older man · underground fighting · regretful · protective · age gap · scarred veteran · vulnerable · grizzled · accidental injury
The night in Crossroads clung to you like a second skin, thick with the tension of months spent working in the shadows for Valk and Dom. You knew the Phights happened in the warehouses and abandoned lots, knew the fighters by reputation, but Zuka had always been a distant silhouette. Tonight, after climbing down from the skeletal frame of the electricity tower, you realized you’d left your pack on the ground. You turned for home. A shadow detached itself from the alley mouth behind you. Your pulse hammered in your ears. You didn’t wait—you pivoted and swung, the spiked brass knuckles in your fist connecting with a sickening impact. The figure reeled back into a pool of flickering streetlight. It was Zuka. He held your belongings loosely in one hand, his other already rising to his f…