How Does it Feel?

Former criminal Daniel Axum has been sweet talked by fighting promoter Rey Trueno.[1] Now he has found himself in the ring with the New Jersey regional champion, the Armadillo (Anthony Rodriguez) who is willing to kill his opponent in order to prove to Coach Cady that he has what it takes to be a champion fighter.

Axum takes a beating and is about to give up when he realizing that in doing so he will never see his son, Benny ever again. This gives Daniel the courge to get back up and fight back. The fight turns into an all out brawl, but Axum feeds off the crowds excitement from the come back. Beating up on someone makes him feel good and eventually he defeats the Armadillo with a knock out blow.

The crowd goes wild, including a woman who mocked Axum earlier in the fight. Rey Trueno also comes out and congratulates Axum for his victory. The woman surprises him again when she kisses him on the cheek, even though his face is slathered with his own blood. Axum is speechless by the adoration he is getting from the crowd as he is whisked into Trueno’s office. There he is paid out his winnings for the fight. The only thing he can’t understand is how desperate the Armadillo was in the ring and wonders how he could have ever been a winning fighter. Both Rey and Cady brush it off by saying that Rodriguez likely couldn’t handle the pressure of being the regional champ, the position that Daniel now holds. Rey tells Daniel to go out and celebrate his victory by having a night on the town, saying they’ll talk soon about their next match. When he leaves the arena he is approached by the woman earlier. She tells him that she mocked him earlier as a motivator, figuring he was the type of man who didn’t like being told he couldn’t do something. She then introduces herself as Lydia. As the two leave, they don’t see the Amadillo, who has been left broken and bleeding on a stretcher, completely forgotten by the coach.

Later, Axum goes down to the Limbo bar and pays off his bar tab. However, he turns down a drink and leaves. The next morning, he goes to see Gina and pays up his child support. She is happy to see him now that he is paying his fare share and he spends the day playing out in the snow with his son Benny for the first time in a while. Gina goes with them and when Benny runs off to build another snowman, she admits that she wanted to tag along because she actually wanted to spend time with Daniel. She even calls him “Danny Boy”, something she hadn’t called him since getting sent to prison. The tender moment is interrupted when Little Benny finds the remains of a dead cat and shows it off to his parents.

By the weekend, Daniel is relaxing at home in the bath. His mother has been worried sick about him since he has hardly been home. She was surprised to hear that he paid their landlord four months of rent in advance. She worries that he has gotten back into crime again, but he assures her that everything is under control.

Come Monday, Daniel goes back to his job at the construction site. With his life back on track, he has his mind made up that he doesn’t need to get into any more fights. That’s when his boss pulls him aside for a private talk. He knows that Axum doesn’t like him, but wants to apologize for not being so discreet about his parole officer the day before. He also wants to give Daniel some advice. He points to another employee named Preston. He spent a decade doing time in Attica and walks through life blaming everyone but himself for his crappy life. He tells Daniel that he has to own up to his past and accept where it has gotten him, otherwise he’ll be like Preston.

This has an impact on Axum, but not in the way he thought. Rather than slaving away at the construction site, Daniel pays another visit to Rey Trueno. He once again has Rey confirm that his fights are all legal. Once he is reassured he goes into fighting full time. As the victories begin piling up, Axum begins winning more and more money. He is able to keep up with his bills and keep seeing Benny. The only person who is not impressed by Daniel’s sudden wealth is his mother, who still thinks something fishy is going on.

Both Coach Cady and Rey Trueno are also excited about how well Axum is performing and believe he is getting stronger with each and every fight. The only thing Cady is concerned about is how much time Axum is spending with Lydia and asks Rey to do something about it before she messes everything up. However, when Rey spies on Axum and Lydia fooling around in the stands, hearing the way she is egging his new champion fighter on makes him smile.

Recurring Characters

Axum, Armadillo, Rey Trueno, Lydia, Benny Broughton, Coach Cady, T-Bone, Gina, Axum’s Mother

Continuity Notes

1. Axum had just served a three year sentence, as we learned Thunderbolts #76.

Topical References

• The characters use a lot of slang that was used by both the African-American and Latino communities in the early 2000s. These usages should be considered topical as they are dated and are considered negative stereotypes to many in these groups.