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Charm City Champion

Chapter #1

By Marcus Noble

Opening Music: This Too Shall Pass - Matthew Ebel

Terry Copper woke up to the sound of his alarm. The clay and white colored rabbit got up out of bed and hopped in the shower. He had always liked showering in the morning since it helped him wake up and get his blood pumping. That and it kept his fur from looking greasy during the day. He slipped on his work uniform over his swimmer's build body. Being that his position was as security and a receptionist he had to look good. He slipped on a pair of black slacks, shoes and a belt along with a button down white shirt and a black bow tie.

After checking himself in the mirror he grabbed his messenger bag and checked through it to make sure he had everything inside it. He had an iPad with a skin that had the pattern of a basketball on it. He did always remember to bring his charger for that and his cell phone with him so that the battery wouldn't run out of power, along with a pair of headphones so that he wouldn't disturb others with the sounds from his games or music. He also had a notepad with two pens inside of it that he always kept his random observations and thoughts in. Never know when you might need to recall things like that later on.

He walked into the kitchen of his apartment, and started up his single cup coffee maker. The sound of it was background "music" as he opened his fridge and took out some peanut butter and jelly, some baby carrots and an apple. He would start making his lunch, putting it in a separate compartment in his bag before then grabbing a protein bar and opening it. He took a large bite out of it before hearing the coffee maker beep to indicate that it was finished. He put the lid on it and checked the time on the microwave. He had plenty of time to make the light rail for work. Bag on his shoulder, coffee in one hand, and protein bar in the other he made his way out of his apartment and down to the streets of Baltimore.

While he didn't live in the nicest apartment in the city it was still better than the projects he grew up in. His place was just a few blocks away from the lightrail station. He paid for a ticket and got on the next train that arrived. He would sit down and take out his iPad, plugging in his headphones and putting them on his head. Listening some music as he checked over his e-mail. Most of it was spam of course though he saw a story from a local newspaper with the headline "Does Baltimore Need a Hero?" He clicked the link and saw it was an editorial asking that with the city's recent increase in crime rate if a hero from another city should come to help clean up the streets.

Many of the big cities in the country had furs with supernatural powers of some kind helping to fight crime. But many of them also had criminals with similar powers as well. Baltimore had none of that, just good old fashioned crimes. Crimes like robbery, murder, and jaywalking. The article said that even without the presence of super criminals that a super crime fighter would act as a deterrent. Not having seen one of them himself, Terry thought of these super beings as otherworldly characters that seemed more at home in books and movies than in his home city. Besides, exciting things like that never happened in Baltimore. That was more for places like New York, LA, and Chicago.

As he finished the article he looked up to see that his stop was coming up. So he stashed his things in his bag and started to move through the slightly crowded train towards the door. The lightrail train pulled up to the Convention Center station and let out a good portion of the crowd. Being that the convention center was the gateway to the inner harbor this is where a large number of big businesses were located. Including Terry's employer, Lars Lurman Investments Inc. The company owned the tallest building in the inner harbor which was located three blocks from the lightrail station he just left.

He walked into the building through the revolving doors in the front entrance. Then he went through the back of the lobby to a door marked SECURITY STAFF ONLY. Next to it was a keypad with the numbers 0 through 9 on it. He entered his unique PIN into the pad and the door unlocked. At the end of the long gray hallway were two doors, similar to the one he entered but these were marked MEN and WOMEN. He entered the one marked MEN, then walked down one of the rows of blue steel lockers. He would stash his shoulder bag in the locker before returning the the lobby of the building. There he would see his coworker and fellow security officer.

The rather imposing looking bay colored stallion commuted into Baltimore from the nearby city of Glen Burnie. "Hey Charles." Terry greeted him as the bunny slid into his chair and logged into the computer.

Charles gave a soft smile. "Good morning Terry. Happy Friday."

"Friday already? Wow the days just seem to fly by don't they?" Terry smiled back as his voice was tinged with sarcasm.

"Yeah it is. And I don't think I thanked you yet for this." Charles adjusted his bowtie as he spoke. All security staff in the building wore the same uniform. "Look less like security and more like I'm going to prom."

Terry made a tisk tisk sound as he shook a finger back and forth. "Now now Sir Charles. You do look rather dashing if I do say so myself. Besides you do remember we are security officers right?"

"Of course I do Terry. That's why we should look the part don't you think?" His tone stayed low and serious throughout.

"It's less about looks and more about practicality. You get into an altercation with someone you don't want something hanging from your neck that they can easily grab onto. Besides, I was hoping that the boss would allow us to pick our own colors as well."

Charles let out a deep laugh and a snort. His nostrils flaring wide "You gave the boss too much credit. Not the first time you've done that either."

Terry sighed and rubbed his forehead. He started doing his clerical work while Charles talked. If he waited until the stallion was finished he would have been waiting for a long time. "There was that time you suggested a christmas party and we ended up having it here in the lobby. Oh and what about that three month period we had an employee of the month and he was it. Every month."

Terry would make a note to himself to be very careful and more specific in his suggestions in the future. About an hour after lunch he got an e-mail at his work account. It was from the IT department, but the name on it actually made him smile.

[email protected]

Subject: Up for the usual?

Hey Ter. Up for the usual Friday thing tonight?

Terry hit the reply button.

[email protected]

Subject: Oh hell yeah!

Of course I am. Though you know we're not supposed to use the work e-mail for personal use right?

I'll see you in the lobby when we're off.

Victor Columbus had been Terry's best friend since elementary school and had helped him out quite a bit in recent years. Even helping Terry get his current job. They had a few traditions that they upheld with each other, including what they had done every Friday night since they turned 21. Karaoke.

When 5 o'clock hit Terry wished Charles a good weekend and went back to the locker room to grab his bag. When he returned to the lobby, with almost perfect timing the elevator opened to reveal a tall and lanky colobus monkey. Victor Columbus was wearing black slacks and a black and green striped button down shirt. He smiled at Terry as he stepped out of the elevator. "You ready?"

The rabbit grinned as his his tail twitched excitedly. "Hon, I was born ready. Let's do this!" He adjusted his bag on his shoulder as he walked out the door and across the street to the parking garage. They got into Victor's silver colored Camaro.

"You know I might get tired of having to drive you around some day." Victor started up the car but then Terry reached into his pocket and fished some money out of his wallet, handing it over.

"Well I have been saving up for a while, but I have been wondering since I live in the city if there is even a point to it." He made sure to give Victor enough money to pay for the parking for the day. The monkey handed it to the attendant and then turned onto the street.

"What would you do with all that money then?" Victor asked as he made his way effortlessly through the streets. Just like Terry he grew up in the city and knew the layout like the back of his hand.

Terry shrugged at the question. "Dunno. Donate it to charity, get Spirits season tickets. I have been meaning to get a new heavy bag for a while."

"How do you practice all those ninja moves without waking up your neighbors?" Victor asked as they stopped at a red light. As they got deeper into the city the pedestrians wore less business suits and more casual clothing.

"First off," Terry held up the index finger on his right hand. "It is not Ninjutsu, it is Tae Kwon Do. Second," he the held up his middle finger along with it. "The super has some extra room in the basement that he isn't using. I just sweetened the deal by offering to pay some extra in rent."

Victor shrugged a bit. "To-may-to to-mah-to. All those martial arts all sound the same to me."

Terry let out a laugh and shook his head. "And here I thought you were supposed to be the geek out of us. Besides man, that's racist."

Victor rolled his eyes. "But you're not Asian, you're a rabbit."

Terry held his head high. "The correct term is Lapine-American."

Victor shook his head as he pulled into the parking lot of a brick faced building. On the side was a mural of a pack of wolves howling at a full moon. Underneath it was the name of the bar in a graffiti font, Bark at the Moon. They stepped out of the car and Victor seemed to study the mural a bit. "Some things never change."

Terry wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. "Of course hon, and let's hope Friday nights never do." Victor playfully pushed him away and they walked around the building to the front door. A printed version of the mural on the other side graced the glass. They eagerly made their way inside.

The floor, the tables, and the long bar were all made of lacquered wood. "Bark at the Moon" had been in business since the 60s. It started when two navy veterans had retired and after coming back home, wanted a place to relax and do some karaoke after having been stationed in Japan. The long bar ran along one side, and there were several tables of varying sizes in the middle, with booths along the side opposite the bar. There was a stage set up for both karaoke and live bands, along with a sound engineer's booth set off to the right side of the stage.

Terry and Victor took up their usual spot. A two top table two rows back from the stage with a good center view of it. A few others had already taken their seats about the establishment. Many liked to get some food and a drink or two in before the karaoke started and the monkey and rabbit were among them. Shortly after taking their seats a middle aged wolf woman walked toward them. She was wearing a black polo shirt with the bar's logo embroidered on the left breast, and her name "Miss Molly" on the right.

"Hello boys. The usual for drinks tonight?" They both nodded. "Allright. A large Natty Boh for the bunny and a Jager and coke for the monkey. You two need a food menu?"

Victor shook his head "I'll just have whatever you've got on special for tonight."

Miss Molly smiled. "Ah good. Mark has a chili burger and fries on special tonight. And what about you hon?" She said as she handed a menu to Terry.

"I'll start with the potato skins, hold the bacon. And for my meal I'll have your biggest bowl of veggie chili." Terry patted his belly. "I'm very hungry."

Miss Molly smiled and went off to put in the order.

Victor shook his head again and let out a sigh. "What's the point of having chili without the meat? It's like playing playing touch football. You're kinda missing the point."

"Well Victor, you do know being a bunny that I can't eat meat right. Besides according to the latest census about 48% of the population of Baltimore are herbivores or omnivores." He said as Molly came over with their drinks. Terry took a sip of his beer before speaking again. "Besides, I thought you were more interested in basketball than football."

Victor took a sip of his own drink and let out a sigh. "Well yeah, because I could probably actually play it. After all basketball isn't a contact sport."

"Well you obviously haven't played with some of the guys I did when I was growing up. To them fighting while playing b-ball was just as common as it is during hockey." Terry took another sip of his beer as Miss Molly brought out the potato skins. She mentioned that the sound engineer just put out the signup sheet for karaoke that night. The place had started to fill up more. Mostly of them wearing dock worker uniforms or shirts from the various retail stores in the area. They would snack on the potato skins, mulling over the songs that they wanted to sing.

Terry would walk over towards the list that was sitting next to the sound engineer booth and write in his and Victor's name on it. Choosing "Harder to Breathe" from Maroon 5 for himself and thinking for a few moments before writing down his choice of song for Victor. He returned to his seat with a wide grin on his face as Miss Molly came back to take away the empty appetizer plates.

Victor took a sip of his drink. "So what did you pick out for me this time?"

Terry smiled and waggled his eyebrows. "Now now, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you. Besides, why break with tradition?"

Victor shook his head. "Well for once I'd like to pick a song myself. I'd actually pick one I am good at singing."

Terry shook his head and took a long swig of his beer. "No no no, the whole point of karaoke is all of the entertainment value of singing terribly while buzzed. You wanna sing well in front of others, either play Rock Band or get on American Idol."

Miss Molly would come back with their food, setting the large bowl of veggie chilli and the plate with burger and fries down on the table. The gentlemen thanked her before ordering another round of drinks to go with the meal. They didn't say anything to each other at first as they ate, but Victor's eyes seemed to settle on the bowtie that he was wearing.

Terry stopped eating and looked down at it. "Did I spill something?"

Victor shook his head. "No no, nothing like that. The bowtie looks really goo....nice. It looks nice on you Terry."

He smiled and adjusted the tie. "Of course it is. Bow ties are cool. I'm glad someone else likes it. Charles keeps giving me shit about having to wear it."

Victor picked up a french fry and seemed to study it for a moment. "Well you know how Chuck can be. He always seems to be complaining about something." He took a bite of the fry before picking up some of the chili leaking off the side of the burger with it.

"Well he's always noticing little things. It's why he's so good at his job." he said, stirring up his veggie chili before taking another spoonful. "Besides he prefers Charles."

Victor would just shrug his shoulders before starting on his burger. The sound engineer, a lanky meerkat with green dyed hair on top of his head and rectangular framed glasses stepped out of the booth and onto the stage. He spoke in a soft English accent and would call up each of the participants who would be performing and the songs they would sing as the night went on. About an hour in Terry got up onto the stage and did as best as he could, though he wasn't a talented singer. He always put his emotions into it, and when he was hammered he went all out. Even if the song didn't call for it. It was probably why he picked the song that he did. After the applause from the crowd he sat down and the meerkat MC called up Victor to the stage.

"Something tells me I'm going to regret this later." Victor pushed his chair up to the table and walked up to the stage as the meerkat said he would be singing "Walking On Broken Glass" from Annie Lennox. As Victor started singing the crowd actually grew silent. His singing was full of the emotion and passion you'd find in a professional stage performer. Victor would get the crowd into it, clapping his hands so they could keep the beat as he sang. Terry's ears stood up straight as he watched with wide eyes. He knew his friend was a good singer, but he was genuinely surprised at how good. Especially when he hit the high notes. After he finished the crowd rose to their feet and gave him a standing ovation. Terry did so as well, smiling and nodding at his best friend. Victor slowly walked off the stage and walked back to his seat, his face tinged a light shade of pink in a blush.

The MC said that they would take a break from the karaoke for now since he didn't know who could follow such a great performance. Victor would try to busy himself with eating his meal as his monkey tail would nervously twitch back and forth. After several minutes of silence Terry finally spoke up. "You never told me you could sing like that."

"Well...." Victor tried to just let the subject trail off but as he saw terry cross his arms over his chest. He wasn't going to let it go. "Well this was the first time you picked a song I'm actually good at singing. I mean last week you picked out We Didn't Start the Fire."

Terry finished his chili and dropped his spoon into the empty bowl. His eyes growing wide, his hears shooting up and his tiny tail standing up. "What do you mean? Who doesn't like Billy Joel?"

Victor sipped at the last of his drink. "Well I don't for one. But I won't let your taste in music change my opinion of you."

Terry slumped against his chair and finished his drink as well, asking Miss Molly to come back with the check. "You're a snarky little fucker you know that?" he said a grin peeking out the corner of his mouth.

"Well I learned that from you." Victor grinned back at him. Miss Molly brought out the check and as always, they both paid for their portion of the bill and left her a very generous tip.

"Thanks boys. See you next week." She said as she picked up the check. The two left the bar and got back into Victor's car. He pulled out of the parking lot and started to make his way toward Terry's apartment.

"So you got any plans for the weekend?" Terry asked as they were stopped at a red light.

"Well just my usual." Victor said as he idly tapped his fingers on the wheel. "You?"

"Well practicing my moves tonight, cleaning tomorrow, then watching the Spirits game on Sunday. You wanna come over?" the rabbit said, his voice sounding hopeful.

"Sure why not?" Victor stepped on the gas as the light turned green. "Sure would liven up my weekend."

Terry actually rolled his eyes and huffed a bit. "Yeah considering your usual..." he said as he made air quotes with his fingers. "Weekend involves you mostly taking apart computers and putting them together again. I don't get how you can do that. You do that all day at work don't you?"

"Well Terry, they don't let me make the rigs at work that I do at home. Not to mention I don't have to deal with requisition forms for parts and tools. I can get what I need when I need it." He sounded a bit frustrated. One of the things Victor hated about his job was when someone insisted he explain everything about what he was doing and not just do what he needed to. It just made him take more time than he needed.

Terry took the hint from his tone and backed off from the subject. "Fair enough. I know how that is. I put in a request for new holsters for our tasers and we finally got them. After almost six months."

The mood softened and they both let out a chuckle. After the spell of laughter Victor stopped the car in front of Terry's apartment building. "Thanks for the ride hon. I'll see you on Sunday. Just give me a call when you're on your way."

Victor lowered the window as he stepped out. "Sure thing. Let me know if you want me to pick up anything from the store on my way over. See you later." he gave a wave and rolled up the window before speeding off.

Terry always liked spending time with Victor. Even though they'd been friends for twenty years, they always had things to talk about. Whenever they left they always had smiles on their faces. In any case, Terry would work out the stress of the work week by practicing his Tae Kwon Do moves. He would go up to his room and change out of his work clothes and into a gray tank top and matching set of lycra pants. Then he would fill a steel bottle with water before heading down to the basement.

The superintendent had the basement originally just as a place to store his tools and other excess things he might need for fixing things. When Terry first moved in he asked if he could set up a heavy bag in his room since he needed a place to regularly practice. The super was adamant about this as he didn't want the noise to disturb the other tenants. Terry asked if there was any other room available in the building. The super showed him the basement and it seemed perfect for this use. The room was wide open and there were nothing that he could risk breaking if the rig for a heavy bag came loose. The super agreed to let him do this so long as he would pay for the expenses for the rig along with adding in a bit extra to the security deposit. Supposedly this was in case there was any damage to the room, but it seemed a bit fishy. Still the super was already going out of his way to accommodate Terry's needs. So he could afford a bit extra on the rent.

He would grab the pair of practice gloves and strap them on his hands. Doing some warm up stretches and taking a sip of water before he gave the hanging heavy bag a couple of soft punches. Seeing that the bag took the punches easily he would slowly increase the speed and strength behind each of the blows. He would then start to incorporate kicks into the moves against the bag. His rhythm steadily increasing in speed and intensity with each hit. After about half an hour he stopped to rest for a bit. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and went to take a swig of water from his bottle. As he did he heard the sound of something pouring out onto the ground.

He walked over to the bag and saw part of the stitching had torn open. "Shit." He took off his gloves and went to get the sewing kit he had stored down here to fix these things. He had been meaning to get a new bag for a while, but didn't want to spend the money on it if he didn't have to. He knelt down next to the bag and set the sewing kit on the floor. He looked over at the door, wanting to be sure no one was going to come in. He would then put his hands around the pile of sand that had spilled out onto the floor. He then slowly pulled his hands away and held them parallel to each other. The sand would then slowly rise upward in a straight line. As he kept moving his hands slowly upward toward the bag, the sand followed and moved back into the bag. Terry kept doing this until the sand was cleaned up off the floor. He stitched up the hole in the bag and wiped his brow.

He looked over toward the door again, as if expecting someone to burst in and say they caught him. But there was no noise from the door. Just the light creaking of the heavy bag as it lightly swayed forward and back. Terry took another sip of water before putting his gloves back on and going back to practicing on the heavy back. He was feeling tense and nervous, so he needed to work that out again.

Closing Music: Titanium - David Guetta Feat. Sia