The Rebel

Champion.

Of the whole world, champion.

That was nine years ago.

But I'm still as tough as I ever was.

I'll show you how tough I am.

Go ahead, hit me.

See if you can hurt me.

Go ahead!

Go on!

Not bad.

All right, next.

Come on!

All you want, c'mon!

No, no, not here.

Hit me here.

C'mon, try again.

That's enough.

No, that's not enough.

No, wait...

Johnny?

Johnny Yuma!

Johnny!

Hey Docker!

Well, he's all right, boys.

He's an old friend of mine.

Always on my side, huh Johnny?

What are you doing here, Johnny?

You here to see the fight?

Yep.

I want you to meet my manager, Wiley, Jake Wiley.

He's a great gent.

Come on, Johnny.

Come on.

Let's make it, 25.

Jake, Jake, remember the boy I was telling you about.

Later Docker.

Remember when I said you'd see him,

you'd make him a champion.

Later!

Jake, it's up to you.

What's that?

Champ's contract.

Oh no, it's a cash game, Jake.

Cash on the line.

All right, who'll put up for the contract?

$25 holds it.

That piece of paper's a fortune.

Well, it's still a cash game, Jake.

Cash.

All right.

$25 buys the contract.

Let's call.

Well son, it looks like you bought yourself a fighter.

C'mon, Johnny.

That was friendly of you, Johnny, real friendly.

Makes me remember the war prison,

all you did for me.

Scrounged for food to keep me going.

You were a big man, Docker, you needed a little extra.

Funny, I said I'd take care of you.

Never forget after we escaped.

Never forget after the war.

I still have the belt.

Champ.

Lots of money, nothing too good for you, Johnny.

You said something else too.

What?

That piece of land you showed me after we escaped.

You said Johnny some day the muscle's gonna go,

and a man's gotta look to the future.

You were gonna buy that land, remember?

Raise horses, thoroughbreds.

Yeah, you would remember that.

You used to keep a journal, didn't ya, Johnny?

Made you like an elephant.

I wonder Johnny

I got no more money would you get me a refill?

I'm broke too, Docker.

My last $25 went into you.

And you're sure, aren't you Johnny?

You're sure.

No.

Sure you're sure.

But I'm not champ anymore.

'Cause I failed you, you and everybody.

But I'm coming back, you'll see.

Tomorrow night, and then in Denver,

and then, the Barbary Coast, and then New York

to be champion again, you'll see.

You really believe that, Docker?

Hmm?

That you'll come back?

Aw, sure, sure.

Look at yourself.

Face the facts, Docker, grow up.

Huh?

You don't have it anymore.

What do you wanna talk like that for, Johnny?

You're finished, no more fights.

Training on that bottle, and that penny-ante shark

you call a manager.

Now, wait up, Johnny,

you can take the hide off of me but not Jake.

Like everybody else, he's only trying

to make an honest dollar.

Then he's gonna have to make it on his own,

and you're gonna have to make it on your own too.

Yeah, sure I already told you that, Johnny.

That was nine years ago, you were champ.

A lot of things have changed, the war,

things don't stand still.

What are you trying to say?

Go ahead say it.

That I'm a tramp,

that I stink,

and my brains are rattled.

Go ahead say it.

I'm sorry.

Who are you all of a sudden

trying to throw a hook into me?

Tell you, I'll get it all.

All of it back again.

The crowds, the noise, all the excitement.

I'm gonna win once more.

And I'll be top dog.

And I'll be sitting on top of the pile.

Sure you will, champ.

Right up on top.

First, you gotta get some food in that belly

sop up some of that liquor,

and then some sleep.

Hey Jake, give me a little bump of this.

Now, just a little now.

Just enough to help you sleep.

You sure got a touch, Jake.

You know exactly what's good for me.

Always did.

You supply the muscle, I supply the brain.

Sweet combination, huh?

If you say so.

Sit down, Docker.

Are you gonna win tomorrow, champ?

I don't know, Jake.

I had three times out.

Flukes, they're all flukes.

Don't forget you're the champ.

That's right.

I gotta remember that.

There's 500 in that purse tomorrow.

A lot of money on you too.

Can't disappoint your fans.

Nope, I always give 'em a good fight, huh Jake?

The greatest.

What does the loser get?

Well, doesn't he know you're the greatest,

there was only one like you in the whole world,

you're the champ?

Oh sure, Jake, sure.

But there's no harm in telling him.

All right, I'll tell you.

The loser gets 100 pieces of silver.

Wow, the price has gone up.

Going rate used to be 30.

What are you, a boy who bushwhacks with his mouth?

A boy who faces facts.

Be careful nobody jams those facts down your throat.

We don't like 'em.

Well, you're not gonna like this either.

There isn't gonna be any fight tomorrow.

You hear that, champ, your friend has turned

into a clown, hasn't he?

I am?

I bought this, remember?

Now, you didn't take that seriously, did you?

My last dollar said it was dead serious.

Just enough to buy it back, all right?

He's not for sale.

Docker.

Now, Johnny don't make any trouble.

No trouble, Docker.

It's like he says, Johnny, he didn't sell me seriously.

You think Jake would do a thing like that?

I think Jake would do anything.

Oh Johnny, he's done it before,

but he always bought me back.

You see, a man gets in a rough spot,

he may hunch a little or elbow him,

maybe even butt a little,

but he don't mean any harm.

It's the way we get by, Johnny.

Maybe what you say is true, Docker,

but this is true too, I own you,

and there isn't gonna be any fight tomorrow.

You gonna hold still for that, Docker?

Johnny, I don't fight, what do I do?

I don't know anything else.

Who's gonna take care of me?

You take care of yourself, you're a man Docker.

He's a man, Jake.

Not something you take out of a cage.