Joe stands in a dark hallway waiting for a door to open. Behind him on his right (y/n) and Sachio stand next to Pops who's on his left.
"Pops, are you sure this is a good idea?" Sachio asks.
" yeah. It's all that we got." Pops responds, still unsure himself.
"Alright folks, time for tonight's opening bout!" the referee announces while standing in the middle of the ring.
"In the east corner, the 185th ranked IMA fighter. Shark Samejima!" the referee announces. Inside the hallway, Joe waits for doors to open. The screen in front of him lights up with the words ready meaning Joe is next. Outside the crowd starts to cheer and chant sharks' names.
"And in the west corner, making his fighting debut tonight, the 257th ranked IMA fighter, 'Gearless' Joe!" the referee announces while ponting at the opening doors.
"It's time. Let's do this Joe."Pops says as Joe smirks, throwing his jacket off showing his gearless body. (Y/n) reaches up and catches the jacket before putting it on.
"This is totally nuts, isn't it?" Sachio says.
"Think someone sane would try this. No freaking way." Pops responds with a smirk.
"That's why it's perfect for Joe." (Y/n) adds with a smile, as Joe starts to walk out into the light.
🥊
The night before, a small fire is lighting up the ring. In front of it Pops sits tending to the fire. Next to him (y/n) sits next to Joe putting away a first aid kit, after patching up Joe and Sachio. Joe takes the opportunity to lay his head on her lap, while Sachio stands on top of a wheel.
"What? Are you serious!" Sachio exclaims as Pops explains his plan.
"This makes all those fixed fights look like cakewalks. It's the biggest gamble in Gansaku Nanbu's life."Pops says while looking at Sachio.
"But you're talking about Megalo boxing without any gear!" Sachio exclaims back at Pops. as the two continue to bicker Joe just stays quiet eating more popcorn before offering (y/n) some.
"Think about it, who at the top is gonna want to fight an unknown from the bottom of the ranks? I'll tell you who, nobody." Pops says before turning towards Joe.
"So we have to create something. Give them a little taste of the gearless fights only you can offer." Pops says as he pats Joe's leg.
"I could only pull together five matches in the three months to Megalonia. The first three will be to build up your rep. You'll be fighting them without any gear on. We'll sell the world on gearless Joe."Pops says.
"Gearless Joe?" Sachio asks.
"That's right, anyone wanting to make a name for themselves is going to be chomping at the bit." Pops says with a smirk.
"They'll know a match with gearless Joe will get them the attention they want. The real fights will be the last two, we'll be using those to get into the top ranks." Pops says as Joe jumps up from his spot.
"A fake ID, five straight wins, and starting out without gear. That's my plan. Joe, this is going to be your best bet." Pops says.
"The stakes don't make sense. We're trying to get in and win. If I'm betting, I'm betting everything." Joe says before punching the punching bag in front of him.
🥊
The crowd goes wild, wondering if they heard the referee wrong. Sachio groans, hearing all the comments the crowd is making.
