![[Titan at the local gym.]](../../pics/titan_train.gif)
Titan Bahadur stood before the training arena in a local gymnasium that Sing Su Chow had rented for him that day. The facilities lights revealed the condition of the equipment to be top-notch. It was obvious that someone had a great amount of pride in their possessions or had hired someone with a stellar work ethic. Tom Bailey was focused completely on Titan this day, wanting to catch every facial expression. Titan Bahadur was in rare form and Mr. Bailey wanted that to be captured on film.
"Jason, I can tell you that I feel better tonight than I have all week. The thought of stepping into that arena has set me afire," Titan Bahadur said with a gleam in his eyes. He was standing in front of the camera with a smile on his face, but something strange had happened to his body. He appeared rested and fit, but the young man in his mid-twenties that had entered the tournament a month ago had been aged physically by at least twenty years. His body was still stout, but the hair on his chest had gone gray and the crow's feet around his eyes had taken up permanent residence.
"So, I know that you have been trying to catch up on the interviews today. How did you find the time?" Jason asked. By the sound of his voice, you could tell he was much more comfortable doing tonight's interview even if Titan's physical appearance had changed slightly.
Titan laughed and shook his head before replying. "Well Jason, I would have never had the time had the ever-clever Sing Su Chow not thought of an ingenious idea. Well, not so much thought it up as remembered seeing someone else do it before. He set up a treadmill in front of a big screen TV set and told me that my running would be finished as soon as I ran out of tapes."
"You mean that you couldn't stop until you had watched every interview since last Tuesday?" Jason said with some disbelief and horror. The amount of footage that had been aired in the last few days would have kept him running almost non-stop all day.
"Well, just the ones from my division. Truthfully, I didn't think I was going to make it," Titan said honestly. "What I did come to realize after I finished every tape was that I've really got some top-notch competition tomorrow."
Jason's hand, holding the microphone, came into view then. Interested in pursuing this line of conversation, he asked, "Do you want to name names?"
"Jason, if things shape up like some people have predicted, I'm going to have my hands full just keeping my own two feet in the ring. I don't need to aggregate the situation any more by calling out challenges...Not tonight anyway," Titan chuckled. "I do want to say one thing though," Titan said becoming serious, "If I have to go bail Above Average Man out of the slammer myself, he will be in that ring tomorrow. He has busted his ass trying to get into that ring and a falsified police report isn't going to stop him. Not if I have anything to say about it."
Jason was taken completely off guard. Recovering quickly, as usual, he asked, "Are you kidding? That guy practically called you a dope head."
"Jason, he said I was living in my own world. By the gods, he was absolutely right. I had some personal problems crop up in the last week that almost put me in the hospital. I don't know if it would have been for my body or my mind, but that doesn't matter. What matters is, someone cared enough to show me the road to redemption. Jason, I care about people and I have enough respect for other people in this business to lend a helping hand when needed," Titan Bahadur explained. There was no mirth in his eyes. This was no joke. He was dead on serious and wanted the people to know he meant each and every word.
"What about in the ring? You could help him out and he could be the one to end the tournament for you tomorrow." Jason stated, matter-of-factly.
"Let me just say this and then we'll move on to something else. Out of the ring, people are people. Some are punks and some are up-right folks. What's that old saying, 'You get what you give.' That is the truth, brother. Never forget it," Titan explained. "But when that bell sounds and I land in that ring with 15 other warriors, only the code of the arena applies, 'You give before somebody gets you.' Each and every person in that ring, big or small, intellect or dullard, has the potential to put your a$$ on the floor. I wish, like somebody suggested, I could grow eyes in the back of my head. But with the experience of battle comes the ability to know your surroundings. To survive, you have to be aware...And I've never been so aware of what's riding on a win as I am tonight."
"I know you have other things on your agenda tonight, so I'll let you go after this last question." Jason said. "Do you have a place picked out yet at the Citadel for the trophy?"
A cocky grin grew on Titan's face. "Now Jason, I would be presuming too much if I were to claim victory this early...but truthfully...Yeah, I've already picked out a place of honor for it," Titan Bahadur said. "A little wishful thinking never hurts."
The camera angle pulled out to capture Titan Bahadur and Jason Stewart standing side by side. "Well," Jason said, "I would like to thank you for your time tonight. I wish you the best of luck tomorrow."
"Thanks, Jason. I'll take any you can throw my way."
The pair shook hands as the interview faded out. The final broadcasted image was an advertisement for the Last Man Standing Battle Royales...
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