CHAPTER 2: Provocative predictions
With the contest now set in stone, the gift shops around the Central Park Zoo had filled up their stocks with merchandise involving the usual Alex the Lion stuff, like plastic mini versions of him. However, the contest had added an entirely different set of merchandise; Marty's own. It's pretty much confirmed at this point that the two of them are going to make history within the grasp of mankind by participating in the first ever and most likely last animal fight that'll happen in a way that a human fight would. There were two differing sides of the zoo fans; one side wanted the Zebra to win, and the other was rooting for Alex, but if you had to compare the statistics, Alex's fanbase was more popular, since he's been the face of the Central Park Zoo for ages.
Alex wasn't impressed by the fact that Marty was given his own merchandise; sure, they're friends, but Alex has always considered himself to be the more popular one to the tourists of the zoo out of his friends. Why Marty was suddenly given his own set of merchandise was baffling to Alex, but it had only given the lion a bigger reason to show off his strength come the contest. The merchandise numbers were drastic, because Alex was still selling the most in the gift shops, but still, it bothered him that Marty was given his own.
"Look at this...so fragile, so...it's not even DRY?!" Alex said, holding onto a tiny plastic merchandise toy of Marty.
He placed it on top of the curb wall surrounding the enclosure, and the second it hit the cold concrete surface, it collapsed almost instantly. The little pieces had rolled rapidly off of the curb wall, and crashed down to the ground instantly. Even Alex was taken aback from how fragile the plastic toy was. As he laughed at the demise of said toy, Gloria approached Alex in a bid to get some information out of him on what was going on. The zoo at the moment was closed, in order to prepare for the upcoming contest, meaning that Alex, Gloria, Melman and Marty had it all to themselves for the time being.
"You're never this happy, Alex. Spit it out, what're you dying for?"
"Oh Gloria, it's just Marty, you know? Hey, did you know that zebras are like a stick in comparison to lions? When we step out together, it'll be like snapping a twig, you know, like, it'd be as if I'm fighting a bit of steak, I'd be that hungry for winning?!"
"Stop getting' ahead of yourself, Alex..." Gloria insisted, placing her hands on the top of the curb wall surrounding Alex's enclosure, "last night, I remembered your encounter with that old lady, right?"
"That's true, Gloria, very true?" Alex said, curious as to what Gloria was trying to say.
"And do you know who I saw didn't dominate? YOU..." Gloria declared.
Alex's face went from a smile of excitement to a straight one; it was true, because he was getting tossed around by that old lady like he was a feather himself. Upon remembering it even more, it embarassed Alex.
"You're just completely fooled by the boasts and the claim...but I'm not...Ima say this to you right now, straight, to maybe help your confidence, but I dunno: you are an overgrown, yet hairy, pussy cat..."
"Oh come on Gloria, that's not fair? Why aren't you saying this to Marty?"
"Because Marty ain't boasting about it like his life depends on it; you are. Just remember also, that you two are friends...and whilst you're gonna be doing this in front of all those humans and even those live at home from those cameras, you and Marty are still liked by each other, so just don't rip your head off..."
Alex ducked down and pulled up one of his left-over steaks; he specifically left it there to eat in peace, but Gloria's here, trying to 'boost up' his motivation, but it wasn't working; if anything, it made Alex realize the possibility of him being weaker than he actually thinks.
The air was breezing through the atmosphere as the tall buildings, mixing in colours of brown and concrete grey, were visible around the zoo. The various cars roaring past from the nearby roads had given the animals a sense of activity, and the smell of hot dogs from the stands around the city had prompted Alex's hunger even more. Still, he wasn't happy that Gloria was talking him down like this.
"Anyways, you get my point, don't ya?"
"Yeah, uh, I'll remember it, that's alright?" Alex said.
Gloria sent her hand harshly against Alex's back; she did this just to test how capable he is of taking a hit. Alex had yelled an 'ouch' quite loudly, to the point that it scared some of the pigeons away nearby.
"Yeah, you uh...you need to work on that..." Gloria said, walking off back towards her Hippo Pool enclosure.
Alex had a long think about it, and on the conclusion of those thoughts, he started hopping over the curb wall surrounding his enclosure to walk over to Marty's. He knew he had to get competitive, but at the same time, he knew that Marty was his friend, and as a result, he wanted to make it clear to Marty that this is simply a friendly fight, and not one out of pure hostility. As he walked towards Marty's enclosure, the first thing he saw was the treadmill in the zebra's enclosure being used. By who? None other than Marty. It was going slowly, and everytime Alex saw him using it, it made the lion wonder just what the humans around think of a zebra using such a machine. He clearly had a reason to be on it at this time.
Alex curled his big yet sharp paws together as he was about to greet Marty.
"Marty?" Alex asked.
The last thing Marty expected was Alex; he at least expected either Melman or even Gloria, since he hardly talks to them. The penguins themselves are stealthy, to the point that Marty, alongside Alex and the others, hardly see them, so they're another bunch that Marty hardly talks to.
"What's goin' on?" Marty asked, turning his long horse-like black and white face to Alex.
"Listen, I uh, how do I put this without sounding like a pansy...uh...me...you...friends?"
"What?" Marty asked, confused by Alex's wording of that phrase.
"Uh...I...do a contest with you...but theres no fire?"
"You're not making any sense, Alex, come on?"
"Oh for crying out loud Marty, I just wanted to make it clear that I don't hate you, but I uh...I just need to be competitive, christ, why was that so hard for you to hear?"
"Because as far as I could hear, you were talkin' a waste load of gibberish, but that's a given, seeing as how that's what you speak most of the time, huh?" Marty smiled, still walking slowly on his hooves on the treadmill, once again human-style with standing up on his two hooves.
"You-you really wanna get under my skin with this, don't you?" Alex asked, surprised.
"It's like you said, Alex; I'm your friend alright, but I wanna prove that lions aren't all they make out to be, and it'll give me the popularity that you've brought to this zoo on so many occassions..it's just like, when you do something, you've got a large crowd...when I do something, it's literally just a couple of adults drinkin' their drinks, munchin' their food as they glare with emptiness at me, I don't like it...if I have a good showing against you, I'll become the 'new Alex' how do you like that, ehy?"
Alex liked the returning competitiveness from Marty's side. He was so distracted by the zebra's whole reaction that he had completely dumped his 'make it clear we're still friends' intention from just now, in order to return the favour to Marty.
"You haven't seen me do what I can do, alright?"
"Yeah sure, BAD KITTY..." Marty laughed.
Alex knew exactly what Marty was referring to with 'Bad Kitty' and it only enraged him. He stormed off from the enclosure after being reminded by Marty that he was beaten by an OLD LADY. On top of that, Gloria also said it before, so it didn't help Alex in the slightest. Now, the historial contest between Marty and Alex was truly on.
"MELMAN?!" Alex called, walking towards the tall building with Melman's enclosure.
"WOAHWOAH, I SURRENDER?!" Melman yelled, inside, after waking up from being jumped by Alex's gigantic yelling.
"I-I surrender? What're you even talking about, Melman?" Alex said, once again hopping over the cold curb wall into Melman's enclosure, where that tall building was behind the Giraffe.
"It-I dunno, but hey, I love taking my afternoon naps, why'd you do that, Alex?"
"Naps are for pansys, Melman, you and I both know that. Anyway, I uh, you know what's happening, don't you?"
"N-No?"
"You know...the contest..." Alex made a square expression with his clawed hands.
"Ohhh yeah, I think Marty's got your number, Alex, if you want the truth.."
"W-Why?!" Alex said.
"If you can't overcome an old lady as a lion then-"
"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD MAN, EVERYBODY IS MAKING FUN OF ME...RARGH!" Alex yelled, storming off.
Melman looked at Alex's storming off body, before coming to a conclusion.
"Back to sleeping..." Melman said, just tilting his head before closing his eyes; his head remained tilted as the snoring commenced.
Alex was more than motivated to put on a good showing against Marty. Because of everyone's prediction, he wanted to show that he hasn't been weakened down by what happened with that old lady. He was caught off guard from that lady, which gave her the advantage, but he couldn't risk attacking her anyways for the risk of being potentially taken away. This upcoming contest with Marty is, however, a legalised animal fighting event that'll allow Alex to remain on target and prove to his doubters that he's the lion he truly is.
"Oh Marty, when I throw you around like a child, you'll be wishing you never doubted me..." Alex whispered, sounding like he was unhinged, against his enclosure's brick wall.
Meanwhile, whilst the animals were predicting with each other about who'll win, across the world, the entire international community was spreading with the news about the upcoming contest. There's going to be journalists from countries all over the world broadcasting Marty and Alex's fight, and it'll be one to make history. Alex and Marty both were excited for the publicity awaiting them, but that publicity could only spell into positiveness if one of them wins. It's fair to call them attention seekers on that basis. Marty simply wants to be as popular as Alex is, and Alex wants to prove to everyone that that old lady battering him down had nothing to do with him being weak, something he's going to show in full force at the contest imminently.
In fact, there's no doubt that the amount of live viewers at home will be in the millions, watching the contest. Alex and Marty truly have a weight on their backs, and they'll have all the more reason to tear each other apart to prove to those humans around the world that they're as popular as the other.