Recap: The Muscle League headed back to Earth to confront The Anarchists with Amy in tow.
Chapter 3 – Revolting Chojins
"Ta-da!" Meat said, smiling brightly up at the eight Chojins around him. "What do ya think, huh?"
Kid Muscle scratched his head, slowly looking around himself.
"But this is just our old hut!" he eventually said.
"We can't hold top secret debriefing sessions in a wooden hut in the middle of a sand pit in a children's playpark!" Dik Dik added.
"You're not seein' the bigger picture!" Meat retaliated.
"Of course we're not!" Kid drawled. "Check out the size of that TV! It's tiny!"
"Hey, we always managed in here before, Kid!" Meat yelled, waving a fist at Kid threateningly. "Now everybody sit down and shut-up! And someone close the door!"
The others quietly and reluctantly obeyed Meat's orders, sitting down onto the beanbags or the bare floor, positioning themselves around the small television set.
"Now pay close attention, guys!" Meat said, before switching on the television.
Mars and Kevin began to snigger from their positions at the back of the hut as the opening sequences of Swedish Legends in Blackcurrant Jam began to play in front of them.
"What the hell is this?" Meat muttered, frowning at the screen curiously.
"Never mind!" Jaeger yelped, leaping forwards and pressing the "stop" button on the DVD player.
A female newsreader replaced the images of a jam factory on the television screen, and she appeared to be talking about a train crash somewhere at first.
"And again, tonight's main headlines," she said.
"Here we go guys, pay attention!" Meat announced.
"Tonight's main headline is that the DMP, the league of Devil Chojins, has returned," she said. "A band of eight Devil Chojins, calling themselves "The Anarchists", made their presence felt outside of the IWF Headquarters earlier today. Although no more has been seen or heard from The Anarchists since that time, the world is asking just where are the Muscle League in this, our time of need?"
"That's a bloody good question!"
The woman at the news-desk screamed out in fright as Edward Mask walked up to her, still dressed in his jeans and torn DMP T-shirt. Meat and the eight Muscle Leaguers all sat forwards, watching on intently. Even Kevin Mask was unable to hide his intrigue; it appeared that his scrawny younger brother had not only grown in height, but also in build. The T-shirt he wore was stretched tightly across his broad chest, and with the sleeves torn off, it was clear to all that Edward had been training hard, earning himself a set of biceps that rivalled Dik Dik's in size.
Although Edward was still not as muscular or as powerful as Kevin Mask or Mars, Kevin still felt an ominous sense of foreboding creep up inside him as he watched his brother tower over the cowering woman sat behind the news-desk.
"Excuse me," Edward said, before tipping her out of her seat and sitting down into it himself. "And don't even think about taking me off air!" he yelled at someone beyond the camera. "Right then, I know that this is live, and I know that the Muscle League are back on Earth. Wherever you are, Muscle League, pay close attention to me now. This may seem to you like just another run-of-the-mill battle with the DMP, but don't be so easily fooled. We are not here to do battle, we are here to go to war!"
Edward thumped a fist onto the news desk, sending sheets of paper flying.
"If you ever want to see your miserable little girlfriends again, you will do as we demand!" Edward continued. "There will be a tournament, with you, the Muscle Leaguers, against us, The Anarchists!"
"I bloody knew it," Kevin grumbled, folding his arms. "Another stupid tournament…"
"As we have four hostages," Edward said, holding up four fingers at the camera. "There will be four matches. Four tag team matches to decide the fate of the four little bitches! So if you think you're tough enough to fight The Anarchists, meet us at the IWF studios tomorrow at noon!"
Edward stood up abruptly, grabbing the desk in front of him shoving it over.
"And don't forget, we are The Anarchists, and we are revolting!" he added, before marching off camera.
"We all knew he was revolting, the dude totally stinks," Kid muttered.
"Revolting, you idiot!" Kevin snapped, slapping Kid over the back of the head.
"Ow!" Kid moaned, rubbing his head. "And I still don't get it!"
"He means he's revoltin' against authority," Terry explained. "Sorta like they're rebellin' against us Muscle Leaguers, y'know? Of course, revoltin' also means disgustin', but I reckon he don't realise that."
"He's nothing but a bloody idiot!" Kevin cursed, standing up. "He always was stupid!"
"Stupid or not, the fact remains that we gotta fight this guy!" Meat said, smacking a fist into his open palm. "So before we go to the studio tomorrow, we got time to get some practisin' done!"
"What?" Kid echoed. "But this is meant to be my honeymoon this week! I just got married like yesterday!"
Meat narrowed his eyes at Kid, before slowly crossing the room to where his trusty broom still stood. Kid quickly scrambled up to his feet, followed closely by the others. All eight Chojins left the hut, walking out onto the sand pit.
"C'mon guys, what ya waitin' for?" Meat asked. "Let's go down to HQ and train there!"
"Aw man!" Kid groaned.
"I think that sounds like a good idea," Kevin said. "Let's go."
"What?" Kid and Mars said in unison, eying Kevin suspiciously.
"Hey, you heard Kevin Mask!" Meat shouted at the others. "He said let's go, and he's the new leader of the Muscle League, so do what he says!"
The others groaned and grumbled, following after Kevin as he strode briskly out of the park. Mars lagged behind the others, watching Kevin with a frown. Although it was uncharacteristic for Kevin Mask to do so, Mars could have sworn that Kevin was almost skipping with every step he took.
"Ah there you all are!" Ikeman said, grinning at the Muscle League Chojins as they entered the arena. "So glad you could all make it along!"
"Cut the crap, McMadd!" Kevin silenced him.
Edging closer to the chairman, Kevin posed his next question in a much quieter tone.
"What happened to the Kinniku spaceship that we arrived in?"
"It's gone," Ikeman quietly replied, eying Kevin as though he had gone insane.
"I can see that!" Kevin hissed. "Where? Where has it gone? It had to refuel, yes?"
"Yes," Ikeman slowly replied, nodding his head. "Father and I arranged for the refuelling to take place immediately, the ship took off for Muscle Planet about ten minutes ago."
"What?" Kevin roared.
Silence fell over the arena as all eyes turned to Kevin. Kevin glanced around the others nervously, before returning his attention to Ikeman.
"Gone?" he whispered. "Already? I thought refuelling took several hours?"
"Yes," Ikeman nervously replied. "But we hurried the process along–"
"Why?" Kevin demanded, his voice rising again.
"Because the passengers onboard had to get back to their duties on Muscle Planet!" Ikeman explained. "Why, is there some sort of problem?"
"No, no problem…" Kevin grumbled.
Kevin turned towards the ring, eying over his seven team-mates, who were all loitering around the ringside area.
"What are you lot standing around there for?" he demanded. "One of you get your arse into the ring so that I beat some sense into you!"
Kevin tore off his long coat, marching up to the ring and sliding under the bottom rope. He leapt to his feet, standing in the middle of the ring, his fists raised expectantly.
"Come on!" he challenged. "Who's got the guts to fight me, eh?"
The others looked around each other nervously. Kid Muscle smirked to himself, jabbing a finger into Wally's back, causing him to stumble forwards.
"You!" Kevin barked, pointing a finger at Wally. "Tusket! Get up here and fight me!"
Wally looked over his shoulder at Kid, his eyes wide with fear.
"Go on, Wally!" Kid said. "The new leader of the Muscle League is calling you!"
Wally sighed, climbing up the steps to the ring. Kevin watched Wally slowly climb into the ring and walk across the mat to stand in front of him.
"Someone ring the bell!" Kevin yelled, looking out towards the vacant official's desk.
As Meat made his way over to the desk to ring the bell, Kevin's eyes wandered from the desk to the entrance aisle, his eyes narrowing into a squint as he caught sight of someone running down the aisle towards the ring.
"Kid!"
Kevin numbed at the sound of the voice, watching dumbly as the woman running down the aisle began to wave one arm above her head.
"Amy?" he muttered.
The ring bell rang and Wally promptly kicked the distracted Kevin in the face, the heel of Wally's foot striking the underside of Kevin's chin, the one part of his face not protected by his iron mask. Kevin let out a groan, staggering back into the ropes.
"Kid!" he heard Amy call again.
Shaking his head to shake himself off, Kevin stepped away from the ropes, watching as Amy jogged over to Kid Muscle, where she began to talk to him about something, her voice sufficiently hushed to obscure her words from Kevin's ears. Kevin instinctively started towards the other side of the ring to get closer to her, but his progress was brought to an abrupt halt as Wally speared him, knocking him down onto his back with another groan.
"Geddoff me!" Kevin growled, grabbing Wally's shoulders and shoving him aside.
Kevin sat up, pausing as he saw Amy touch a hand to Kid's shoulder, smiling up at him as she told him something. His interest peaked at her actions, Kevin started to stand up again.
"Hey, this is fun!" Wally said, before drop-kicking Kevin to the mat again.
"Kev, what da hell is wrong wid you!" Mars yelled, slapping a hand off the mat. "Are you gonna let a loser like dat beat you up?"
Kevin crawled around on the mat, looking beyond Mars at Kid and Amy. Kid was pointing towards the ring, and Amy was looking directly at Kevin, her brow furrowed into a frown. A cold rush of adrenalin spread through Kevin, and he leapt to his feet, blocking Wally's attempt at another kick to the chin. Kevin grabbed Wally up, pulling him into the Tower Bridge.
"Atta boy Kev, show him who's boss!" Mars cheered.
As Kevin tightened his hold of Wally, his eyes remained fixed on Amy. He saw her roll her eyes at him and shake her head before turning back to Kid Muscle, her face brightening into another smile as she met his eyes. She began to talk with Kid again, smiling and nodding her head as they spoke. Kevin growled to himself, his body buzzing with adrenalin.
"Uh Kev?" Mars began nervously. "Remember Tusket's on our side, yeah? You don't wanna go injure him before da tournament, do ya?"
Kevin finally looked away from Amy, looking down at Mars, who was standing on the floor, his body pressed against the ring apron, frowning up at Kevin. Kevin frowned, briefly wondering why Mars looked such an unusually golden colour.
"Knock it off, asshole!" Terry Kenyon yelled, kicking Kevin in the ribs.
Kevin instantly released Wally, doubling over with a gasp of pain. Terry had inadvertently kicked his heel into the old wound Kevin had sustained during his match against Mars in the finals of the Chojin Crown, causing Kevin far more pain than such a move normally would have.
"Bastard…" he groaned.
Mars quickly leapt up into the ring, standing over Terry.
"You remember what I did to you in da Generation Ex Tournament, Kenyon?" he growled.
"How could I forget?" Terry yelled back at him.
"Well if you don't want me to do it again, you better move your ass," Mars warned him.
Terry moved over to where Wally lay, helping his friend out of the ring as Mars approached Kevin.
"Hey Kev," Mars whispered, bending over to move his head closer to Kevin's. "What's wrong wid you? I know you're pissed about Eddie, but you gotta control your temper!"
"Woman…" Kevin gasped.
"Huh?" Mars echoed.
"That woman…" Kevin groaned, straightening.
Mars straightened with him, frowning at him as he waited for Kevin to finish.
"What is that woman doing here?" Kevin asked, pointing over Mars's shoulder at Amy. "McMadd said that she was on her way back to Muscle Planet!"
Mars turned around, looking about for a moment before turning back to Kevin with a grin on his face.
"Funny story dere, Kev," he began.
"Oh God, what now?" Kevin groaned.
"See, apparently, she missed da flight back."
"And how exactly did that happen?"
"Well, she had to go to da vet because she was hurt, and den da Kinnikus flew off before she got back. I guess dey was just glad to be shot of her. But on da bright side Kev, she's here now and she's free, and didn't you say you wanted her to work for us at da Mask Estate?"
Kevin turned his head back towards Amy, watching as she flashed yet another smile at Kid, running her fingers through her hair. Kevin felt another rush of adrenaline push up through his chest, starting in alarm as it began to spread downwards, ending in his thighs.
"No," he said firmly, turning back to Mars. "She absolutely has to go. Right now."
Mars looked over his shoulder at Amy again, slowly nodding his head.
"Yeah, you're right, Kev," he agreed. "We couldn't take her back to da Mask Estate, Kiki would never understand,"
"Kiki?" Kevin echoed. "What the hell does any of this have to do with that saucy little mare?"
"Hey, Kiki ain't no mare!" Mars snapped. "Da only horse around here is dat one behind me dressed in da Kinniku Royal Guard uniform! And alls I meant was dat, y'know, dat chick really digs me, and I think Kiki would just get jealous if we took her home wid us."
"Does your vanity know no bounds, Mars?" Kevin asked his friend dryly.
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Your turn."
Kevin walked over to the ropes, stepping through them and dropping down to the floor below. Jaeger climbed up behind him, taking his place in the ring to tackle Mars in a practise match. Kevin, meanwhile, made his way over to Kid and Amy, who had both sat down in the front row of seats behind the steel railings. As he neared them he slowed, watching intently as Amy smoothed her hands over her head, lifting her hair up over the back of her chair. Oblivious to Kevin's presence, she tilted her head back, her throat arching outwards as she released her hair, allowing it to hang loosely over the back of her chair.
"Must you expose your neck like that, you brazen little hussy?" Kevin growled at her.
Amy promptly brought her chin down, frowning up at Kevin.
"Come again?" she echoed.
"Ugh!" Kevin snorted, waving a hand at her dismissively.
Amy's eyes widened as she watched Kevin march off down the aisle in the direction of the backstage area.
"What's his problem?" she asked, turning to Kid.
"He can't keep it up," Kid replied, giggling to himself.
"Oh…" Amy said, nodding her head slowly.
Kevin continued to march through the backstage area, heading for the showers. Again he found his mind leaping around, his concentration at an all-time low. He hoped that he would somehow be able to stabilise his thoughts if he could just forget about Edward and the pending tournament.
As he neared the showers, Kevin began roughly removing his clothing, tossing aside his garments as he went. He stepped up into the shower, switching on the flow of water. Before stepping under the water, Kevin removed his mask, throwing it out of the cubicle. Kevin paused before returning to the shower, his eyes slowly wandering downwards over his naked form.
"Oh crap…" he grumbled, rolling his eyes.
With a deep sigh of despair, Kevin reached a hand over to the thermostat on the shower, turning it down as low as it would go, causing the jet of water to turn bitterly cold.
Next Chapter: The IWF and the Muscle League reluctantly give in to Edward's demands, and announce a tournament pitting the DMP against the Muscle League. With The Anarchists already divided up into four tag teams, the Muscle League must pair themselves off. Chapter 4 – Bad Blood Tournament.