CHAPTER 10: Friends gone frenemies
Marty and Alex both stood their corners; in the left was Marty, just leaning against the corner pads, and in the right corner was Alex, who was just holding onto the rope-like material coming from the corner pads. The two of them looked around the arena at the thousands of humans and camera flashlights being shoved into their eye sights. The sound of the crowd had made it feel like there was a huge gust of wind, the volume was that loud. Nonetheless, in the midst of being broadcast live in front of millions across the world, alongside the 10k+ people in the audience around the arena, Alex and Marty were ready to tear themselves up for the sake of winning.
As planned out prior to this evening, Alex or Marty can only win by pinning down the shoulders of one another for three seconds. To keep count of this, two zookeepers, with long-term experience, will remain inside the 'ring' throughout the duration of the fight. They were both going to treat Alex and Marty as if they were humans, for obvious reasons.
Marty ducked down and held the top rope, looking at a jumping Alex; he was just waiting for the bell. Marty took in a huge gulp of air, letting it out visibly as he held the corner.
"Well I guess if you're a zebra," the British commentators said, "you've gotta fight fire with fire, and I'm sure Marty the Zebra here knows that..." they added, with the cameras switching back and fourth between Alex and Marty.
Marty raised himself up a bit, as Alex kept jumping up and down with his fists on his chest. The two zookeepers called for the bell, and the second it rang, both Zebra and Lion charged like two race-cars to each other.
Marty sprung himself into Alex's lower chest, as the lion began curbing down fists to Marty's back; the crowd remained stood up on their feet as the two bashed up into Alex's corner; they were struggling, fists and hooves rapidly moving around. Suddenly, Marty and Alex had rolled and slipped from the corner to the floor of the ring, before Alex rolled up onto his knees above Marty, clubbing him down with fists once again. Marty covered up, but nonetheless, the zebra managed to stand up; the two 'friends' pushed each other into the corner as the urgency made them feel heated up already; god knows how long, even seconds, it'll take, before they both began dripping sweat just from the rapid pace already? Alex tried to keep Marty in place in the corner as the two zookeepers tried to break the animals up, but it was useless.
Alex suddenly ducked down into the corner and slipped Marty's black and white body onto his shoulders; Alex quickly walked with Marty's feather-like weight on his shoulders to the middle of the ring. The crowd began rumbling, with them jumping up at what might already be Alex's finisher.
"HE'S GOT HIM UP, HE'S GOT MARTY UP!" one of the commentators exclaimed as the Madison Square Garden sounded like a gigantic bomb with the amount of reactions from the crowd.
ALEX RAPIDLY SENT MARTY TO THE AIR, DOING HALF A CIRCLE, WITH THE LION LANDING ON HIS BACK, SENDING MARTY BACKFIRST AGAINST THE HARD MATERIAL OF THE RING CANVAS, WITH THE COLLISION ECHOING ALL OVER THE ARENA! THAT WAS IT!
"OH MY GOD, ALEX HAS GOT HIM!"
"HE'S GOT HIM! ALEX HAS DONE IT! OH MY GOD!" they yelled into their head microphones.
"OH WHAT THE!? THAT'S IT, IT'S OVER!" all the commentators exclaimed, as Alex rapidly slid onto Marty's fallen body from the early F-Lion finisher for the pin. He lifted Marty's legs up for the pin.
The zookeepers began counting the pin in the midst of the crowd absolutely losing their heads over Alex's early F-Lion; a finishing move already? Marty was doomed.
"ONEEE..."
"TWOOO..."
Marty threw up his zebra shoulder at the two count, prompting the zookeepers to end the pin. Alex sat up, besides Marty's fallen body, smiling at Marty's nerve to actually kick out.
The atmosphere right now couldn't be described; people were already on their feet, as Marty was flat on the ring; the atmosphere was simply put, energetic, after Alex's attempt to end the contest early just now. The crowd had their phones out as Alex stood back up on his feet, with Marty flat out, rolling and curling about on the ring floor after the F-Lion finisher. The crowd started chanting 'lets go Marty' whilst being somewhat overtaken by the chant of 'lets go alex'. This was a clear division in who the crowd wanted to win.
Alex slowly began walking around the ring, as the two zookeepers kept their distance, looking around the arena, before aiming his eyes at Marty on the ground, already in pain. He looked somewhat angry, sneaking up on Marty like a predator. He stood over Marty's fallen body as the crowd's voices had echoed an energetic atmosphere.
"THAT WAS YOUR CHANCE, MARTY, THAT WAS YOUR CHANCE TO GIVE UP!" Alex yelled at Marty.
Marty, hearing Alex's yelling, slowly, but painfully, crawled on his two front hooves to Alex's legs. There, the zebra had struggled to slowly use Alex's legs to elevate himself up. Alex simply stood there, smiling and chuckling at the crowd at Marty's inability to get up, allowing the zebra to slowly get up.
"Guys, guys, we're not even two minutes into this and Alex already has the zebra pretty much knocked out...did we not envision this?" one of the commentators said, observing the action in the ring from a table to the left of the ring.
"We should have- oh my god, look at Alex now, he's laughing and nodding as if to say...'you've messed up'..." the other commentator responded, looking at Alex's body language.
Alex slowly gripped upon Marty's long nose, holding his head up high, with the lion nodding and smiling with his teeth showing. Alex couldn't help but make it clear to Marty that he's simply screwed up, and has not a single chance of fighting back.
Alex rapidly slid behind Marty and gripped his arms around the zebra's belly from behind. Alex dropped down to his back to fling Marty over his body and backfirst into the ring, with Marty's collision echoing across the arena.
"W-Was that a german suplex by Alex?" a shocked commentator asked.
"I believe so...somebody might have to stop this and attend to that zebra...he doesn't look good..." another commentator responded, having to talk loud over the giant crowd's sound.
Alex rolled up from his fall, looking over at Marty's fallen body from the suplex. He's done his homework on this, and the german suplexes will prove to be an effective tool of a move in minimizing Marty's chances. Alex simply wandered around the ring, breathing somewhat heavily from the rapidly-paced brawl-like opening of the contest, as if he was in a casual place. He looked at the crowd, before looking back down at Marty. Marty was curling up, eyes closed, hooves over his neck and chest as the air was being knocked out of the zebra's lungs from all of the collisions he's taken.
The two zookeepers quickly ducked down to check on Marty; they weren't sure as to what to do, but they couldn't do much: Alex walked over to Marty, prompting the zookeepers to move away. The lion ducked down, and once again gripped upon Marty's belly from behind the zebra's fallen body. Slowly raising him up, Alex once again fell backwards with speed to send Marty flying over his body and briefly the ring's canvas, sending the zebra colliding with a giant thud with another german suplex. The crowd's faces were starting to go from smiley and excited to gradually uncomfortable-looking and shocked.
"AND ANOTHER SUPLEX FROM ALEX THE LION!" the commentators said, acknowledging that this was simply the opening of the contest, so two suplexes from Alex's behalf were perfectly normal.
Alex stood up, as Marty briefly rolled on his back and neck from the suplex, landing in a curled up position as he couldn't feel his head from all of the collisions; the suplexes were giving him pain as if he was in a fire internally. As Alex stood up and wandered near the corner again, with Marty basically directly adjacent on the ground, he wanted to taunt Marty again.
"YOU'RE GONNA LEARN THE HARD WAY, HUH?!" Alex yelled, with the zookeepers instantly backing up from Alex after the lion said that; they of course, alongside every human, could only hear Alex's talk as roars, which explained why they flinched just now when the lion opened his mouth.
Alex wandered, arms swaying ever so slowly, towards Marty's fallen body. The crowd kept their reactions neutral, due to the uncertainty of what was happening at the moment. The lion slowly ducked himself down to Marty, taking the zebra by the ribs on the ring canvas, and Alex moved backwards, before pummeling his knees forwards to harshly slap them off of Marty's ribs, generating coughs from Marty and a brief rolling across the canvas. Alex stood back up and once again looked over Marty, stalking him ever so slowly after the knees to the zebra's ribs.
Marty's entire body felt stiff due to the absolute pain thus far; he couldn't even feel his legs or upper back. The zebra, in the midst of the many flashes from the crowd's numerous cameras, started to roll on the ring canvas, moving away from the upper corner of the ring towards the lower one, with Alex once again stalking him. Marty, after rolling towards said corner, tried to gain stability on his back knees at least, and the zebra, ever so slowly, placed his weight on his forefeet to elevate himself. He was as slow as a slug, but nonetheless, he managed to get his belly off the canvas; but not for long.
Alex ducked down, in front of Marty's half-sat body, and placed the zebra's head into his right armpit. Alex threw Marty's other foreleg over his orange hairy face, gripping the zebra's ribs with his hands with absolute dominance.
"HERE COMES THE PAAIIN!" Alex yelled, before leaping backwards with Marty's body.
"RAAAARGHH!" Alex yelled, as he rapidly and easily lifted Marty's lightweight body into the air briefly.
Alex's strength had sent the zebra flipping into the air with the modified suplex, with Marty clashing down harshly backfirst, with the collision once again echoing a painful thud. As Marty curled up helplessly, Alex sat up and remained ducked down on his knees, dripping sweat from his face as he focused his eyes directly on Marty, with them widening out like a vicious, deadly expression, suitable for a lion like himself. He remained ducked down at the corner, just watching Marty be attended to by the two concerned zookeepers for a moment.
"G-Guys, for most of this fight, Marty hasn't done anything, all he's done is just...be a ragdoll? I-" the commentators said, stuttering with concern for the zebra's overall health at this point.
It was starting to finally catch on to the crowd that Alex was, simply put, dominating Marty to the point that the zebra was unable to get a single offense in, and it was starting to make everyone around the arena watching it uncomfortable. The live viewers around the world, however, couldn't be determined in terms of how they felt about Alex's dominance.
Alex stood back up, breathing more heavily, prompting the zookeepers to back off from Marty. The crowd sounded uncertain, to the point that some of them sounded like they were talking in one gigantic conversation. Physically, some had their hands on their cheeks, cringing at the zebra's brutal take-down by Alex. Marty once again rolled ever so slowly towards the corner adjacent to Alex, as the lion walked around the ring again. He slowly, swaying his arms, started approaching Marty's vulnerable body. The zebra planted himself down onto his belly against the ring floor once again.
"Guys, the fact Marty managed to kick out at all at the start was remarkable, but-" the commentator was cut off from Marty's RESILIENCE.
MARTY POPPED UP, ON HIS TWO BACK FEET, PAIN-COVERED, DESPERATELY PUSHING ALEX INTO THE CORNER BEHIND THE LION, PROMPTING A GRADUAL RISE IN THE CROWD'S CHEERING; MARTY HAD ALEX IN THE CORNER, PROMPTING THE ZEBRA TO CLUB HIS HOOVES INTO ALEX'S EYES; THE CROWD'S ENERGY HAD RISEN SUDDENLY, ROOTING FOR MARTY, HE HAD THE LION IN A VULNERABLE POSITION! HE CONTINUED TO PUMMEL HIS HOOVES INTO ALEX'S EYES, CAUSING ALEX TO COVER HIS HANDS OVER HIS FACE; MARTY KNEW HE COULDN'T LIFT ALEX UP, BUT HE CAN CERTAINLY ADAPT LIKE HE IS NOW TO WIN.
"LOOK AT THIS, MARTY FINALLY PERHAPS ENTERING HIS OWN YARD OF F-" the commentators exclaimed, sounding more excited than ever, before the entire arena slightly quietened down at Alex's returning strike in the form of yet another knee to Marty's ribs.
The crowd had significantly quietened down, as Alex ducked down to Marty's once again slipped down body, to pummel yet another knee into the zebra's rib, this time causing Marty to briefly moan in pain out loud. The zookeepers just now remained well out of the way during Marty's very small resilience before Alex had regained his dominance.
Alex stood up, and began pacing slowly back and fourth with a focused face at Marty's body; he began smiling as if to say 'you shouldn't have done that'. He continued to drip sweat, where he was caught off guard, albeit for a moment, from Marty's brief resilience just now. Not one to look like a weakling just as he's beginning to show his dominance, Alex wanted to try something else on Marty. The two zookeepers remained in the corner as the lion walked over to Marty's body, gripping him by the head and locking both his lion arms around the zebra's head, going for a submission. Marty was forcefully held up in the lock, as his neck felt like it was being squashed from the grip. The two zookeepers walked forwards and tried to prompt Alex to let Marty go.
Marty sent off a hoove into Alex's exposed chest in the midst of the lock, prompting the crowd to once again, slowly and gradually, become louder in cheers. Marty placed his two hooves together and slammed them harshly into Alex's chest, prompting Alex to jump ever so briefly, with a slight burning sensation being felt in the lion's chest from the hooves of Marty. With the hooves pissing Alex off, the lion had rapidly tossed Marty's body downwards from the lock, flattening him down to the canvas with a thud to the back of the neck.
"Guys, Alex isn't just staying on top, he's MANHANDLING Marty, he's MANHANDLING this poor zebra...it's getting uncomfortable..." the commentators said.
"I dunno...this...I never thought I'd feel this way, I certainly didn't expect this contest to be THIS brutal and hard to watch..." the other commentator said, with their voices sounding more and more like whispers, they felt that uncomfortable about watching this lion brutally dominate the zebra.
Alex, looking more and more like he's been in water from the sweat, walked over to Marty's body with full intent. He ducked down, and sent a knee pummeling into the side of Marty, airing Marty out even more.
He stood back up, just standing right above Marty's head, staring down at the zebra. Alex looked over at the two zookeepers, who kept their distance, but focused their eyes on Marty, who at this point looked like he had no hope of winning. Alex slid around behind Marty's body, taking him once again by the belly from behind to raise him up, only to drop to his back and send Marty pummeling in the air back down to the canvas with a thud, with yet again ANOTHER german suplex.
"And ANOTHER suplex, guys, how much more-" the commentator was stopped, from what was now a truly cringeworthy sight in the ring.
Alex didn't waste any time, and proceeded to walk over to Marty's body; he once again ducked down to the zebra's body, once again taking him by the belly from behind, only to drop down to his back and once again send Marty bouncing harshly with a loud echoing thud off the back of his neck off the canvas.
"O-Oh my god?!" the commentators said, noticing Alex's repeated usage of the german suplex, something that was sure to break Marty's neck at some point.
The crowd started gasping and emitting 'ohh' sounds, sounding incredibly uncomfortable. Alex was going for a third suplex, charging over to Marty's body once again, gripping the zebra by the belly from behind, flinging Marty into the air as Alex dropped to his back, making Marty roll with a thud from the back of his neck.
"LOOK, LOOK, those guys are gonna have to stop this...the zebra's being thrown like a ragdoll- oh no, oh my god, oh my god?!" the commentator exclaimed, at the sight of Alex, for a fourth time, gripping Marty from behind after just sending the zebra pummeling to the canvas.
Alex had sent Marty into the air, pummeling harshly against the canvas as all the commentators spoke over each other in uncertainty and shock. The two zookeepers slid down to their bellies to Marty on the canvas, checking on the zebra.
"GUYS, those zookeepers are gonna have to get in there and check on the zebra...they might have to call the entire contest-"
"This is just too uncomfortable-"
"They need to make sure that zebra is escorted out, RIGHT NOW..." the commentator interrupted.
Alex walked over towards the lying-down zookeepers checking on Marty, with the lion dropping down to his knees and placing his hands onto Marty's belly as the zebra rolled over; the lion was going for a pin. The zookeepers, reluctantly, started slamming their hands against the canvas for the count.
"ONE.." they counted.
"TWO..."
Marty got barely, his shoulder up, shocking Alex and everyone in the crowd, from the commentators and so on. The lion remained in a sat-down stance, placing his arms on his sides, huffing. Alex gripped upon Marty's body, sliding backwards, only to send yet another knee slamming harshly to the zebra's ribs. Marty at this point looked like he had no idea where he was.
Alex stood up, just wanting to let Marty helplessly crawl around the ring, keeping a cheeky yet focused smirk. He LOVED what he was doing; he was showing off in front of the entire world, whilst punishing Marty for what the zebra said about the lion's own father before. Marty slowly rolled towards the middle of the ring, with Alex chuckling; Marty sat up this time, eyes half closed. Alex moved behind Marty every time the zebra's head tried to find him; Alex was deliberately hiding from Marty's vision. The lion, chuckling, slowly hugged his arms around Marty's belly once again, laughing as if to say 'here it comes again...'.
"Oh come on, Alex, not again?!" the commentators said, as the zookeepers started looking uncomfortable.
Alex threw himself to his back, sending Marty flying over his orange body, with this suplex sending the zebra colliding HARSHLY and dangerously against his neck. Alex, dripping with more and more sweat as he felt more and more tired, walked over to Marty again after the suplex, going for yet another.
"Oh come on, ENOUGH ALREADY?" the commentators exclaimed, as Alex forcefully raised Marty's body from the ground from behind.
Alex dropped down to his back, sending Marty into the air above the lion, sending the zebra crashing down like a car-crash to the canvas; with each suplex, the risk of internal instability inside Marty's bones had increased. Kids at the front row of the Madison Square Garden were crying at the uncomfortable sight, but Alex didn't want to stop doing it at all. The crowd started raising up their volume to deliver a universal, uncomfortable reception to the action at the moment.
Alex, gripping Marty once again around the waist, lifted the zebra up as Marty's face had dangled with his eyes closed; at this point, EVERYONE in the arena was pleading for Alex to just stop doing the suplexes.
"OH, PLEASE..." the commentator said, unable to bare anymore sights of Marty being sent closer to breaking his neck on behalf of Alex.
MARTY SENT HIS ELBOW INTO ALEX'S FACE JUST BEHIND THE ZEBRA'S SHOULDER, WITH THE CROWD STANDING UP AND CHEERING AT HIS RESILIENCE; ANOTHER ELBOW HAD GONE INTO ALEX'S NOSE, RAPIDLY INCREASING, AS ONE FINAL ELBOW HAD LOOSENED ALEX'S GRIP OF THE ZEBRA.
"OH LOOK, MARTY'S DOING IT, HE'S GOT SOME FIGHT IN HIM! GO, GO, GET HIM!" THE COMMENTATORS YELLED, WITH ABSOLUTE OPTIMISM.
ALTHOUGH IT PAINED MARTY TO MOVE AFTER ALL OF THE SUPLEXES, HE STILL WAS DETERMINED TO PUT ON A GOOD FIGHT. HE RAN OFF TO THE ROPES BEHIND HIS BACK AS ALEX WAS LEFT DAZED FROM THE ELBOWS, SLINGING OFF THE ROPES INTO ALEX'S CHEST, SENDING THE LION SLIDING BACKWARDS, WITH THE CROWD CHEERING LOUDER AND LOUDER IN THEIR 10K+ AMOUNT. MARTY ONCE AGAIN RAN OFF TO THE ROPES, FEELING STIFF AND PAINFUL, SLINGING OFF THEM TO ALEX AGAIN, SENDING ANOTHER ELBOW, HARDER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONES, INTO ALEX'S FOREHEAD, FEELING ANGERED FROM ALL OF THE PAIN ALEX HAS GIVEN HIM WITH ALL THE SUPLEXES.
MARTY RAN OFF FOR ONE FINAL TIME TO THE ROPES BEHIND, SLINGING OFF THEM, ONLY TO BE CAUGHT BY ALEX DUCKING DOWN AND GRIPPING THE ZEBRA ONTO HIS SHOULDERS, GOING FOR AN F-LION, PROMPTING THE CROWD TO YELL 'NOOOO' UNIVERSALLY AS THEY ALL STOOD UP. MARTY SLID OFF OF ALEX'S SHOULDERS THIS TIME, PUSHING ALEX TOWARDS THE ROPES FROM BEHIND THE LION. ALEX TURNED TO MARTY, CHARGING FOR HIM, BUT MARTY DUCKED DOWN AND SLID ALEX ONTO HIS SHOULDERS WITH INSTABILITY.
MARTY, BARELY KEEPING ALEX BALANCED DUE TO HIS HOOVES, SENT ALEX RIGHT INTO THE AIR, PUMMELING THE LION BACKFIRST INTO THE CANVAS, EXECUTING THE ZEBRA ADJUSTMENT!
"HE'S DONE IT, HE'S DONE IT!"
"THE ZEBRA'S DONE IT, PIN HIM, PIN HIM!"
THE CROWD WAS GOING ABSOLUTELY BONKERS, IT WAS AS LOUD AS A LIGHTENING STRIKE GOING OFF JUST A COUPLE OF STEPS AWAY FROM YOU. THE MOMENTUM IN THE ARENA WAS PINNED ON MARTY, AS HE DESPERATELY PLANTED HIMSELF UPON ALEX'S CHEST FOR THE PIN!
"ONEEE" THE ZOOKEEPERS COUNTED!
"TWOOO!"
ALEX FLICKED HIS LEGS UP INTO THE AIR TO KNOCK OFF THE COUNT, CAUSING MARTY TO SLIP OFF HIS FORMER BEST FRIEND'S CHEST AND INTO THE CORNER NEARBY. THE CROWD SLIGHTLY QUIETENED DOWN AFTER THE KICKOUT, BUT THEY WERE THE LOUDEST THEY'VE EVER BEEN FOR THE SIMPLE FACT THAT MARTY IS NOW POTENTIALLY ON THE VERGE OF TURNING THE TABLES.
"GUYS, MARTY'S GOT AN ADVANTAGE, ALEX IS DOWN, HE'S BROUGHT HIMSELF SOME TIME, HE'S JUST GOTTA CAPITALIZE ON THIS..."
"YOU'RE RIGHT, BUT THINK OF IT THIS WAY; THERE'S NO WAY THAT ZEBRA CAN EXECUTE HIS FINISHER WITHOUT ALEX UNINTENTIONALLY ASSISTING HIM AGAIN, LIKE HE DID JUST NOW BY RUNNING FOR MARTY...HE'LL NEED TO ADAPT, AND QUICK..."
Marty's determination to go for another resilience just now had led to all of the pain from the suplexes before coming back to his body, and now, he felt stiff and as if he couldn't move. He couldn't breath properly, and his eyes were once again half-closed. He was finally starting to feel the consequences of defying his body and underestimating just how painful Alex's moves have been.
As Marty held his arms around the bottom parts of the corner, Alex had suddenly sat up straight in the middle of the ring, straight face and all, generating a mixed-reaction and a horrified one from the crowd; Alex turned to face Marty and began widening his eyes whilst laughing energetically, shoulders going up and down, with his tongue out.
"LOOK, ALEX IS LAUGHING...W-WHAT THE?" the commentators said.
Alex slowly crept up to his feet, laughing at Marty with his tongue out as his eyes were widened; he started jumping up and down on the spot, as Marty rested flat against the corner, looking directly at Alex's laughing self.
"Alex is invincible...that's just HORRIFYING, WHAT-" a commentator exclaimed, before being interrupted.
"LOOK, HE JUST SAT UP AS IF NOTHING HAD HAPPENED..." a final commentator said, unable to comprehend what was happening.
Everyone in the arena was horrified; they actually felt somewhat terrified of Alex's body language of jumping on the spot, laughing with his tongue out and widened eyes; it was as if he was, simply put, invincible.
"No, no, nahnah nah..." Alex uttered under his breath, as he jumped around on the spot with sweat dripping off his fur.
Marty felt like his days were over; Alex just got up, and is now practically a guaranteed winner in front of the entire world. What else could he do to win over Alex if the lion just got up like he did just now?
As Alex continued his creepy body language, the entire crowd had suddenly stood up on all their feet, all over the arena; Alex had noticed their reaction, and he noticed them looking directly behind his lion self. Alex turned to face the commotion, and out of nowhere, a tiny, black and white, orange-beaked little thing had stood directly under the ropes against Alex; it was SKIPPER.
"W-WHAT?!" Alex said, stuttering and confused, as were the two zookeepers remaining besides Marty in the corner to try and heal the zebra up.
"I TOLD YOU I WASN'T GONNA LET YOU GET ALL THE SPOTLIGHT!" Skipper yelled, having to yell due to the giant crowd's reaction; suddenly, a wave of cheers had gone into the direction of the ring, for a SIGNIFICANT reason.
"WHAT-" Alex said, before suddenly being tripped over from behind by Marty.
MARTY ROLLED ALEX UP, AND THE ZOOKEEPERS STARTED PINNING AS THE ZEBRA KEPT ALEX IN A TIGHT HARD GRIP AGAINST THE CANVAS.
"ONEEE!" THE ZOOKEEPERS COUNTED!
"TWOOO!" THEY COUNTED, WITH ALEX TRYING TO LOOSEN HIS WAY OUT OF THE PIN!
"THREEEEEEEEEE!" THE ZOOKEEPERS YELLED, GENERATING A GIANT, HURRICANE-SOUNDING CHEER FROM THE CROWD.
"HERE IS YOUR WINNER...MARTY THHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEE ZEBRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" THE ANNOUNCER EXCLAIMED, AS MARTY INSTANTLY COLLAPSED AFTER THE THREE COUNT, AFTER LETTING ALEX LOOSE.
"W-WHAT?!" Alex yelled, placing his hands onto his hairy head, shocked and genuinely light headed as to what happened.
All of the crowd was cheering, as the commentators stood up from their chairs, energetically.
"NO, WHAT THE..." Alex said, dropping to his knees, looking down at the canvas with a light headed feeling.
"MARTY USED AN OPPORTUNISTIC MOMENT AND IT'S WORKED FOR HIM! THOSE PENGUINS...WHEREVER THEY CAME FROM, WILL GO DOWN AS TO WHY MARTY OVERCAME ALL THE ODDSS!" THE COMMENTATORS EXCLAIMED INTO THE LIVE MICROPHONE FEED FOR THE CAMERAS.
As the crowd, and Marty's original entrance music came on, a bunch of zookeepers emerged and slid into the ring, about five or six from the outside, to check on the collapsed state of Marty; the zebra was out of it, knocked out cold, as the pain had completely taken him out of his head. Alex looked at Skipper, as the zookeepers looked to capture the penguins, before Skipper had slid out and ran away. Skipper let off a brief wink at Alex, nodding, as he ran away.
The crowd all stood up, looking at Marty in the midst of their cheering, worried at the zebra's body language; they sensed that he was out of his head, and he wasn't moving at all; Alex, seeing Marty like that, had suddenly generated a huge lump in his heart; he planted his hands across his face, feeling weakened and somewhat tearful as all the zookeepers emerged to slowly take both of the animals out. Just seeing Marty in that state had given the lion's heart a drop; he could feel his chest pounding, and he felt absolutely painful and fragile everywhere; what did this mean?
Skipper's whole plan, this entire time, was to interfere in the contest's ending, to the point he'd be the dictator of the result, and he succeeded. Marty overcame Alex, in thanks to the penguin, but now, as the whole world watched the moment in shock, sending shockwaves across each and every country with the live broadcast of the MSG, only one question remained; what will Alex specifically, alongside Marty, face for this contest?