Liriko 2's Battles Round Entry.
--
Home
by superjelly
(Team Hope)
Perlas ng Silangan is a suborbital air-launched spaceplane designed and developed by a joint venture between Paul Alexander's aviation company and Filipino engineers who specialize in formulating designs and manufacture for spacecrafts. The release took place at an altitude of 9 miles and a speed of 600 miles per hour, although the manned aircraft has a maximum speed of 5,250 miles per hour and can exceed to the altitude of 60 miles. The fuselage was long and cylindrical, and has barrel extensions added to the fore and to the aft of the wings.
The bestial aircraft was truly a work of innovation, which was needed for a great purpose: human colonization of the planet Mars.
After several scientific proposals and manned missions to Mars, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration eventually announced that the human race can finally settle on the planet after the successful terraforming, thus, making it habitable to humans. The phenomenal event led to global assemblies among different countries, the Philippines is one of those, to formally decide to move to the Planet Mars after Earth has become less habitable because of the unstoppable rampage of the vehement nature.
The passengers of the spaceplane were comprised of celebrities, people from media, star players in a particular sport— Emmanuel being one of them. These are the people who have enough wealth to buy the first boarding tickets, and the less fortunate ones are left behind on Earth and to wait for their turns.
Emmanuel Pacquito peered outside the plane's window to marvel at the astounding view of God's wonderful creation: the space. Staring at it up close, he cannot decide whether to feel frightened or to feel awed. Later on, he thought it was probably both.
"Are you scared, Papa?" His son, Mick, asked out of curiosity.
He laughed softly and smiled gently at his 10-year old son. "I am. This one's not something I can beat knockout on," Emmanuel shifted his gaze back outside the plane's window.
The first and only eight-division world champion, in which he has won ten world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. One of the highest paid athletes and one of the most influential people in the world.
He was named "Fighter of the Decade", was called the Pambansang Kamao, and the Fighting Pride of his country— Emmanuel Pacquito was truly The Fighter.
Looking at the Earth, wherein the sphere has become an almost brown in terms of color, he can't help but to wonder if there is still a reason to fight. It is about survival, yes, but why does he want to aim for that in the first place? The Earth he once loved was gone, and there was no way of getting it back to what it used to be. He cannot be the same fighter he was when he was still living on Earth. He wondered if life's still worth fighting for if everything would be gone at any moment without warning. Questions began to fill his mind.
What is he truly fighting for?
***
"You're too short and light, no way you'll be a professional boxer, you dumbass!"
This wasn't the first time Emmanuel has heard those words. There were a lot of them who made fun of him whenever he would say that he wanted to be a professional boxer someday. Judging by Emmanuel's appearance, as a skinny and short 14-year old, one would not really see him as a man who fights inside the ring, contending against bulky men with iron fists. But these judgments did not stop him from reaching for his dreams, especially with the support of his best friend, Eugene, who was also an aspiring boxer. Together, they would train after classes with the use of rice sacks and worn pillows as their punching bags. Eugene acted as a coach for Emmanuel, and Emmanuel did the same for Eugene. However, these trainings were put into a halt when Eugene was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
"You should fight. I know you can do it in spite of all the things they tell you. I've seen you, I've seen all of it. Whenever we would train, sometimes I feel scared of you because of your strong punches and your speed. You're also good when it comes to defense. You have it in you, Emmanuel. You are the fighter... I believe in you."
Emmanuel believed in his best friend's words, especially when he called him the fighter.
But Emmanuel wished Eugene believed he himself was a fighter, too. He wished his best friend fought harder and didn't give in to his sickness two days later.
Despite the loss, it has spurred him to pursue a professional boxing career. He could remember well his first real fight in the ring, when he was just 16 years old. He stood at 4'11'' and weighed 98 pounds, which was 7 pounds under the minimum weight requirement. He put weights in his pockets just to make the 105-pound limit, which was a disadvantage to him. Nevertheless, he needed that to get into the fight.
His opponent, Vicente Ignacio, was a four-round bout who was three times the size of Emmanuel. He remembered that his heart started to pound faster and even had the thoughts of backing out, but when the ring bells and the light was on him, he knew there was no turning back. Vicente immediately lunges forward to punch him in his abdomen, which he avoided by swiftly moving to his left and giving a blow to Vicente's cheek. Vicente counterattacks by tackling the little Emmanuel in his bosom, which chest was too broad and hairy, and Emmanuel was losing his breath until the referee interferes. Vicente was too strong for him, he thought, but just like what Eugene has told him, Emmanuel moves very fast. With his speed, he easily defended himself against Vicente's punches, and then giving all his strength for the offense. The fight went on until twelve rounds, and it was a unanimous decision win in favor of Emmanuel.
On that night, standing in front of the cheering crowd and listening to the loud voice of the speaker who announced him as the winner, he felt like it was his destiny to be in that place. That was the start of everything. His first win made him feel so much victory in him that he wanted more.
Wins after wins. He was hailed undefeated in his next 15 fights. The shimmer of the gold from his medals made him blind to the reason why he was fighting in the first place. What became important to him is to hear the audience's voices calling out for his name and the words that would speak of his victory.
And there was his first loss against a Mexican boxer called Manuel Marcos. He became too confident of his strength and speed, underestimated each opponent, and his downfall, instead of leading him to look back at the beginning of his journey and to ponder the real reason why he is fighting, he fixed his gaze too much on the future's prize that he spent all his life training, longing for power and victory in his fights.
Each morning he would wake up feeling loss and weak, but the moment he steps into the ring, he would feel like as if he is the strongest man in the world and all the possibilities are endless. He would fight and fight, and when he stumbles upon the ground, he would easily pick himself up and show what hell is supposed to look like to his opponents.
He was truly the Filipino's pride. But, is he even a pride to himself?
He didn't quite believe in himself anymore.
***
The rate of the spaceplane for the descent dwindled and descended at a low enough amount to allow for a gentle touchdown. Mr. Macapagal, the pilot of the Perlas ng Silangan reduced thrust and induced a greater amount of drag that slowed down the aircraft to completely subside on the asphalt paved to the soil of Mars that would serve as the runway. The landing gear comprised a nose-wheel carriage and two rear skids with an increased-capacity landing gear system with 32 wheels, and the progressive movement of the control column back allowed the aircraft to settle onto the runway at minimum speed, landing on its main wheels first.
Passengers disembarked from the aircraft, whilst conversing with each other on how they are thrilled to see Mars with their naked eyes for the very first time. Emmanuel advanced on his feet and held the hand of Mick. The boxer smiled at his son as he could not also hide his excitement.
"Mama, we're finally here!" Mick exclaimed.
Emmanuel looked at his wife. It has always been Jinky's dream to travel the space and to visit another planet. She would tell Emmanuel that her childhood dream was to become an astronaut, and when she later realized that it was impossible one, she decided to just travel the world instead.
But now, I'm making your dreams come true, Jinky, Emmanuel thought.
"Just hold your Mama very tightly. Be careful or you might drop her," he reminded his son.
Mick nodded and clutched the urn that holds the ashes of his mother who has been cremated. Emmanuel's wife, Jinky, has died in childbirth. Ever since then, Emmanuel has promised to himself that he would do his best to become successful in his career to give his only son a bright future. He would train harder and rest lesser. He wondered what would he do with his new life on Mars now that he can no longer be a boxer. He felt disappointment in himself as he could no longer earn profit to sustain a good life for his son.
"I still don't know what to do with my new life on Mars. I can no longer be a boxer." He heaved a sigh.
He was waiting for his son's mocking remark, but instead, his son gave him a genuine smile. The smile reminded him of his greatest nights, no, they weren't the nights where he'd hear the bells and the cheers... No, it was something greater than that. His son's smile reminded him of the flag of the Philippines, of their house back in GenSan, of his deceased wife's last kiss, of his best friend's peaceful face when he was laying on his death bed.
It went back inside his head. Eugene's words. In spite of the people who tried to pull him down, someone believed in him. And now, looking at his son's face, he was reminded of his lost best friend. Sometimes you just have to decide to stop from falling on the ground, 'cause once you hit the very bottom of it, the only way to go is above. Sometimes you just have to stand up on your own feet and believe in yourself to prove people wrong, because you know yourself more than they do. And sometimes the reason we fight is because someone has become our home, and after each fight we get through, we always know that we have something that truly belong to us. Something even greater than the medals or money— faith of those people whom you loved dearly.
Emmanuel has thought of his home, the Earth. He never lost his homeland. He never lost his reason to fight. It has always been around him, inside the people who are important to him. Even though everything's already lost, as long as you have everyone, then fighting is definitely worth it.
"Then be a father, Papa. That's a stronger fighter. We can always begin again."
It reminded him of better days. It reminded him that yesterday will always be in the past, and that there are kinder tomorrows that hold something greater ahead for him. That in those days, we can always begin again and we can always do it right this time. He has found a brand new reason to continue on fighting.
That smile reminded him of home.