Two years have passed, the famous boxer named Little Mac had long retired from the WVBA. Under his terms, he left without a trace for quite some time. He had returned for one more match in the ring. Now, this match was very private, as an anonymous letter had stated. The pugilist had no idea what he was agreeing to, but one part of the note had caught his attention.
"This fight can provide you an opportunity to participate in a tournament you have never seen before." it said. Mac couldn't deny that such a thing interested him. He had similar offers thrown at him before by many endorsers, but this one was different. He had to prove his worth to this stranger.
"I got nothing to lose." he thought as he got his duffle bag ready. His apartment bedroom was still the same when he moved from the Bronx to Brooklyn with Doc. It was an odd change of pace and scenery due to it occurring between his fights for the minor circuit belt. Nonetheless, everything was mostly the same. There were several boxing awards on shelves and patched up holes in the wall. He remembered making those marks out of frustration and having to fix them. The young man felt like he never really left, though his experience of leaving home said otherwise. He can't ponder on that right now; he had to keep his mind focused. Mac zipped his bag and placed the strap over his shoulder. He went downstairs of the apartment and a figure was waiting for him below.
"All set son?" the man asked. He was more tense than the boxer was about the whole thing.
"Yeah Doc, I'm pretty excited to be honest." the boy replied. The more Mac thought about who he is going to fight and who wrote the letter, the more intrigued he became. This wasn't the strangest thing that had happened to him.
The walk to the location was not far. The place looked like a typical warehouse, which made Doc convinced it was sketchy. This made him uneasy, a building like this was normally not a good spot to be. Mac opened the door and cautiously walked inside. He kept his guard up in case something happens.
"Hello?" he called out. Suddenly, a bunch of lights went on at once, nearly blinding the two.
"Welcome!" a voice chirped. The two looked around and noticed a small man with an unnaturally bulbous nose and a bushy mustache. He wore a red shirt and blue overalls. There was also a matching red hat with an M in the center. He looked... somewhat out of place.
"My name is Mario, nice to meet you!" the person continued, he had a heavy Italian accent. Mac was utterly confused, was he going to challenge him? Doc was baffled as well.
"Um, nice to meet you too, did you write this letter?" the boxer asked as he held out the paper. Mario nodded.
"I am one of the recruiters for the tournament. The organizer was highly interested in you so I wrote the letter. Since you accepted, I came here to a-test you." he explained.
"So who is the organizer?" Doc asked, suspicious of the situation.
"Sadly, that is confidential," the plumber replied and turned his attention back to Mac "Are you ready to start?"
"Hold on, aren't you gonna put on some boxing gloves?" the pugilist questioned.
"Hm? Oh no! I'm not the one you're going to box against." Mario responded and laughed. He whistled loudly to call someone.
"Now, you may know this… fighter from your last stand." he stated. Mac and Doc were unsure until loud noises were heard throughout the building. Out of a room came a large brown ape with a red tie that had the initials DK and sporting red boxing gloves. The creature jumped onto a nearby ring and pounded his chest with his hands.
"Woah woah woah! You want me to fight that gorilla again!?" Mac shouted. The young man remembered the beast from his last fight. Out of nowhere this behemoth came and attacked him. Mac couldn't remember how well he did thanks to its brute strength meeting his head, but he did remember being carried off and Doc chasing after them.
"Don't worry! Donkey Kong is not a monster." Mario responded.
"What are you talking about? He carried Mac off across town to the zoo!" Doc exclaimed, worrying something similar would happen again.
"About that, we were going to talk to you sooner about this opportunity, but DK suddenly coming into the ring was from him being a bit too excited. I'm sorry for that." the plumber apologized. Mac was in shock and looked at Mario and then his opponent. He wasn't too sure whether this man was who he claims he is, or just some lunatic with a pet gorilla. Mac decided to take his chances.
"Alright, let's do it." he sighed.
"Mac baby are you sure?" Doc asked, fear quivering in his voice.
"Yeah, at worst you'll find me in the gorilla habitat again with reporters swarming." Mac replied before opening his bag. He pulled out some gauze and began wrapping his hands. From a distance, he heard Donkey Kong jumping on the ropes like a sugar high child. Mac put on his wraps and gloves, then entered the ape went to his corner. Mario jumped in soon after and held his hand out.
"You a-ready?" he asked the two fighters. DK pounded his chest once more and Mac nodded. His eyes sparked with an almost forgotten sense of excitement.
"Here we go!" the plumber shouted and threw his hand up. The two fighters approached each other cautiously. The ape swung his arm; Mac just barely dodged the attack. The bruiser took a few steps back to establish distance again. His heart was pounding from the thrill. DK approached slowly, but was thrown off by Mac's rush towards him. He threw a quick hook to the gorilla's left side before jumping back again. DK's legs shook a bit from the impact of the attack. Doc would usually yell out some advice or words of encouragement, but he was too astounded to do so. Mac picked up his speed and threw a fast barrage of punches. DK held a tight guard.
"He's a fierce fighter." Mario commented, a smile was on his face. Doc was too focused on the fight to respond. Suddenly, the ape threw a ferocious punch that slammed into Mac. He would have flown off the ring if it wasn't for the ropes. He barely managed to land on his two feet and now he was shaking. He was struggling to catch his breath. If Mac didn't block, the match would've ended there.
"He winded me with just one hit!" he thought. Yet, he wasn't scared, this only exhilarated him. The feeling came back to him after a long time. It was the sense of a true challenge.