The cage rattled as Soap pressed forward, bouncing on the balls of his feet. The crowd was thunder in your chest. Stomps, chants, the roar of thousands bleeding together into one pulse. He grinned through the mouthguard, cocky swagger intact as he circled his opponent. Hands high. Eyes sharp.

The first round was a storm. Soap closed distance quick, his jab snapping like gunfire. He caught his opponent with a right hook that sent sweat flying, and the crowd exploded. His arms moved in rhythm, a brutal drumbeat, combinations flowing like he was born for this. You found yourself yelling without realizing, hands clenched around the edge of the barrier.

But the second round… it changed.

You could see it before anyone else. The drag in his legs, the half-second slower pull of his guard. His rival noticed too, feints coming sharper, harder. Soap pushed through, landed a brutal body shot, but it cost him. His chest heaved, sweat dripping into his eyes, and for the first time the grin slipped.

“Keep your hands up, Johnny,” you whispered under your breath, useless against the noise.

The third round was the breaking point. His opponent pressed him into the cage, fists slamming like hammers. Soap swung back wild, teeth bared, the crowd in a frenzy. Every hit he took felt like it landed in your ribs too.

Then — it happened.

A split-second. That’s all it took. Soap dropped his left just a fraction, his chin exposed. His opponent’s fist came crashing in, a perfect hook, the kind fighters dream about. The sound was sickening.

His body went stiff, then slack, crumpling to the canvas. The grin, the fire, all of him, gone in an instant.

The crowd erupted, half cheers, half gasps. You didn’t hear any of it. The medics were already rushing in, but all you saw was him lying there, arms spread, chest heaving shallowly. His mouthguard shifted loose against his teeth, blood painting the canvas beneath him.

And the horror sank in. This wasn’t just a loss. This was Soap, larger than life, loud and unshakable… silent, still, and vulnerable in a way you had never seen.