Shorts: Reporting In!

 Part of the shorts series. Shorts are short one off stories done by request of the person generally in the story. Meaning, they will be self contained even if they have characters from other stories. Good for when you are looking for a quick fight that won't hurt your eyes reading for a long time.

  

 [TV News Broadcast Transcript]

"Good evening. One of our own is in the news tonight. A face you know, a voice you’ve trusted! That's right, our very own investigative reporter, Marcus ‘Coach’ Johnson. Viewers have lovingly nicknamed him Coach over the years for his steady, guiding presence and relentless push to get the truth."

"This past week, Coach has been covering a daring and violent robbery that rocked the city. Two men stormed a downtown armored car just after dawn, overwhelming security with pipes and makeshift weapons. More than three million dollars in unmarked bills were stolen, along with several crates of rare, privately held bonds. Three guards were hospitalized, two with broken ribs, one still in critical condition from head trauma. Police have been stretched thin, chasing leads that dry up as quickly as they appear."

"But Coach wouldn’t let it go. Day after day, he tracked the story, speaking with witnesses, piecing together security footage, and connecting dots that others had missed. His latest discovery led him to an unlikely place: the sewers beneath the old rail district. Investigators had dismissed it as a dead end. Coach didn’t agree."

"And last night, following a lead of his own, Marcus ‘Coach’ Johnson was last seen descending into those tunnels. Where it will take him, and what he’ll find down there, we will proudly report tonight! But as I'm sure you already know, if there’s one thing this city can count on, it’s that Coach will follow the truth, no matter how deep it runs."

 

[Returns from Commercial] 

"We return tonight with more on the story of our colleague, Marcus ‘Coach’ Johnson, the reporter who went underground chasing the city’s most elusive criminals, only to come face to face with them in the dark."

"According to preliminary police reports, Coach didn’t just find the robbers in the sewers, no he was ambushed by them. The first blow landed before he could even react: a mean right hook to the side of his head. The kind of punch meant to daze, to knock the fight out of a man before it even begins. Witnesses who later heard the struggle described echoes of flesh and bone slamming against concrete walls. Coach staggered, but the real danger came next."

"The thieves turned their attention to his body. To hide their crime, to break him down. They worked him over the way professionals would punish a man in a ring, except this wasn’t sport. This was an attempt to silence him permanently."

"A flurry of fists drove into his midsection. Each strike thudded deep, sharp knuckles pounding against muscle and bone. One robber dug short, cruel hooks into his side, aiming to cave him in. The other alternated high and low, peppering his stomach with quick jabs, then driving his fist like a hammer into the solar plexus. Coach doubled forward from the blows, groaning, but the punishment kept coming. A straight punch to the midsection folded him, then another hook slammed into the opposite side of his ribs, rattling him back upright. They didn’t give him time to breathe."

"He would later describe the scene as relentless: a rain of body shots that turned his torso into a target board. Some punches smacked hollow, snapping against the stomach and echoing in the tunnel. Others thudded heavy, sinking into his core and forcing him back step by step until his spine met the damp wall of the sewer. There, they pinned him, laying into his chest and gut with everything they had. A right cross to the sternum jolted his frame, followed by a series of deep, drilling shots that made him grunt and wheeze. They wanted him bent, broken, unable to speak of what he’d uncovered."

 

[Returns from Commercial]  

 "The full extent of Marcus ‘Coach’ Johnson’s ordeal... wasn't just that either. No. After the first ambush left him dazed and cornered, the robbers stripped away the last of his protection. In the scuffle his shirt was torn wide open, ripped from his chest, leaving his ribs and stomach bare for the beating they intended to give him."

"With their target exposed, the assault intensified. Bare fists slammed into him with brutal rhythm... one two into the ribs, another hook digging into his side, then a straight shot to the gut that forced the air out of him. We even have some witnesses telling police the sounds echoed like drumbeats in the tunnel, that's how intense it was.Leather on skin, bone on bone. With no mercy, no humanity. His chest snapped back under uppercuts, his abdomen sank under heavy rights, his torso jolted with every hit. The thieves weren’t just striking to hurt him. They were shaping a story, bruising him so badly it would look as if he had fallen from height, battered by concrete and steel."

"But fists weren’t enough for them. One of the men reached for the pipes lying along the sewer floor, lengths of rusted metal left from old maintenance. They swung them like clubs, driving the ends into Coach’s ribs, stomach, and chest. The clang of iron against flesh was sharp, hollow, merciless. The first strike crashed against his ribs, drawing a cry that echoed through the tunnels. The second slammed into his stomach, folding him down. The third caught him in the sternum, sending him sprawling back against the wet wall. Each blow left livid welts, dark bruises swelling before their eyes."

"They wanted to erase the evidence of their crime with violence, make it look as if Coach had slipped, fallen, and been crushed by the unforgiving underground. The repeated strikes to his ribs mimicked impact fractures. The deep shots to his gut left him gasping, struggling for air, as if he’d plummeted from a ledge. Even the pipe’s edge across his back left the kind of mark an investigator might mistake for debris injury."

"And yet, somehow, Marcus ‘Coach’ Johnson endured it. He absorbed the punishment, taking the blows meant to silence him. Every rib-shaking strike and gut-wrenching smash was supposed to end his pursuit of the truth. But Marcus ‘Coach’ Johnson has always been a man who takes hits, and keeps going. Even as the robbers tried to grind him down with their fists, his resolve did not give. What happened next, and how he turned the tables, we’ll bring you in our continuing coverage tonight."

[Returns from Commercial]  

"Marcus ‘Coach’ Johnson has always been known for chasing the hard hitting stories. But on that night in the sewers, the phrase took on a literal meaning. Coach is no stranger to a fight, years of work in the toughest neighborhoods, years of standing up when others might have backed down. He took the beating, absorbed it, waited. And when the robbers finally paused to catch their breath, Coach struck."

"The first man never saw it coming. Coach drove a sharp right hook straight into his jaw, the kind of punch that snapped the man’s head sideways and sent him stumbling back into the slimy brick wall. The second robber lunged in with a pipe, but Coach stepped inside the swing and hammered his fist into the man’s midsection, once, twice, three times, each blow forcing the breath from his lungs. The pipe clattered to the floor as the man doubled over."

"From there it was all Coach. He ripped the first robber forward by the collar and buried his knee into the man’s stomach, folding him down to the floor. The other tried to rise, but Coach met him with a crushing left to the ribs, then an uppercut that lifted him off his feet and sent him sprawling in the muck. Years of chasing stories, years of grit, turned into raw survival instincts."

"The men who had moments before brutalized him with fists and pipes now took their turn under his. Coach’s punches were short, savage, efficient, straight shots to the ribs, hooks that rattled jaws, and body blows that landed with sickening thuds. He fought with the rhythm of a man who’d been forced to stand his ground more than once. By the time it was done, both robbers were bruised, battered, and broken, left in a heap on the damp sewer floor."

"Marcus ‘Coach’ Johnson emerged from that tunnel with the same determination he’s shown in every investigation: battered, bloodied, but unbowed. And this time, the story ended with two dangerous men in custody, thanks to one reporter who refused to back down."

 

[Returns from Commercial]  

 

"Tonight, the story of Marcus ‘Coach’ Johnson stands as proof of one man’s refusal to back down in the face of danger. He did what had to be done. He turned the tables on the very men who tried to silence him, and brought them to justice. Thanks to his persistence, the stolen bonds and cash are being recovered, and two violent offenders are now behind bars."

"We’re also glad to report that the armored car guard who had been in critical condition after the robbery is now expected to make a full recovery. Doctors say the turnaround came faster than anyone predicted, and the families of all three injured guards have Coach to thank for staying on the trail."

"And here at Channel Seven News, we could not be more proud of him. Coach has always been one of our best, dedicated, fearless, relentless in pursuit of the truth. This time, he became part of the very story he was chasing, and showed the same courage in a dark sewer that he’s shown behind the camera for years."

"Viewers can rest easy: Marcus ‘Coach’ Johnson is also expected to make a full recovery. Bruised but unbroken, he’ll be back before long—because if there’s one thing Coach has shown us, it’s that no matter how many hits he takes, he always gets back up."

 

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