Austin was a rising fighter in the MMA world and was undefeated in all the matches right from his debut. His name was spreading like wildfire within the community and people were claiming him to be the next champion in the making.
But while trying to save a small girl on the road, he was met with a devastating accident. His left leg tibia and femur were shattered, and he had to undergo metal implant surgery, snatching his career in fighting away. Overnight, the rising champion vanished from the world of MMA.
As if even God was testing his patience, his master passed away untimely, leaving his only karate dojo in his name. The time when he needed the only love in his life, his girlfriend to stand with him, she left him for a wealthy businessman, leaving him drowned in pain and agony.
Accepting the bitter hardships of life, he finally decided to stand up and take on the legacy of his master. He took a loan from the bank, renovated the dojo into a full fledged MMA training gym. Even if he couldn't fulfill his dream, we wanted a champion to come out from the gym he made and trained under him.
But just then the whole neighborhood was bought by a huge real estate company for a redevelopment project, but the only hindrance in their path was an adamant Austin, refusing to sell the last legacy of his master.
Soon, the trainees of his gym were being threatened, harassed and made to leave. His gym went under and the loan repayments pilled up over the months. He was being harassed by hired goons regularly, thrashing his gym and beating him up, so as to make him give up.
But the fighter inside him refused to bend. He'd rather die then sign the land deeds. And after all these torturous months, he was tired and exhausted, and decided to take the first path. Being an orphan and no one to mourn for him, he wanted to silently move to his master's side.
'Let's not leave any regrets.' Austin smirked. He poured the soju in the glass. The ramyeon was boiling in the pot over the portable stove.
He pulled a cigarette out of the packet, tapped it a few times on his palm and raised it to his lips, holding it steady between his two fingers. The lighter clicked, flame poured out burning the tobacco on the open end. He took a drag, a shallow pull. The paper crackled. The smoke filled his lungs. With an exhale, a thin wisp of smoke, almost imperceptible, curled from his nostrils, dissipating into the air like a fleeting thought.
He downed the soju, burning and moving like a hot lava through the path it slid down. "Sss!!" he let out a sharp gasp as the burning sensation hit the back of his throat.
It was almost ten years when the last time he had tasted alcohol and smoked. Old memories resurfaces as he got lost in nostalgia, of the days his master brought him back from the path of delinquency and trained him into a man.
CLAP!! RUMBLE!!
The thunder brought him back out of his memories. He started taking one shot after another of the soju and took a few drags of the cigarette in between. After the ramyeon was done, he voraciously feasted on it, the taste of msg invigorated his senses, eliciting a moan out of him.
He quicky ate everything, took the ice cream as well as the chocolate. With a full belly about to burst, he laid back and relaxed with a smile of content on his face. After resting for a few minutes, he put his hand into the pocket of his jacket and fiddled to pull out a glass bottle.
The label on it read: RAT POISON. He opened the cap and stared hard. His hands shaking, range of emotions passing through his face, hesitation and uncertainty still heavy. A deep sigh escaped him. he steeled his mind. His face now determined, he moved the bottle closer to his lips, ready to gulp it down in once and end everything.
BOOM!! CLAP!! But just then the sky roared with thunder and bolt of lightning fell straight on his house. It blasted through the roof and passed right through his chest, burning a hole in his heart, charring his clothes black.
The smell of burning skin spread out. he froze with the bottle still at a distance from his lips. His nerves blackened and hair stood up. "N-Nothing…goes a-as…p-planed…F-Fuck!" his eyes rolled back, the bottle fell from his grasp and his body went limp, lying lifeless on the floor.
****
Austin slowly opened his eyes, his vision still hazy and blurry. When finally it cleared up, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling above him, realizing that he was lying on a soft bed.
'What the hell! How am I alive?' He was surprised at being alive even after being stuck by a lightning. He couldn't believe that he survived that.
'Who the fuck brought me to the hospital? Can't even let me die peacefully.' Austin hurled up and sat on the bed, furious at being saved and brought to the hospital. But his anger vanished when he saw the surroundings.
He was definitely in some kind of hospital, but there were no tubes and beeping noises of the machines attached to him. the constant rush of nurses and doctor was not there as he expected. There were numerous beds covered in white sheet, placed in a row but there was not a single patient to be seen.
Just then his eyes moved down on himself. He was in a uniform of some sort. Wearing a black trouser and a white linen shirt. A black blazer was folded neatly and placed near his feet. He could see a crest of a blazing sun with three different colored stars surrounding it.
As he tried to move his arms to pick up the jacket, he groaned in pain, his body aching all over. He then realized his tone body and muscles were gone, he had a very frail and weak body now, and for some weird reason, he fell he had grown short even.
"You awake Grey?"
Austin was shocked when he heard a voice from his side. He turned to his side abruptly, and saw a young boy to be in his teenage years. He had long green hair and green eyes. He was wearing the same uniform with the crest that he was in. But the thing that made him stupefied, as a result rubbing his eyes a few times to confirm, was the two small horns coming out of his temples.
"What the fuck!"