"Hang on, hang on, hang on." " Come on." " Yeah?" " Where are you, Charlie?" "More importantly, where is my money?" " You're into me for 30 grand." " All right, all right." "Jack, Jack, Jack, I'm going to pay you." "This ain't Jack!" "It's Bill Panner." "You owe Jack money, too?" "Charlie, you pay me first!" "Bill, hey, no, we're good, buddy." "I got your money." "It's right here in my hand." "So why don't we meet up on the..." " Charlie, your phone's going screwy." " Bill?" " Hello?" " I'm losing you, Bill." "Wait, Charlie, I can't hear what you're saying." "Hey, mister." "Is that Ambush?" " Uh, yeah." " Can we see him?" " You want to see him?" " Yeah." "All right, give me..." "Give me a minute." "This is Ambush." "Wakey, wakey." " What robot is he fighting?" " Actually, he's going to fight..." "Whoa, little lady." "What are you doing?" " Can we get a picture with him?" " Sure." "For five dollars." "You want five dollars?" "Seriously?" "No, I want five dollars immediately." "Come on, guys." "Hey, hey." "All right, all right, I'm kidding." " Three bucks." " Whatever." " How about $2.50?" " You suck!" "All right." "It's going to be one of those towns, huh?" "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 2020 San Leandro County Fair." " Yah!" " Please take your seats." "We're almost ready to get this thing started." "I was told my bot was fighting an 800-pound steer." "Hey, hey!" "That is not 800 pounds, knucklehead." "Charlie "the Can Do Kid" Kenton." "Time has not been good to you, my friend." "Ricky, we got a problem here." "A big problem." "Whoa, hey, slow down there, hoss." "Come on, last time I saw you, you were staring up at the ceiling at the Sam Houston Center with the taste of my right cross all over your face." "Pow!" " Are we good to go here?" " Yeah." "We agreed that my boxer would fight an 800-pound steer for three grand." " Am I right?" " Yes, sir." "We did." " That bull is, like, 2,000 pounds." " Right, OK." "Well, Charlie, I'll tell you something." "Your bot don't fight, you don't get paid!" "Whoo!" " How about that?" " Get the hell out of here." "All right, all right." "Why don't we make this more interesting?" "My bot against your bull, straight up." " How much?" " Twenty grand, winner takes all." " You got 20 grand, Charlie?" " In a safe in my truck." "All right, Charlie." "I'll tell you what, twenty grand it is, but if you lose and you welch," "I'm gonna come after you and beat you to within an inch of your life." "And you know that I can do that because I already done done it!" "What's the problem with you, man?" "In life you get too close, in the ring you stand back like a girl." "Just shake." "All right, Charlie." "Shake and pow!" "Just like that once again." "You want to dance again?" "You wanna dance?" "Come on, cheer for this guy." "Give him some luck." "He needs some luck, y'all." "Yahoo!" "Let's get going!" " Don't touch that bull." "Ladies and gentlemen, I got to ask, do we have any fans of robot boxing here today?" "Now, listen, friends, I understand, we can't all afford to go all the way over there to Dallas and pay $300 for one of those World Robot Boxing League fights." "I get it." "So, I decided that I would bring a robot boxing match right here to our little fair here in San Leandro." "How about that?" "All right." "Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you," " Ambush!" " Let's do it!" "All right, big fella." "Whoo-hoo!" "He's a big fella, ain't he?" "Take a turn." "Let them see how beautiful you are." "Yeah." "Show them some power." "Look at that." "He's getting all kung fu-y on us." " Yeah!" " Yeah, big fella." "Ambush's opponent today, he's last year's runner-up in the baddest of the bulls competition, ladies and gentlemen, Black Thunder!" " Let's get it on!" " Let's get this thing started." "Is that all you got?" "Yeah, brother." "Bring it on." "Take him, take him." "Ambush lays the smackdown on that prime beef." "Woo woo!" "I got more for you, big fella." "We're just getting started." "OK." "Jump, now!" "Boo-yah!" " Dang it!" " Ambush, decks" "Black Thunder but when you mess with the bull, you're going to get the horns." "You like that." "I can tell." " You like that." "Jeez!" "Turn around!" "Ricky!" "Ricky, stop this thing!" "Come on, come on." "We're still in this thing." "We're still in this." "Just hop." "Hop." "That's it." "Come on." "Ricky, enough!" "Enough!" "I can't hear you over the sound of your robot being destroyed." "Kill!" "Kill!" "Kill!" "All right, come on." "Get up." "Get up." "Come on!" "No!" "C'mon." "No, no, no!" "Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for our warriors out here today at the 2020 San Leandro County Fair." "Now, thank you all for coming out, and we'll see you next time, because there will be one." "Hey, hey!" "Give me that leg." "Sure." "For five dollars." "Boo-yah!" "Whoo!" "All right!" "That was ridonculous fun, now wasn't it, ladies and gentlemen?" "I'm going to come by for my money, Charlie boy." "You best have it." " Everybody say "hey!"" " Hey!" " Everybody say "ho!"" " Ho!" "How about that?" "How you doing there, little robot?" "My keys, damn it." "One more step and I'll drop you like your girlfriend." "Charlie, relax." "I'm not paying you." "That was a bogus fight." " It cost me my last robot." " Just listen to us." " Do you recall Caroline Fallon?" " She's my ex-girlfriend." "I haven't seen her in like ten years." "What does she want?" " Nothing." "She died." " Do you recall Max Kenton?" "He's my son." "He's got to be like nine." " Eleven." " Eleven." "OK." "Is he dead, too?" "No, he's fine." "That's why we're here." "This court is convened to address the custodial status of one Max Kenton, age 11." "Mother, Caroline Fallon, deceased." "Father, Charles Kenton." "Debra Fallon Barnes, you're the boy's aunt." "Yes." "As I've already told you, my husband, Marvin, is wealthy, and we can more than provide for Max." "I appreciate that, but per Texas state law, without a written will next of kin retains custody." "Charles Kenton, who is aware of this custody hearing, and we are expecting him..." "No, I need a new robot now." "I had a big fight for Ambush next Saturday." "I got to show up with something." "Noisy Boy is for sale?" "In his day, Noisy Boy was a killer." "How much?" "That's a good deal." "What's wrong with him?" "I can live with that." "Well, I don't have it have it." "Charles Kenton waived all of his rights to custody right after the boy was born." "I can more than provide for Max." "Whoa." "Please be Charles Kenton." "Uh..." "Charlie, yeah." "I'm here to sign some paper that releases my rights to the custody of my son." "That's why I'm here." "Do I need to be here?" "Charlie." "Do you even remember me?" " Debra, Caroline's sister." " Yeah, sure, Debra." "How are you?" " Mr. Kenton." " Yeah." "Please take a seat." "Your Honor, may I please go and see my nephew now?" "Yes, you may." " How about you, Mr. Kenton?" " What?" "You can spend some time with him, if you'd like." " With the kid?" " Yeah, the kid." " Max." "Your son?" " All right, all right." "You've been working with those robots for so long, you've become one." "Honey, you wait right here." "I'm going to be back." "You take all the time you need, sweetheart." "Your Honor, I'd like to, at this juncture, step out and call my attorney, if that's all right." "Please." "Come on." "Come on." "There you are." "He'll be in a foster home." "No, they find good families." "Young, energetic." "Yeah." "Thanks, Michael." "I will." "OK." " Oh, hey." "Hey, um..." " Marvin Barnes." "I'm Debra's husband." " Right, yeah." "You know, Debra really wants to adopt Max." "And..." " I'm up for it, but..." " Seventy-five grand." "$75,000?" " You're serious?" " Mm-hmm." "The thing is we're supposed to go to Italy this summer with my oldest friend and his wife." "Two months in Tuscany and all over." "Just the four of you." "Sounds nice." "We'll be back in New York by the end of August." "In August." "A hundred." " $100,000?" " You heard me." " You're crazy." " Not nearly as crazy as your wife if you tell her I just signed over that kid to the state of Texas." "The way I see it, there's a real way everyone gets what they want here." "So here's what you're going to do." "You're going to tell your wife I'll only sign over custody to her if I get to spend the summer with the kid first." "Just tell her how guilty she made me feel for being such a terrible absentee dad how I want to make good with junior, a little fatherly bonding, whatnot." "She'll buy it, you get to be the hero, and everybody wins." "OK." "But not a word about the money to Debra, you understand?" "I understand." "I'll give you 50 grand tonight when we drop off Max and the other 50 when we get back in August and you deliver him to us in New York." "Pleasure doing business with you." "Your Honor, I'm really happy we all took the time to make the best decision for everyone." " Happy?" " Yeah, it's me." "I'm buying Noisy Boy." "I got the money." "Take him to Tallet's Gym and I'll meet you there." "Hello?" "Bailey?" "Some guy is here with the robot you're buying, and I gotta tell ya, Charlie," " it smells like disaster to me." " Nice to see you, too, Bailey." " Might I also say how cute you look." " Give it up, Charlie." "God, I need a shower." "You want to take a shower?" " Come on." " Let me make something clear." "A creepy dude with a robot in a box has been sitting outside my gym for two hours." "Now, putting aside the fact that you're doing what I'm guessing is a black market deal on my doorstep, how are you gonna pay him when Ambush just got destroyed?" "The money is on its way." "Just, you know, distract him." " I have been." "It's exhausting." " You're the best." " Yeah?" "Really?" " Mm-hmm." "Is that why you're buying a $45,000 robot when you owe me six grand in rent?" " Because I'm the best?" " Three." " No, six." " Whoa." "No, listen, Charlie." "There is a guy with real money who wants to buy this place." "Come on, like you're really going to sell your dad's gym." "If you don't make rent, I can't make payments and I won't have a choice." "Your father would climb out of his grave and kick your ass if you sold this place." "My father would climb out of his grave and kick your ass." "Bailey." " Don't." " Don't what?" "Don't do that." "Don't... that..." "Hey." " Don't what?" " Don't do that thing." " No, you like that thing." " No." " Yeah." " No, I don't like that thing." "I used to." "Once." "Briefly." "Now I like money more." " I don't believe you." " I don't care." "Marvin." "Your money has arrived." "Marv." "Fifty grand, as promised." " Now, here are all our numbers" " Right." " and contact info over in Europe." " All right." "So that's everything there." "So Marvin tells me you want this time with Max." " Yeah, yeah." " You did the right thing giving me custody." "I think Caroline would have wanted that." "Yeah." "Now, have him back in New York on August 27th." "That's a deal." " OK, well, let's go get Max." " OK." "OK?" "Let's get Max." "It's OK." "You want me to go on the other side here and I'll get Max?" "Hey, Max." "See you, pal." "Max, we'll see you at the end of the summer, honey." "I'm Charlie." "It's been a long time." "You know, I'm your..." " You screwed me." " Nice mouth." "Do you know where they're going?" " Italy?" " Yeah, Italy." " So how did I get stuck here with you?" " Relax, kid." "You got a whole life of fine living ahead of you." "Charlie, dude's pissed." "He's going to take off." " Yeah, OK." " Did Marvin give you that money?" "Here, just close the deal." "I'll be right there, OK?" " OK?" " Hey." "Hey." " I'm Bailey." " Max." "Max Kenton." " Wow, OK, so this is your..." " Yeah, it's him." "Don't worry about it, OK?" "I'm standing here looking at you two..." "Just go and put Noisy in the shop, please?" "Thank you." "So listen, you're going to stay here with her while I'm on the road." "How much did he give you, huh?" "You're coming at this the wrong way, kid." "No, tell me." "I want to know." "50,000." "OK?" "He gave me $50,000 to sign you over to her." "Will you shut up now?" "You sold me?" "Sounds worse than it is." " Really." " It's just to take care of you." "Give me half the money and you won't have to." " Where are you going to go?" " Give me the money." "I'll be fine." "I told your aunt I'll get you to New York at the end of the summer." "Now you're concerned for Aunt Debra?" "You sold me for 50 grand." "You owe me half!" "I don't have it!" "I spent the money on a robot." "It's gone!" "OK?" "Gone!" "I'm through here." "All right, what do we got?" "Noisy Boy has arrived." "That's a lot of airline stickers and customs tags." " Yep, he's been all over the world." " London, Japan, Brazil, São Paulo..." "Hasn't seen North American soil in over two years." "Maybe that's why you got such a good price, genius." "Decided to stay, huh?" "This is Bailey." "She'll be looking after you for a few weeks." " What?" " By the way," "I need you to look after the kid for a few weeks or, like, eight." " I want half that money." " Are we back to this again?" "Is there a real robot boxer in there?" "Noisy Boy's in there." "Have you ever heard of him?" "Of course." "He fought Rubicon for the WRB belt in 2016." "Holy crap, he looks amazing." "Well, his composite armor has been replaced." "Let's see if the insides look as good." "I've watched that fight with Rubicon like 20 times." "He should have had him in the third round but Rubicon got lucky with a huge right and ended it." "Relax, kid. he's on our side." " Not funny." " Kind of funny." "You know he has voice recognition, right?" " No, he doesn't." " He didn't in the League." "When Noisy fought in Brazil, they must have put it in." "Brazilians are crazy about that talk-to-your-robot crap." "Right, left, uppercut!" "Doesn't work." "Right, left, uppercut!" "I knew that price was too good to be true." "We got screwed." "Give me a second." "Let me see if I can fix it." "God, look how good he looks, too." "Give me two seconds." "Let me look at something!" "Why didn't you ask the guy to have a look at it?" "Relax!" "Whoa, whoa." "What was that?" "Was that Japanese?" "Let me see if I can reset him to English." "Hang on." " How the hell do you know Japanese?" " Video games." "You play video games in Japanese?" "Japanese bootlegs are always better." " Give me that." " OK, so he's reset to English, and I found his command matrix." "They have pre-loaded a bunch of combinations." " They should be listed here." " Right." "Uh..." "Top salvo!" " What did I tell you?" "Gravity One Downtown!" "I was due for some good luck!" " You're welcome." " Thank you." "Bailey, help me put him in the truck." "I am going to go and get your money." " Give me the keys." " I'm coming with you." " No, you're not." " Why not?" "Because I don't want you with me, OK?" "I'm either coming with you, or you're fishing for your keys in the sewer." "Your choice." "What's it going to be, old man?" "Oh, my God." "That was close, wasn't it?" "Don't do that again." " Don't, don't, don't." " That's scaring you, isn't it?" " Don't do this again?" "Whoa, whoa!" " Get in." "Just get in, will ya?" "Give me the keys first." "No, you can wait till I get in the truck." "Thanks, Big Pops." "Sweet ride." "Put on your seatbelt and don't talk." "I'm taking all bets!" "Keep up." "Stay close." "Hey, hey, hey!" "Charlie Kenton is in the house!" "All right, all right." " Come on, man!" " Hey, Finn." " Is that Noisy Boy?" " The one and only." " That's Noisy Boy!" "Noisy's been in Japan." "Softer bots over there." "You sure you want to fight him tonight?" "What do you got, Finn?" "He can take any bot in this place." "You know it." "You can have any undercard you want." " Five thousand guaranteed." " Come on, man." "A thousand every round your bot survives." " Fight till the death!" "No." "Give me the main event." " Come on, Charlie." " Finn, this is Noisy Boy." "An original Tak Mashido bot." "He was a World Robot League boxer." "Come on!" "You want to fight Midas?" "Fifty thousand guaranteed, winner takes all." "Fifty?" "Really, 50?" "Now you're talking." "Listen, listen." "No, look." " Listen!" " Give me a sec." "We should take an undercard fight, make a little cash and get the hell out of here!" "All right, first, there is no "we."" "Second, he's going to crush Midas, and I'm going to make real cash!" "We'll take Midas!" "Yeah!" "Tonight, our main event features the gold-blooded killer!" "This pimped-out punk is programmed for pain!" "I give to you the mighty Midas!" "Whoo!" "Against a bot who ran with the big boys in the WRB!" "He's been on an exile tour overseas, but now he's back home and he's ready to make some noise!" "Take your first look in a long time at Noisy Boy!" "Crash Palace, who's ready for some destruction?" "!" "Let's make some money!" "Come on!" "We have Midas against Noisy Boy." "Noisy Boy against Midas." "You've been waiting all night for this matchup, Crash Palace!" "Scimitar right!" "Did you see that?" "Easy money, easy money all night." "All night long!" "Come on!" "It's not over yet." "Let's go!" "Skull salvo!" "Firefight!" " Yeah!" "Go, Noisy!" " Undercard, huh?" "Shockfist!" "Get in there." "Shogun Trinity!" "Let's finish him." "Gravity Slam, Uptown!" "This son-of-a-bitch is crazy!" "Get up!" "Full Metal Feud!" "Bring it!" "Southpaw!" "Pain Revolution!" "I got something for you." "Don't you run from me!" "You can't run from me!" "Get up!" "That's illegal!" "This is the underworld, kid." "There are no rules!" "Now we're seeing the Midas touch." "No." "Hands up!" "Get back in that corner, bitch, and take this whooping like a man!" "He's getting killed in there!" "It's a headset!" "You talk into it and you tell him what to do!" "Panic Shield!" "That's it." "One-Two Overlord!" "No, no." "Shatter Punch!" " Five Recall!" " Get some!" "Jeez, damn it." "Jab, jab!" "Right roundhouse!" "Roundhouse!" "Did he just spit his juice in Midas's face?" "No, you did not spit in Midas's face!" " It's party time now, Crash Palace!" " Use your left!" "Noisy's trying to do something with his one arm!" "But Midas pins him, and Daddy goes to work!" "No, no, no!" "Get up!" "Get some!" "He's got..." "Just gotta get to the bell." "Move!" "Get out of the corner!" "Midas!" "Midas!" "Midas!" "Somebody's ready to serve up a decappuccino!" "I got something for you!" "You ready?" "Good night!" "That's a home run for Midas." "And so long to Noisy Boy." "Midas!" "Midas!" "Midas!" "Well, that sucked." "You hungry?" "I saved what's left of Noisy's voice recognition board." "Other than that, he's trash." "I got to get a new robot together." "I need to find a mainframe." "What?" " I hate hamburgers." " What kid hates burgers?" "Fine, more for me." "Here, drink this." "You never should have taken that fight." "Really?" "Really?" "Thanks, genius." "Do you even think about the stuff you do before you do it?" "You had no idea how to fight that fight." "Those combination codes, you didn't know what half of them even meant." "You threw them in there cocky and half-assed." "Of course he lost." "You never gave him a chance." " He wasn't that good." " Noisy Boy was a great robot." "Was." "Was a great robot back in the League, back in the day." "But look around you, kid." "This place..." "This place is where once great robots go to die." "So throw him away." "That's what you do, right?" "Anything you don't need you just throw away." "Wow." "It's been a long night." "If you want to sleep indoors tonight, shut up and get in the truck." "Don't look at me like that way." "Get in the truck!" "Well, they gave me 400 for his head." "You stay put." "I'm going to go look for some parts." " I'm coming with you." " Huh?" "That drink has my heart pounding." "If I sit in this truck by myself, my head will explode." "Whatever." "Just keep up." "Crap." "Stay back, stay back, stay back." "All right, keep up." "These searchlights are automated, but you got to time them right, so stay close." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Keep up." "It's all right." "All right." "Come on, come on." " We're going to get caught." " Come on." "Easy, easy." "Easy, easy." "Quick, quick." "Down in here!" "Go, go, go!" "Robots are on the east side." "We got to be quick in here." "Once we're through here, there's no more searchlights." "Quick!" "Go, go, go!" " Here it is." " What are we looking for?" "Anything." "Anything I could use to put a fighting bot together." " Hey, look." " What?" "It's so small." "Yeah." "That's before your time." "That's a Generation One, the very first fighting bot." "They wanted them to look like us." "The more human, the better." "Crazy how quick everything changed." "Here, put that in the cart." "What changed?" "A good question." "Boxing, human boxing." " It just faded." " Why?" "Because the money moved on." "People wanted more carnage, more show." "You had the whole Brazilian underground, the Gracies, the Machados, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and 1,000 styles in between." "Full-on ground-and-pound." " Look at this." " What's that?" " I don't know." " Not bad." "Good spot, kid." "You still had human fighters, human bodies so you couldn't give the people what they really wanted:" "true, no-holds-barred violence." "So the next logical step:" "get the humans out of there and let the machines kill each other." "Do you miss it?" " Boxing." "Do you miss it?" " Careful." "What?" "I want to know." "Careful, you're on a cliff." "Whoa!" "That's a long way down." "If you fell, you'd definitely..." " Charlie!" " Max!" "Charlie, help me!" "Charlie!" "Charlie!" "Max!" "Max!" "Max!" "Max!" "Max!" " Try not to move!" " I'm on some sort of robot arm." "Wait!" "Just easy, easy." "Give me your hand." "Nice and easy." "Very slowly." "Good." "OK, don't look down." "Look at me." "Look at me." "That's it!" "I've got you, Max!" "You don't have to be scared." "I got you!" " It's so far!" " It's OK." "I got you." "Give me your other hand." "Nice and slow." "Just give me your other hand very slowly." "Reach back." "Come on." "Reach!" "All right, look at me." "We're going to do this together." "You and me." "Just look at me." "That's it." "That's it." "One... two... three!" "That's it." "I got you!" "I got you." "I got you." "I got you." " I got you." "I got you." "You're safe." "You're safe." "All right, I got you." " You all right?" " Yeah." "Come here." "Easy." "Easy." "You all right?" " You all right?" " Yeah." "I told you it was dangerous." "Careful." "We're still on the edge here." "Charlie, I think there's a whole robot in there." "So what?" "Let's go." "Come on." "I'm taking him with me." "He saved my life." "He did not save your life." "I saved your life." "Let's go." "Could you just bring the cart to the edge?" "I'll use the winch to get him out." "You want that piece of junk?" "You get the cart yourself." "I'm through here." "This is what's left of Noisy Boy?" "That's it." "His head does make a nice addition to the front of the Crash Palace." " It's not funny." " Let's get a robot, you and me." "Yeah, good idea." "You're broke." "I'm almost there myself." " You destroyed the best shot you had." " We'll put one together." "You're brilliant at this." "There's good stuff here." " No, there's nothing here." " There is." "Look." "Charlie, all your junk is... it's junk." "You're not even in the game anymore, Charlie." " It's all garbage." " I heard you." "It's garbage." "Don't get loud with me." " You're your problem, Charlie." " What's that supposed to mean?" "I have been here for you a long time." "In the ring, out of the ring, and the whole ugly spiral down, and I'm tired." "My father invested everything he had in your fight career." "We loved..." "He loved you like family." "And this is his home." "I'm just trying not to let it die." "That's my plan." "What's yours?" "You're done, right?" "You're finally done?" "Because I sure as hell am, Charlie." "I got nothing left." "All right." "Maybe there's something here." "This robot the kid brought in last night." "Would you look at it for me?" "Please?" "Bailey?" "I've never seen anything like it before." "He's Generation Two, but barely." "I found a power cell that fits him, and I hooked him up to this old G-2 remote that I had, so..." "You can at least move him around, Charlie, but he's crap." "Maybe I can get a sparring gig for him, make a few hundred bucks." " Charlie, stop." " It's my robot!" "It took me half the night dragging him out of there." " He's mine." " He's yours?" "Yeah." "But the parts we're putting in him are mine!" "You idiots should see if he powers up before you start fighting over him." "What happened to you?" "Hey." "Whoa." "Whoa." "Watch out." "Stay back." "Looks like he's got a shadow function." "That's pretty rare." "He can mime your movements and store them in memory, Max." "You think there's anything here we could use?" " Not much." " There's a bucket..." "There's a bucket I use to wash the truck sometimes." "Use it and clean him up." "He smells like crap." "Wash yourself off, too, while you're at it." "You stink." "I switched him to remote." "It's pretty basic." "Just use the toggles here to steer him and walk him." " You play video games, right?" " Of course." "Same idea, only this one's a thousand-pound robot." "Cool." ""Atom."" "His name is Atom." "Can we get him a fight?" "I don't think he was ever a boxing robot." "He's a G-2, built in early 2014." "He was a sparring bot." "They must have built robots like this one that could mirror the fighting style of any other robot." "OK, so can we get him a fight?" "Are you not listening?" "He's a sparring bot." "Built to take a lot of hits, but never dishing out any real punishment." "You could always sell him off for parts." "Can't you get him a fight?" ""Why can't you get him a fight?" "Get him a fight."" "God, you don't quit, do you?" "You want me to put him in some bottom-rung scrap-fest to the death?" "I saw how scared you were at Crash Palace." "The places that would let you fight this robot would make you pee your little pants." "Excellent." "Get him a fight." "Stubborn kid." "Surprise, surprise." "Let's take a walk." "Can you understand me?" "Don't worry." "Your secret's safe with me." "You've known Charlie a long time." "Too long." "We both kind of grew up in this gym." "My dad, he trained him." "That's them." "That's Charlie." " What was he like?" " As a boxer?" "As anything." "He was something." "He was lean, tough." "No quit, no fear." "Come here." "I want to show you something." "I have this newspaper article from Phoenix 2007 when Charlie fought Nico Tandy, the top contender." " You were at the Nico Tandy fight?" " I was." "Charlie was just supposed to be a warm-up fight, an easy win." "Nico wasn't even supposed to break a sweat but nobody told Charlie that, so he just kept coming and coming at him." "Check this out." "That's Charlie." "First, Nico couldn't believe the balls on this nobody." "But Charlie kept coming, and that's when Nico looked scared." " Really?" " Really." "He was toying with Nico." "The top contender, number two in the world and Charlie was dancing with him." "Pop!" "Pop!" "Bam!" "Pop!" "Charlie was floating inches off the canvas that night." "He was like a ghost." "Nico couldn't even see him." "I could." "He was beautiful." "He was beautiful." "So what happened?" "Did Charlie beat Nico Tandy?" "No, Nico Tandy put me on my ass in the 12th round." "Twice." "Second time for good." "Lights out." "You were ahead on the scorecards going into the 12th round." "Nico Tandy rung my bell and went on to be the undefeated world champ for the next three years." " So he knocked you out?" " Yeah, so did a lot of guys." "You knocked a lot of guys out, too." "24 and 19." "It's not exactly a career." "But every fight a knockout." " Yeah." " Win or lose, fight's not over" " till someone's on the mat." " Till someone's on the mat." " Your old man taught me that." " Damn straight he taught you that." " Who else did you fight?" " Go get your stuff together." "I don't need to." "Did you fight for the title?" "Yeah, you do." "We leave in an hour." "Go." "Wow." "Here." "Keep it." " Thanks." " You're welcome." "I like that kid." "He likes you." " What I said yesterday was..." " No, nothing more to say." "I'm heading off to Atlanta tonight to see if I can get a partner or raise money to get a new bot." "That's what you wanted, right?" "Me gone?" "Yeah, that's what I wanted." "OK." "Hey." "Hey." "Look." "The champ is here." "Zeus is here." "Yeah." "Zeus!" "No one has ever gone two rounds with this monster." "Two rounds!" "The champ puts his Real Steel world championship belt on the line tonight." "He just may have a real fight on his hands." "Zeus, greatest robot boxer of all time." "Ever." "End of story." "Good night!" " So cool." "It's so cool." " What?" "Come on." "All right, listen up." "I got to go find Finn." " I want you to stay in this area, OK?" " OK." "Out of the way." "Champ coming through." "Zeus coming through." "Move, move." "Champ coming through." "Farra Lemkova, daughter behind the father-daughter Zeus team." "They say your father's the money and you are the mind behind Zeus." "You're very kind, but I assure you, the mind behind Zeus belongs to the great Tak Mashido." "What did it take to lure the reclusive genius, former boy wonder and arguably the most important bot designer in the history of the sport out of retirement?" "Why don't you ask him yourself?" "Is this Tak Mashido's greatest creation?" "Zeus is autonomous and constantly evolving during a fight." "With his adaptive operating system he recognizes patterns and rewrites his fight code instantaneously." "For myself and Joe Sixpack out there, are you saying that Zeus..." "I'm saying that no matter what happens in that ring, the result of any fight is inevitable." "What Zeus sees he kills." "Sweet." "I'm never going into business with you." "I just need a break here, Finn." "C'mon." "You got that old bot truck out there." " You always got something in there." " I got an old G-2 sparring bot, ain't worth the paint left on it." "What am I supposed to do with that?" "The Zoo." "Take him to the Zoo." "They fight there tomorrow." "Even I wouldn't be caught dead at the Zoo." "I just need a little loan." "Something..." "What?" " You're serious, Charlie?" " A loan." "Something." "A couple hundred." "Few hundred." "Whatever you got." "You know I'm good for it." "I know you, and as much as I like you, dude you're a bad bet, brother." "Right, yeah." " Get back." " All right." "All right." "Did you see that?" "That's what's left of Axelrod." "Where you been?" "I told you to stay put." "You should have seen him." "Zeus was, like, amazing!" " Amazing, huh?" " Unbelievable, yeah." "He was just peppering Axelrod with punches, but so fast." "It was incredible." "Axelrod didn't even land a punch." "He didn't even survive the first round." "Is that what you think boxing is?" "Zeus beating up some piece of steel that they feed him?" "Axelrod's not just some piece of steel." "And that is what boxing is now." "Deal with it." "And I love it, and I'm in it now." "You're in it now, are you?" "You and your G-2 sparring bot?" "He's more than that." "And if you'd just get us a fight, you'd see." "You're in luck, kid." "There's a lovely place called the Zoo." "Tomorrow afternoon, you'll get your fight." " Great." " And it will be the end." "I told you I hate hamburgers!" "It's a burrito!" "Right uppercut." "Left uppercut." "Bend your knees." "Rise up with both hands." "Again." "Bend your knees." "Rise up with both hands." " You been up all night?" " Yeah." "I cleaned him up." "I'm using shadow mode to program some fight moves and sync them to the remote." "Yeah." "I saw that double-up punch you were showing him." "That's..." "That's lethal stuff." "Let's do this." "Jeez." "Let's do breakfast first." "You know you're bringing him home in pieces, right?" "We'll see." "Let me deal with this." "Charlie Kenton." "This is Max." "Kingpin." "Call me Kingpin." " All right, Kingpin, so..." " How much a round?" "What's this, we on a field trip?" "All right." "He can fight my robot Metro." "I'll give you a 100 bucks for one two-minute round." " Take it." " Three hundred." "One hundred." "Baby boy, I'm going to give you $100 just to get in with Metro." "How about 500 for two rounds?" "Two rounds." "Two rounds, son, he ain't going to survive one round." " What if he does?" " He ain't." "Let's just say he does." "If he's still standing after one round..." " ..." "I'll give you 1,000 bucks." "Shut it!" " A 1,000..." "But if he dies in there, which he will, junior I get to keep what's left." "Take the 100." "Deal." "We're on." "We on!" "Let's go!" "You should have taken the 100." " I got us a thousand." " Yeah, if he wins." "You want me to drive?" "He's my bot." "I got this!" "This ain't a video game, kid." "This is for real." "Right here." "You said he's coming home in pieces." "What difference does it make?" "All right." "I got this." "Let's get it on!" "Let's get it on!" "Let's get it on like Ping-Pong in Hong Kong!" "Give me a bell!" "Give me a bell!" "Don't watch Atom." "Watch your opponent." "Watch him." "Watch out for that foot." "He's looking to pin you." "I told you to watch for that foot plant." "Come on." "Here comes the sledgehammer." "Did you see that?" " Come on!" "Get him!" " Don't yell at him, control him." "Slip right." "Back step." "Duck." "You're welcome." " Shut up!" "You're not helping!" " Actually, I think I am." "No, no, no, no, no." "Backhand." "You got speed on this guy." "Just keep moving." "Bob." "Whoa." "Whoa." "Whoa." "Whoa." "Slip out of that corner." "Keep moving!" "Bob and weave!" "That's it!" "Now you're listening to me." "He can take a hit." "I'll give you this, kid." "Your bot can take a hit." "You better slip that headlock 'cause this ain't gonna end well for you." "I'm trying!" "Thirty seconds!" "Thirty se..." "Half a minute." "Half a minute!" "Keep moving!" "Just move!" "C'mon, you've got 20 seconds!" "That's a thousand bucks." "Twenty seconds." "Let me..." "Let me take over!" " No..." " Just move, then." "Move!" "Come on." "Get up, Atom." "Get up, Atom." "Count with me!" "Count with me!" "One!" "Get up, Atom!" "He can't hear you..." "You know you're talking to a machine?" "Four!" "Five!" "Six!" "Get up, Atom!" "All the way up!" "All the way up!" " No!" " Yeah!" "Yes!" "Yes!" "I'm going to fix it!" "I'm going to fix it!" "I'm going to fix it!" "Come on, now." " This 1,000 bucks..." " Yeah, 1,000." "...double or nothing he can't make another round." " Yeah, thanks anyway." " Deal." "Double or nothing." "Baby boy said it!" "We're back on!" "We on!" "Are you crazy?" "You threw away a 1,000 bucks!" "He can barely stand up in there." "Look, I really need the money." "I know." "Let's work." "Ah, Jesus." " Watch that." "Watch that." " I got that." " Huh?" " Whoa!" "Whoa!" " Yeah!" " I got it." " That's a system failure!" " I don't got it." " He's going down." " Yes!" " No!" "Start..." "Hey, hey!" "Start the count!" "Start the count!" "One!" "Two!" "Three!" "Four!" "Five!" "Six!" "Seven!" "Eight!" "Nine!" "Ten!" "You did it!" "We did it!" "Wow!" "Yeah!" "Time to go." "Come on." "Grab your robot." "I know, I know!" "I know!" "I know!" "Kingpin, pay up." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "I know, I know, I know." " We owned!" " Let's go." "Come on, come on." " Yeah?" " Have I got a fight for you." "Saturday night." "Guaranteed four grand." "Seven if he wins." "Four grand?" "You're on." "Let's go!" "Bailey, it's me." "He won." "Can you believe that?" "The kid's robot actually won." "I know." "Oh, yeah, oh, happy?" "Oh, my God." "Yeah." "He's been bit." "He's been bit real bad." "Yeah." "Anyway, I I just wanted you to know." "Jab." "Jab, jab, hook." "Jab, jab, hook." "I think you have to move your feet." "Your feet." "Feet." "Nice moves, kid." "How long you been out here?" " Check it out." " What?" "I just spent the night doing something I think is amazing." "Incredibly amazing." "If it works, you know?" " You know his remote was spotty?" " Yeah." "I killed it." " Got rid of it." "We don't need it anymore." " How did you..." "I had to start over." "But I was able to use the spin frame from Ambush and take the circuitry sleeve out of Noisy Boy and it works." "He knows nothing, but it works." "It really, really works." "What works?" "I got to turn it on." "Left jab, right uppercut!" "Japan!" "You put Noisy's voice recognition into Atom?" " Pretty smart, kid." " Smart?" "It could be genius!" "It could be the most incredible thing in the history of the entire world!" "Easy there, chief, easy." "Whoa!" "Whoa!" " Did you drink all these sodas?" " I might have had a few." " I need you to teach him to box." " Are you kidding me?" "He's nowhere near advanced enough to handle Noisy's voice command." "So he needs your moves." "Your commands." " Start over from the ground up." " Forget it, kid." "Forget it." "You were a boxer, Charlie." "Yesterday at the Zoo, you could see things happen before they even happened." "I haven't boxed in a long time." "I'm not starting now." "Who's going to teach him to fight?" "You're doing fine, Max." "You don't need me." "Sorry." "That was really cool, though, that dance." "You should do that on Saturday night." " Don't make fun of me." " I'm serious." "Before the fight, when you guys take the ring, you should do it." "There's no way I'm dancing with a robot in front of a boxing crowd." "A box..." "Are you kidding me?" "This is just a show." "People want to see something they've never seen." "Look." "You think of all the greats." "Think Ali, Sugar Ray, Prince Rakim, Gammer, they all had their nicknames." "They had their personas." "They all had flair." "Now you?" "You might not have much robot, but with that dance, you got flair." "Plus, you're a kid." "People love that kid thing." " What are you?" "Like nine?" "Ten?" " I'm 11." "OK." "Are you sure you're 11?" "Yes." "I'm sure I'm 11." "Anyway, the point is people want to see that." "You're really not messing with me?" "I am not messing with you." "They're going to love it." " OK." " Cool." " But..." " What?" "I won't do it unless you help me." "I can't dance." "You're on your own there." "No." "Boxing." " Oh, I see." " I program the robot." " You teach him to box." " And you dance." "And you dance." " Yeah." " Yeah?" " Deal." "Deal." "All right." "It's going to be cool." "Nice." "You're going to be punching guys bigger." "You're going to have to punch up." "That's it." "Nice." "You, too, old man?" "Come on." "Let's get to work." "Nice!" "Let's do that again." "Nice." "Three-punch combo." "Combo." "Again." "Again." "Faster." "Faster." "Nice." "You're not even out of breath." "I like it." "Let's see how you move." "That's good." "Step around." "Left hook." "Left hook." "That's it." "Every time." "Great fight, fellas." "105. 5, W-R" " U-T, the satellite home of robot boxing." "Caller two, what do you got for me?" "Have you heard about this little bot out there, his name is Atom?" "Oh, yeah." "Oh, yeah." "My buddies and I saw him the other night, and he dances." " Did you say "dances"?" " You heard me." "He dances pre-fight with this little kid, and the crowd went nuts for these two." "I'll tell you what's really something, you put the gimmick aside for a second and I'm holding here a list of the bots he's beaten." "Chaos." "Wall Street." "One-Eyed Jack." "No slouches on that list, right?" "But folks, Atom's fought them all, beat them all." "I'm telling you, Tommy, this bot is fast!" "He escapes shots from these bigger bots, it's insane!" "No doubt, no doubt." "I'm telling you, listeners, you remember this name:" "Atom." "That's right, A-T-O-M." "Atom!" "This bot is one to watch." " Awesome fight, sir." " Thanks, thanks." "Great fight, guys." " Kenton, you guys put on a good show." " Thanks." "Good enough, we'd like to invite you to fight on our card," "Virgin America Spectrum Detroit, Friday night." "Right." "Whoa." "That's a WRB..." "That's a League fight." "Damn right it is." "What do you say, fellas?" "You ready for the show?" "Heck, yeah." "It's the undercard, but it's still a League fight." "I just want you to be relaxed." "I want you to be relaxed, OK, Max." "No freaking out." "Don't get all freaky-deaky on me." "You go freaky-deaky, this whole thing can go south." "Whatever you do, have fun, have fun." "You got to have fun, you understand me?" "We've come too far to get out there and freak out and blow this whole thing." "We're going to have fun, and we gonna..." "we're gonna not freak out!" "We're going to stay loose, and we're just going to bam him." "I tell ya, man, I've spent my whole life waiting to get here." "We're going to..." "Because, I tell ya what..." "Trust me when I say no freaking out." "You got it?" " Yeah, I got it." " Good." "You have been invited to Lemkova Suite." "Follow me, please." "What was that?" "One more time." "Lemkova Suite." "Zeus Suite." "Sure." "Yeah." "Let's head up to the champ's suite." "Sure." "Wow." "Gentlemen, I'm Farra Lemkova." "Yeah." "I'm Charlie Kenton and..." "And this, of course, is Tak Mashido." "Holy shit." "It's Tak Mashido." "I know you have a very important fight tonight, so I'll get right to it." "It's a little far from the action for my liking." "It's nice." "I like it, though." "Very nicely..." "Wow, that is..." "That's a great shot." "Look at that." "You want an autograph?" "Would you mind..." "I'd like to buy your robot." "He'd be useful sparring bot for Zeus." "And for that I'm willing to pay." "$200,000." " Done." " He's not for sale." " Of course he is." "We can definitely..." " He's not for sale." "You are 15 minutes away from getting in the ring with Twin Cities, a vicious League bot." "So, to be clear, my offer stands until the starting bell." "OK." "And just to be clear, he's not for sale!" "Not now, not ever." "Listen, give me a minute to clear this up, OK?" "Tak, how are you?" "Max!" "Max." "Max." "Be smart." "I know you love him but in 20 minutes there may be nothing left to love." "Think about it." "Take the offer." "You think about it." "Why does she want Atom?" "Huh?" "Because he's different from other bots!" "Yeah, he's different." "He's smaller and weaker, and he's going to get his ass kicked." "He's a boxer." "We taught him to box." "You taught him to box!" " That's worth something." " I think it is, too." "I think it's worth 200 grand." "Two hundred grand." "Charlie, we can go round and round this all night long." "Look at me, look at me." "But it's not going to happen." "I got a fight to get to." "Ladies and gentlemen, tonight the march towards the Real Steel Championship makes its way through Detroit's" "Virgin America Spectrum!" "Kicking off the evening, in our first undercard, the two-headed tyrant," "Twin Cities!" "Opposing Twin Cities, in his first professional fight, hailing from parts unknown Atom!" " Nice work, boss." " Thanks." " Did you switch him to fight mode?" " Of course." "All right, now this bot is tough to put down." "Atom can do it." "Max, look over there." "You see those geeks with the joysticks and consoles?" "They're controlling everything their bot does." "They're monitoring his systems, seeing what he sees, stadium feeds of the fights, everything." "This is not like the underground handheld remote bots we've been fighting." "This is the League." "Stand on that." "So what do we do?" "We fight smart, we be patient." "And pray." "Seriously, pray." "Ready!" " Ready!" " Hands up." "Fighters ready!" "Fight!" "Engage." "Slip!" "Right!" "Lean back." "Right, left!" "Cover up!" "Duck!" "Left roundhouse!" "Damn it." "Lean left!" "Lean right!" "Cover up!" "Cover up!" "What's going on in there?" "Too many hits." "He's taking too many hits." "Get your hands up!" "Get out of that corner!" "Move!" "Come on, Charlie." "He's getting killed in there!" "Tell him what to do!" "That guy's got two heads, and about a foot of reach on us, and no blind spot." "He's got to have a weakness." "Find it!" "Wait, wait, wait." "Right shoulder, right shoulder, right shoulder!" "He's got a tell!" "He's got a hitch in his shoulder every time he throws that right bomb!" " So?" " We got him!" "See?" "Here it comes again!" "Duck!" "Spin!" "Slide left!" "Roundhouse!" "One, two!" "Backstep." "Backstep." "Backstep." "Lean right." "Come on, Charlie!" "Get in there!" "Got to get in close where he can't use that size and reach on us!" "Left to the body!" "Right to the body!" "Left to the body!" "Yeah, it's working!" "Stay downstairs!" "Left, right, left!" "These program modes aren't working." "Left!" "Right hook, slip!" "Right uppercut!" "Left uppercut!" "Duck left." "Counter right!" " Get him, Atom!" " Here comes the Charlie Special." "Three-punch combo to the body!" "Out!" "In!" "Counter!" " Two-one-two." " Two-one-two." "Stay on him!" "Lunging right!" "No!" "Don't let him go." "Right to the body!" "Straight right to the head!" " That's it, we got a systems crash!" " Get him, Atom!" "Damn it!" "This is not happening." "This is not happening, man." " Put him away, Charlie!" " Spin left!" "Spin right!" " Finish him!" " Do it!" "Right uppercut!" " Yeah!" " Yeah!" "Yeah!" " Ah!" "Ah!" "He's down!" "One!" "Two!" "Three!" "Four!" "Five!" " Six!" "Seven!" " We got him." "Stay down!" "He's out!" "He's out!" " Yeah!" " Yeah!" "Yeah!" "Corner!" "Corner!" "Corner!" "Victory!" "In a time of one minute, 47 seconds of the first round, Atom has defeat..." "I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight!" "Our little bot from the junkyard got a shot at a League fight." "How about that?" "And the last thing I want to say to a special girl who won't be named," " Farra Lemkova." "Whoa, OK, hang on." "That instead of buying my robot, and using your money to control this sport..." " That's it!" " Wait, I'm not done." "Why not give the littlest guy the biggest shot?" "Seriously, because I bet if you give him a shot, he'll surprise you!" "Wouldn't you like to see a little guy get a shot" " at the Real Steel Championship?" "I challenge Zeus to a fight." "Any time, any place, anywhere!" "You name it!" "We will be there!" "Yeah!" "OK!" "I'm going to get us that fight!" "Atom, Atom, Atom..." "That was a ballsy move, you challenging Zeus like that." "That's one thing to call it." "I think a lot of people would like to see that fight." " You're damn right they would." " You listening to this kid?" "Jeez!" " Good fight, fellas." " Thanks, man." " Look at this." "Let's celebrate." " Yeah." " All right, 70-30, right?" " Yeah, 70 for me and 30 for you." " That's so right." " That's very funny." "I told you we shouldn't have sold him." "OK." "No, no, no." "I remember now." "Who's right?" "Say who's right." "Say "Max is right."" "All right, all right." "All right." " We're a good team." " No, no." "Max is right." "That was unbelievable." "Thank you, Twin Cities." " Whoo!" "All right, we set?" " Yeah." " All right, let's do it." " Charlie boy." " Ricky, I was just going to call you." " Oh, yeah." "I actually really was going to call you." "Don't worry about that." "That was a heck of a fight." "Congratulations to both of you." "That was really good." "It was an amazing fight." "That was a great job, young man." " Come on, man." " What?" " You serious?" " You thought I was joking when I said I'd beat you within an inch of your life?" "He thought that was a joke." "How about that?" "It wasn't a joke." "I got a kid here." "And I have your money." "We don't have a problem." "I'm sure you do, Charlie, but but I think we know it's about much more than money, don't we?" "All right." "What do you want?" "You want 25, 30?" "You want 30 grand?" " I got the money in cash here." " Yeah, right." "Let's go!" "Max, go!" "Go, go!" "Run!" " Run!" "Come on." "Keep up!" " Get him now!" "Run!" "Come on!" "Get off him!" "Get off him!" "Come here!" "Hey, Ricky." "That's his money!" "Leave him out of this!" "Hey!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Take all his money." "Take it all." "Your friend's a real dirtbag, kid." "He's my father!" "Well." "Looks like a little less than an inch of your life." "Well, buddy, that will teach him." "Whoo!" "Just like old times, Charlie boy!" "Let's go, boys." "Charlie." "I'm sorry, Max." "I'm sorry." "Sorry." " What are we doing here?" " Max, just..." "Is it Farra?" "She called you, didn't she?" " We're going to get the Zeus fight." " Listen, it's not the Zeus people." "I've been thinking about all this, and..." "Max!" "Max?" "Max." "It's so good to see you." " What is she doing here?" " It's better if you go with her now." "We get beat up, so you call her to come and get me?" "He's been beat up." "I told you he couldn't take care of him!" "Yeah." "I called her." "Look at us." "We're a mess." "We're fine." "She can leave!" "Atom's fighting good." "We can make the money back." "Charlie, please." "Just..." "Charlie, we're doing so good." "Charlie, please, no." "Don't." "Don't." "Don't." "Please." "Please." "Trust me, kid." "It's better this way, all right?" "I know you think you know what's right, but you don't." "You're too young." "You don't know." "Look at me, trust me." "And legally she has custody, so what can I do?" "You tell me, what can I do?" "Max!" "I don't want your money, Marvin." "Max, we have our own swimming pool and we have a hot tub and a lot of super fun toys to play with." "Do you want to play with them?" "It's going to be fun." "What's going on?" "He won't even talk to me, so thanks for that, Charlie." "I'm going to wait in the car." "You don't want to talk, fine." "I'll talk." "What do you want me to say?" "I'm sorry?" "You knew from day one what this was." "You decided to take the ride." "I mean, what?" "Max, you thought me, you, and a little robot from the junk heap were going to ride off into the sunset?" "Come on." "No, you forgot who I was!" "You deserve better than me." "Will you say something, please?" "I tried, OK." "What do you want from me?" "I want you to fight for me." "That's all I ever wanted." "No, don't ask." "So no Max." "It's better this way." "Marv and Debra have money." "Max is set." "Did you not see the way he looked at you?" "Charlie, that's the way I looked at my dad." "Even now I would give anything to have that back." "Your dad was special." "He was in your corner from day one." "Me, come on." "I blew it." "I blew it." "When Max was born I just freaked out." "But something would have been better than nothing." "I just wouldn't know where to start." " Yeah, you do." " I don't." " You do." " No." "You do." "I got to go." "Twelve-hundred miles for a kiss." "Worth it." "Worth it." "Go get him, Charlie." "You sound like your dad." "Hey." "OK." "Uh, look, I know you think I abandoned you and I guess I did originally." " Then you sold me." " Charlie." " Hey." " You have no business being here." "That's true." "You've got full custody." "He's yours." "And I know I've done all kinds of wrong by this kid, but if you'll let me I'd just like to do one thing right." "Right." " Now, where were we?" " You sold me." " Right, yeah, that happened." " Wait, what?" " Then we had our asses kicked." " And you slept on a shelf in a truck," " and it was awful." " And dangerous." "Really dangerous." "I mean, I know." "God." "I'm sorry." "That's why you came?" "To say you're sorry?" "No." "I mean yes." "Yes." "But no." "No, I came to tell you that I heard you." "I got it." "I'm a little slow, but I got it." "I know you had a bum ride, Max, and I wasn't there and I should have been." "I should have been." "Your mom was..." "She was cool, wasn't she?" "She was." "She was the coolest." "Yeah, she was." "And I'm sorry about what happened with her." "And I can't get those years back, Max, but but I'm here right now and if you're up for it, I'm ready to fight." "We got the Zeus fight." "What?" "No, no, we didn't." "You got the Zeus fight." "So what do you say, Debra?" "Can we do this one last thing?" "One night." "One night." "It's all we need." "Thank you." "We'll probably get our asses kicked, but at least we'll go down swinging." "Yeah?" "What do you say?" "Welcome, everyone, to New York's Bing Arena and the Real Steel Championship Bout." "Well, Tim, it's the fight we never thought we'd see." "Zeus, the undefeated WRB champion against the underdog, rising star Atom." "The champ's handlers have agreed to fight outside the circle of well-known League bots and have decided to give the people a true David versus Goliath spectacle." "Now, Tim, help me out on this." "Has the Zeus camp lost their mind?" "The greatest robot boxer of all time gives a shot at the belt to a G-2 named Atom?" "Well, Herb, if you ask Tak Mashido, Team Zeus has lost their minds." "Now, he may look cool as he enters the arena but he has made no bones about his disdain for this matchup." "Our cameras tried to catch up with him earlier this week." "Take a look at this clip." "Mashido wouldn't even stop to talk to the press, referring only to this fight as an insult to his creation." "Now, in truth, Herb, Max Kenton, Atom's trainer, did more than just challenge Zeus." "He did so publicly." "The challenge went viral and created a PR nightmare for the champ." "No argument there, Tim." "And I think the Zeus camp" " knows exactly what they're doing." " That they do." "I mean, come on." "Giving a shot at the belt to a nobody from nowhere." "This "junkyard dog," if you will." "That's a marketing stunt." "And, hey, judging from this crowd, that stunt is working." "We can't win, can we?" "We'll see." "As the challenger makes his way into the arena, you can hear the surge of excitement, Herb." "Atom has arrived onto the WRB scene with a vengeance, using a style, some would call it human-like, that bot fighting has rarely seen." "Atom and his pint-size trainer step into the ring and the look on Farra Lemkova's face says it all." "Welcome to the bigs, junior!" "I'm giving 1-to-5 odds that Atom don't make it out the first round." "Now who wants some?" "I'll take some of that action." "Hey, there!" "I'll take some of that action." "How's it going... partner?" "Partner?" "That's great." "How about a hundred K deep?" "Is that funny?" "Hundred K says Atom doesn't see round two." "You carrying around that kind of scratch?" " Yeah." " Hundred K?" "Tell you what." "Remember section 101, row C and you can bring me my money right to my seat." "101, row C?" "Hundred K?" "You heard me, homey." " Homey?" " Right?" "Homeboy!" "All right." "Peace out, posse." "Come on, sugar." "Let's go." "Never beaten." "It's showtime!" "Never threatened." "The king of the ring, the ruler of robots!" "Bow down to the mighty Zeus!" "Oh, shit!" "That was awesome." "Come on, let's go." "Ladies and gentlemen, in a bout scheduled for five rounds for the World Robot Boxing Championship, in the corner to my right, the challenger, Atom!" "Showboat!" "And in the corner to my left, the undeniable champion of this universe and any other universe known or unknown, the mighty Zeus!" "And now, ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for Real Steel!" " This is what it's all about!" "There's the starting bell and we are underway." "The bots emerge from their corners." "Zeus decks Atom, and he is already down." " On your feet!" "Looks like we are in for another Zeus clinic." "Referee Matt Geiger coming in the ring to start the count." "Get up!" "...two, three..." "Push up!" "Stand up!" "But look at this." "The little bot's back on his feet to get a second blistering attack from Zeus!" "And Atom is down for the second time in less than ten seconds." " He's too strong!" "He's too strong!" " That's my boy right there!" "Get up and get in the game!" "Come on!" "No, please Atom, get up!" "Please!" "Get up!" "Get up!" "Get up!" "Once again, the challenger finds his feet!" "Lean back!" "Lean back!" "Atom's getting pummeled into the corner!" " Get out of there, Atom!" " Move, Atom, move!" "A demolishing inside shot." "Get your hands up!" "Hands up!" "Crush that little can!" "Get out of the corner!" "Get out of the corner!" "Charlie Kenton desperately trying to command his robot out of that suicide corner." "Cover up!" "Get your feet under you!" "Good night, sparring bot!" "It might have taken Zeus a bit longer, but he's done it again!" "Atom is down for the third and possibly final time tonight." " Stand up!" " Two!" " Three!" " C'mon, Atom, get up!" " Get up, Atom." " Get up, Atom." " Six!" "Seven!" " Get up!" "Eight!" "Nine!" "I don't believe this!" "Against all odds, this little bot is on his feet again." "Come on, Atom!" "He can't survive this!" " Come on, Charlie!" " Right uppercut!" "Atom has landed a punch!" "Zeus is stunned as he reels back from an uppercut" " that he clearly never saw coming!" " Advance!" "Fade back, counter right!" "Fade back, counter right!" "Right cross!" "Right cross!" "Right cross!" "Left hook!" " Let's go!" "Come on!" " Take him down!" "Double right to the body!" "For the first time in his dominant run," "Zeus has met a bot who simply won't back down!" "The crowd is going nuts!" "Zeus gives it everything he's got as we reach the last 15 seconds of round one!" "Zeus corners Atom, going double duty with both fists!" "Downtown, uptown, as the clock winds down!" " Hands up, chin down." " Stay low, stay low!" "Only five seconds left, as here comes that monster piston-packed right of the champ!" "There's the bell!" "I don't believe it." "Somehow Atom has survived." " He made it!" " We will have a second round." "And the crowd here is thrilled!" "He made it!" "Yeah!" "Corner!" "We got to get out of here, darling, come on." "We got to get out of here right now!" "We got to go this way." "Come on!" "OK, you sit down." " Let's go, homey." " All right." "I'll be back for you, baby." "Get your hands off me!" "Both corners furiously working on their bots." "I tell you, Tim, this crowd came here tonight expecting a massacre but instead they're getting a war!" " You got it?" " Yeah." " All right." "Here we go." " What is happening?" "He is fully prepared for all possible contingencies." " He will be fine." " What next?" "Round two." " Round two kicks off, and incredibly the challenger, Atom, is giving the champ a run for his money." "Zeus tosses the smaller bot across the ring like a tin can!" "Kenton working his bot with a trifecta of straight rights to the champ's dome!" "Toe-to-toe they stand, trading deafening blows!" "Whatever strategy either corner had cooked up has been destroyed!" "Metal bashing metal." "Steel smashing steel." "This is a brawl!" "The crowd is on their feet, watching two machines driven to kill each other!" "Something has to give, and it does!" "Atom goes down again!" "Lights out for the junkyard dog who put on a heck of a show here tonight!" "And yet again, Atom rises up." "Kenton must have hardwired this bot with the will to go on!" "Midway through round four, and Zeus is looking to end this thing right now." "The champ is holding nothing back as he cracks open the hurt locker!" "Atom is stumbling around the ring, apparently disoriented and dazed!" " Hands up!" " What's going on?" "I think the voice recog is shot!" " He's not responding!" " What?" "Zeus has found yet another gear of violence, drilling Atom's midsection." " No!" "Stop!" "Do something!" " He can't hear me!" "But the bell sounds, and once again, this little robot has stunned the world!" "We're done, Max!" "He can't hear me." "This is murder." "We've had enough." " I'm disabling the voice recognition." " So what?" "He can't hear me!" " Yes, but he can see you!" " What?" "I'm putting him in shadow mode." "Show him what to do." "Without the voice recognition, he'll move even faster!" " No way." "No way!" " Look at them." "They are freaking out!" "Rich girl is ripping him a new one over there!" "Do you know why?" "Because they're scared." "Because Atom can do things no other bot has ever done." " But I can't do it!" " Yes, you can." " I can't, I can't." " Yes, you can." "Show him what to do." "You have to fight the last round." " Don't ask me." "Don't." " Charlie... please." "I beg you." "Are you kidding me with those eyes?" " Damn it!" " Yes!" "I can't believe I'm doing this." "I know you're in there!" "I'm not sure if you're getting this or what, but I know you're in there!" " Come on, Kenton." "In or out?" " In." "Give me a minute." "I know you can't hear me, but you can see me, so watch me!" "Watch... me." " You know you're talking to a robot." " I know." "Shut up." "Watch me." "An epic battle being waged here tonight, as the fifth and final round gets underway." "Come on, Atom!" "Wait a second, Herb." "Are you seeing this?" "Charlie Kenton is shadowboxing just outside the ring!" "Tim, it looks like Atom has a shadow function." "So, basically, that means Charlie Kenton is fighting the last round of this fight against Zeus." "Well, I tell you what, it doesn't seem to be much help, because Atom is backed up against the ropes again." "Charlie, help him!" "Fight back!" "Not yet." "Tak Mashido supervising personally as Zeus hammers down, furiously trying to end this thing once and for all." "I got to tell you, folks, the champ looks tired." "This robot seems to be running on empty." "I don't believe it." "Atom is taunting Zeus." " Switch to turbo!" " He's actually asking for more." "Please do something!" " Not yet." " That's right, Charlie." "Not yet." "Nitrous pistons, now!" "Charlie, he's not going to last much longer!" " Fight back!" " Not yet." "Hang in there!" "Atom is riddled with the nitrous-fueled" "Gatling guns of Zeus's blows!" "Atom!" "Atom!" "Atom!" "Atom!" "Wait him out, wait him out!" "Not yet!" "Zeus is slowing down!" "Tim, the champ's power core is clearly depleted." "Charlie, please!" " Hey, kid." "Now." " Now!" "Get in there!" "Don't let him breathe!" "Knock that little bitch!" "Bust him open!" "Yeah!" "That's right!" "Do something!" "Move!" "Override." "Switching to manual." "In a shocking move, Tak Mashido is manually operating his robot personally!" "Work the body!" "Get inside him!" "Get him, Atom!" "Look at this!" "The champ is trying desperately to stay on his feet but Kenton is relentless, landing blow after blow after blow to the body!" "Left!" "Right!" "Left!" "Right!" "A huge uppercut by Atom!" "Zeus is down!" " Yeah!" " This little bot has dug deep here tonight and shown something damn near heart!" "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven..." "He's good!" "Zeus gets to his feet." "But Kenton has Atom on him again, landing punch after punch!" "Tak Mashido and his super bot have no answer." "Zeus pins Atom's left arm, but Kenton is undaunted!" "It all comes down to this, folks!" "Drop him, Charlie!" "Now!" "Kenton is about to drop the champ..." "No!" "There's the bell!" "Zeus is saved by the bell!" "No!" "Amazingly, Tim, we will go to the judges' cards!" "Now, go on." "Ladies and gentlemen, after five rounds, we go to the judges' scorecards." "Judge Number One scores the fight 47-48." "Judge Number Two scores the fight 48-46." "And Judge Number Three scores the fight 47-46 for the winner and still World Robot Boxing champion," "Zeus!" "Farra..." "Farra..." "Farra Lemkova you got way more than you bargained for tonight." "Some would say that your bot won the decision but lost the fight." "Oh, she looks pissed." "It took a little longer than we thought, but the result is as expected." "We won." "Zeus is still undefeated." "Tak..." "Tak Mashido..." "Tak..." "Any comment on the absolutely humiliating near loss your bot suffered tonight?" " Nothing." " No comment." "Max." "Where's Max?" "Max, let's go, go." "There he is." "Max." "Max." "They're already calling your bot "the people's champion."" "Yeah!" "Max, what do you say to that?" "People's champion?" "Sounds pretty good to me." "Dad?" "Dad!" "Max!" "Max!" "Max!" " Max!" " Dad!" "Max..." "Max, I..." "I really want you to know..." "No, I need you to know." "Don't worry." "Your secret's safe with me." "Wait here." "Wait here." "Up!" " Yes!" "Yeah!" " Yes!" " Yeah!" "Yeah!"