”
“Delaney Combat?”
Daniel nodded.
Mark stared.
“You’re Daniel Mercer.”
“That’s what my driver’s license says.”
Mark stood.
“Michael Mercer’s brother.”
Daniel looked away.
Mark’s excitement disappeared.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
“I saw you compete.”
Daniel looked back.
“Where?”
“Midwest Grappling Invitational. 1998. You beat Tommy Raines.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“Tommy reminds everyone about the bad scoring.”
“He complained for ten years.”
“He may still be complaining.”
Mark laughed.
Then became serious.
“You were good.”
“I was young.”
“Both can be true.”
Daniel’s eyes moved toward the old photographs.
Mark continued.
“What happened after Michael?”
“I stopped.”
“Completely?”
“Almost.”
“Frank?”
“Died twelve years ago.”
“I heard.”
Silence.
Mark folded his hands.
“Travis needs help.”
Daniel laughed once.
“You called the wrong person.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“He’s talented.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe the most talented student I’ve had in fifteen years.”
“That doesn’t mean I should teach him.”
“No.”
Mark leaned forward.
“But he listens to nobody who can’t beat him.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Then you already failed him.”