Recap: Kiki's finally got Mars back, and doesn't know what she would do if she lost him, but Mars didn't tell her that if he fails to win the Chojin Crown, he will be forced to leave Earth, Kid is harbouring doubts about his ability to win the Chojin Crown, but knows that he must win for Roxanne's sake.
Chapter 28 – For Love
"Wow, Doc, would you take a look at that! What sort of match can we expect here today?"
"Well Mac, as you can see, Jacqueline McMadd has brought in a ring that was especially designed with the finishing moves of both Mars and Kid Muscle in mind. As you can see, the ring surface and the area around the outside of the ring is all made of concrete, and as you maybe can't see, but I can tell you, the ring ropes have been loosened for extra elasticity."
"Of course Doc! The concrete ring and surroundings are perfect for Mars's Swallow Tail Shovel manoeuvre, and the extra elastic in the ropes will only add to the effectiveness of Kid Muscle's Muscle Millennium!"
"That's right, Mac. Fight fans, we'll be back after this short commercial break, when we'll be hearing from Jacqueline McMadd herself when she tells us all the rules of this unique upcoming semi-final match. Stay tuned, folks!"
"Are we off?"
"Yeah."
"What sort of sick bitch is Jacqueline McMadd anyway, Doc? Part of wrestling involves falling, both on the mat and outside of the ring, so lining the entire area with concrete is a dumb idea for a start, but extra elastic in the ropes? Is she insane?"
"I gotta feeling this match isn't gonna be suitable for the kids in the audience, Mac. Just think about it like this: yeah, the extra stretch in the ropes will allow Kid Muscle to launch himself harder and faster at Mars, but what happens when Mars hits the ropes at the other side? They'll stretch right out with even more force than before, and probably gouge right through Mars's brain. And what if either of them uses a high impact move like the Big Ben Bash? Landing on concrete from that height means instant brain mash too!"
"What about the Kinniku Buster?"
"Would you jump fifty feet in the air and then want to land on your ass on concrete?"
"Good point, Doc."
"Let's see how Jacqueline likes the fame she gets when one of the competitors dies today. Both Mars and Kid Muscle have a huge fan following. If one of them dies, she'll be held responsible for it."
"Welcome back, fight fans! Mac Metaphor here again, and my colleague Doc is on his way to talk with Jacqueline McMadd herself. Doc, are you there yet?"
Doc Nakano walked up to Jacqueline McMadd, pulling a face of disgust at her back. He sighed softly, straightening his tie and forcing on a smile before announcing his presence.
"Jacqueline, Doc Nakano here," he said, causing her to turn around. "What can you tell the fans about today's match?"
Jacqueline smiled at the camera, ignoring Doc's presence altogether.
"Good afternoon, fight fans," she said into the camera. "Today is the last semi-final match of the Jacqueline McMadd Chojin Crown. Today we will see Kid Muscle take on Mars, to decide who will advance to face Kevin Mask in the final round. Will it be love or redemption?"
Doc arched his eyebrows, unable to hide his cynicism any longer,
"Kid and Mars will be fighting on a very special platform today, fans," Jacqueline continued, her eyes still locked on the camera. "As you can see, we have reinforced the ring with concrete to make this Mars's favourite type of ring. But of course, I'm a very fair lady, so I couldn't just tailor this ring to suit Mars's preferences. The ropes of this ring have been loosened and thickened, allowing them to be far more elastic and far more powerful than normal, for high speed launches. This means that any moves launched from the ropes will be especially fast, powerful and deadly, an advantage for Kid with his famous finishing move, the Muscle Millennium."
"Uh huh, I see…" Doc replied.
Jacqueline cast Doc a condescending smirk as he squeezed the knot of his tie and slowly and deliberately cleared his throat. She then turned back to the camera, smiling her sickeningly sweet "Jacqueline McMadd is an angel" smile at her viewing public. Jacqueline held her pose until her cheek began to twitch from the effort of her forced smile. She glanced down at Doc Nakano, but he was looking out at the ring and seemed to have forgotten that they were still on live television, remaining uncharacteristically silent.
Jacqueline prodded his shin with the toe of one booted foot in an attempt to draw his attention back to the situation at hand; but still he remained silent, his eyes still locked on the platform set to stage the day's events. Growling in frustration, Jacqueline turned back to the camera, putting on yet another of her award-worthy smiles.
"And now back to you at the commentary desk, Mac," she said.
"Unbelievable," Doc muttered as the camera moved off of him and Jacqueline.
"Oh get a grip, old man!" Jacqueline snorted, before turning on her heel and marching off.
Trixie wrung her cardigan in her hands, twisting the material so hard she began to distort the shape of one arm. She chewed at her bottom lip, inwardly cursing herself as she successfully ate off her lipgloss, which created an irritating wax coating on her teeth.
On her left side sat Kiki, who was wearing a pink Mars T-shirt and was staring up at the ring anxiously. On her right side sat Roxanne, who was wearing a blue Kid Muscle T-shirt and was staring up at the ring anxiously. Trixie was caught in the middle, in more ways than one.
Trixie wanted to say something to ease the tension in the air between her two friends, but could not think of anything appropriate to say. She had not thought that sitting in the middle of Roxanne and Kiki would have made her feel so awkward; she had only offered to do so to prevent any disastrous fallout from the ultimate result of the fight between Kid and Mars. But now Trixie felt obliged to say something, anything, if only to end the agonising silence that had grown around them.
Trixie sighed softly and quietly, her mind going blank from the pressure of trying to formulate an ice-breaking speech; but then suddenly an idea came to her of exactly what to say to help both of her friends – and even herself – feel much more relaxed.
Trxie opened her mouth to deliver her words of wisdom, only to squeal as an almighty bang shot through her ears, accompanied by a flourish of brightly coloured sparks. Further bangs followed the first as the pyrotechnics display continued to accompany the entrance of the first competitor.
"Well, y'all know what they say," Terry said ominously. "The first one in is always the loser."
Roxanne and Kiki both turned sharply to Terry, their eyes like saucers as they stared at him with expressions of concern and anxiety. Terry glanced at each of them in turn before looking at Trixie, who slowly folded her arms, arching her eyebrows as their eyes met.
"But I'm sure it don't mean nothin'," he added, shrugging his shoulders.
"I hope it does," Roxanne said quietly.
The others turned to see Mars walking down the ramp towards the ring, one fist raised above his head, a confident smirk on his face. He was dressed in the same ceremonial set of red wings he had worn to his last match against Kid Muscle.
"He's wearing the same outfit he wore when he lost to Kid Muscle in the Generation Ex tournament," Dik Dik pointed out.
"I guess he isn't a superstitious fella then," Wally mused.
"Or maybe he wants to turn a losin' outfit into a winnin' one," Terry suggested.
The others nodded their heads silently, watching as Mars climbed through the ropes and into the specially designed ring he was set to fight his semi-final match in.
"He sure looks confident," Terry added.
"And when has Mars ever looked anything other than confident?" a voice asked.
"Kevin Mask?" Terry yelped, turning to face Kevin as he joined the group in their front row seats.
"You sound surprised to see us," Lord Flash remarked, eying Terry over from his place at Kevin's side. "Surely even a simpleton like you can see that it is in Kevin's best interests to study today's match very carefully. After all, he will be facing the winner in his final match in three days' time."
Roxanne and Kiki both turned to look at Kevin Mask, each looking him over in a manner that made him straighten his back indignantly. However Kevin's discomfort was short-lived as the girls' attentions were brought back to the ring at the sound of Mars's entrance music ceasing and his associated firework display fizzling out. The cheers from the audience faded in intensity, the entire arena grower gradually quieter as Mars slowly paced over to one corner of the ring, where he leaned back against the corner-post, resting each of his arms on the ropes at either side of him. Slouched in this position, and smirking devilishly, Mars carried the aura of a man certain of victory; a sentiment not lost on those watching on.
As the silence around them intensified once more, Trixie again felt the need to say something to alleviate the ever-building tension. It had not escaped her notice that, during Mars's entrance, Kiki had been happily cheering her man on whilst Roxanne had been scowling furiously at Kiki, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
Trixie sighed softly and quietly, her mind going blank from the pressure of trying to formulate an ice-breaking speech; but then suddenly an idea came to her of exactly the right thing to say to help both of her friends – and even herself – feel much more relaxed.
Trixie opened her mouth to deliver her words of wisdom, only to squeal as an almighty bang shot through her ears, accompanied by a flourish of brightly coloured sparks. As the grandiose pyrotechnic display raged on, Kid Muscle's entrance music blared through the arena, and the already deafening roar of the fans reached a fever pitch as Kid's silhouette became visible, advancing through the clouds of smoke from the fireworks.
A ripple of gasps of awe cascaded through the stands as Kid finally strode into clear view, dressed in a wrestling outfit that few in attendance truly appreciated the significance of.
"Looks like the kid decided to wear his daddy's old wrestlin' gear after all," Terry said.
"Yeah, it's just a shame that King Muscle refused to be Kid's corner-man for his match today," Dik Dik replied.
"What?" Roxanne echoed, rounding on Dik Dik. "You mean Kid actually asked his father to stand in for Meat? Even after all that that great big oaf has done to spoil Kid's happiness? Is he out of his mind?"
"Okay, okay!" Dik Dik replied, holding up both hands defensively as Roxanne seethed at him. "Don't shoot the messenger!"
"Kid ain't outta his mind, Roxanne," Terry explained. "Just desperate to win."
Roxanne blinked at Terry, who nodded his head to confirm that he meant what he had just said. Roxanne slowly and mechanically nodded her head in reply and then turned back to the ring as Kid stepped through the ropes.
Kid stopped by the ropes, looking across the ring at his opponent, who was still slouched, smirking, in one corner of the ring, his hawk-like eyes tracking Kid as he began to walk to his own corner. Once in his corner, Kid deactivated the lower red section of his mask, which had been shielding the lower half of his face from his nose downwards. Upon seeing him do this, Mars hauled himself upright, reaching one hand across his chest to his shoulder to unhook his wings.
In synchronisation with each other, Kid and Mars removed their red cloak and makeshift wings respectively, never moving their eyes from each other as they did so. Kid's music faded and the cheers of the audience died away as everyone anxiously awaited the toll of the ring-bell to signify the start of the fight.
"No matter what happens today girls, we'll all still be friends, right?" Trixie asked boldly.
She glanced between her two friends sat either side of her as she awaited an answer.
"If Kid loses his match today, my life will be as good as over," Roxanne eventually replied, her voice quiet but firm in the conviction of her words.
Trixie slowly nodded her head, turning cautiously to Kiki for her response.
"I want Mars to win today, of course I do, but if he loses, I won't be really upset. I'm just glad that I've got him back at last. If he doesn't make it into the Muscle League, I'm sure there are other things that he can do."
Trixie nodded her head again, feeling a little more optimistic about the whole ordeal. Trixie even dared to smile as she looked up at the ring again, where Kid and Mars were eying each other over as they paced back and forth across the ring. Just as Trixie began to relax, she heard something that set her nerves on edge once more.
Just as Trixie began to relax, Kevin Mask cleared his throat.
Trixie slowly turned towards Kevin, her eyes growing wider and wider as she awaited Kevin's reasoning for feeling nervous. As Trixie's eyes finally landed on Kevin's blue steel mask, she found that he was facing Dik Dik Van Dik. Trixie's eyes then narrowed into a squint as she studied Dik Dik's lips. Although she was not close enough to Dik Dik to hear his hushed words, she could gather enough of what he asked Kevin Mask by reading the gazelleman's lips.
"He's not staying if he loses, is he?" she saw Dik Dik ask.
Kevin shook his head. Dik Dik solemnly nodded his understanding. Trixie turned back to Kiki, only partially relieved to see that her friend had not heard or seen the exchange between Dik Dik and Kevin. Although it was a relief to Trixie that Kiki was still happy, a relief that she was still blissfully unaware of the pending heartache she would inevitably suffer if Mars failed to defeat Kid Muscle that day, it only heightened Trixie's anxiety when she thought of how Kiki would react at the end of the match if Mars lost.
Trixie gulped audibly, turning to Roxanne as she was no longer able to look at Kiki, her smiling face and glistening eyes as she gazed up at Mars in admiration and wonder suddenly becoming too much to bear for Trixie.
Roxanne was looking up at Kid, biting into one side of her lower lip, her hands clutched at her neck, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and anxiety.
Trixie could no longer look at Roxanne either. Unsure of where to turn her eyes, Trixie's mind was soon made up for her as the bell sounded to announce the start of the momentous meeting of the two top-ranking Chojin warriors in the ring.
Kid and Mars marched up to each other, stopping as they met in the centre of the ring. Mars held out a hand to Kid in what appeared to be a gesture of good sportsmanship. Kid nodded his understanding and reached out to shake Mars's hand; however the second before Kid took hold of Mars's hand, Mars lifted it sharply out of Kid's reach, pointing at Kid with his other hand and laughing. Kid paused, his hand still hovering where Mars's had been only moments ago, before slowly lifting his eyes to Mars's laughing face, his extended hand balling into a fist.
Kid took the first shot of the match, aiming a roundhouse punch at Mars's jaw; but Mars caught Kid's fist in the palm of his hand, closing his fingers around over Kid's hand. Mars grinned a cold and menacing grin at Kid before squeezing Kid's fist tightly, causing a series of cracking sounds to echo through the stadium. Kid promptly aimed a left jab at Mars, but again Mars caught Kid's fist in his hand. Kid tugged his arms sideways and inwards, forcing Mars's arms apart and forcing Mars to stumble forwards towards Kid. Kid leaned back and then shot forwards, smacking Mars's face with a sharp head-butt, momentarily stunning Mars.
Taking advantage of Mars's dazed state, Kid pulled Mars towards himself again, turning Mars around and gripping into Mars's hands as Mars finally released his hold of Kid's fists. Kid then hoisted Mars up, dropping him to the concrete ring-mat in a flawless German Suplex. Mars let out a groan as his head and shoulders crashed against the unforgiving concrete, rolling over to one side and reaching his hands up to his head and neck.
"Wowie, looks like the kid won't be needin' Meat for this here match after all!" Terry declared. "He's on fire!"
"Kid sure is putting up an impressive offence," Dik Dik agreed. "But it doesn't look like it's enough to impress King Muscle."
Dik Dik pointed up at the skybox the McMadds sat in, causing those around him to all look upwards expectantly. As usual, the three McMadds were all sat in a line along a table, with Jacqueline in the middle, her father and brother at either side of her. But this time the McMadds were accompanied by four further guests, two of whom sat next to Vance, whilst the other two sat next to Ikeman.
Next to Ikeman sat Buffaloman, and next to Buffaloman sat Robin Mask at one end of the table. At the other end sat Belinda Muscle, sitting next to her husband King Muscle, who was sitting back in his chair, his arms folded and his face darkened by the deep creases of a displeased scowl.
Dik Dik, Wally, Terry, Jaeger, Checkmate and Trixie all turned to Roxanne to gauge her reaction to this, only to find that she was staring up at King Muscle with wide eyes that expressed a mixture of fear and determination.
Inside the ring, Kid was continuing to dominate the match, holding Mars down with an ankle-lock. Mars, who was hissing and growling in pain, was slowly crawling across the concrete mat on his elbows, aiming for the nearest set of ring-ropes. Kid saw Mars's intentions and quickly yanked back, halting Mars's progress. Mars reached a hand towards the bottom rope regardless, stretching his fingers out in a desperate attempt to reach the rope. Kid yanked at Mars's ankle again, sending a fresh surge of pain through Mars's body and causing his body to jerk back from the rope.
Mars snarled in frustration, glowering over his shoulder at Kid, who merely smirked maliciously in return.
"Stupid son of a…" Mars muttered to himself.
Mars drew up his free foot, watching over his shoulder as he stomped it down again, aiming his heel and the force of his kick at Kid's face. Kid dodged the blow, but the effort and direction of movement he used to evade the attack caused him to momentarily lessen his hold on Mars's ankle, allowing Mars the break he needed to reach the ropes.
Mars grabbed the bottom ring-rope with one hand, clutching onto it tightly. Kid quickly spotted this and tugged Mars back with all his might; but Mars tenaciously kept his hold of the rope.
For a brief moment, both Chojins stared in a state of bemusement at the rope in Mars's hand, which had been stretched back almost halfway across the ring. It was such an unusual and unexpected sight, neither man knew what to do at first; but Mars quickly thought of an idea. With a cruel smirk on his face, Mars released the rope, pressing his body flat against the cold concrete surface of the ring.
The rope flew out of Mars's hand, shooting back to its original position and beyond, flexing outwards towards the audience. Mars quickly slid out of Kid's hold, grabbing his bewildered opponent and pulling him towards the rebounding ring-rope. Mars flattened himself to the concrete mat again as the rope bounced back, whistling over the top of his face towards Kid. Kid at last spotted the impending danger and, after letting out a short cry of surprise, he too dropped to the ground, the rope flying over him, just missing a collision.
"Huh?" Mars grunted, sitting up as he spotted Kid lying unharmed on the concrete in front of him.
Mars's face dropped and his pupils shrank as he realised what he had just done.
"Ah, nuts!" he cursed in the second before the rebounding rope hit him hard across his chest, forcing him to fall onto his back.
The interruption of Mars's body slowed the rope's bouncing, and, as Mars lay on his back hissing from the stinging injury it had left him with, the rope gradually came to a stop.
"Hmph!" Kid snorted, getting to his feet and dusting his hands off as he eyed Mars over.
Mars narrowed his eyes to thin gold slits as he glowered up at Kid Muscle, who was wearing the sort of cocksure smirk Mars himself was famous for sporting. Further angered by this, Mars viciously swung one leg at Kid's ankles, gasping in shock and exasperation as Kid nimbly skipped over his giant foot. The audience applauded appreciatively for Kid's confident and lithe manoeuvre, their gesture only serving to fuel Mars's anger.
"Wise guy, huh?" Mars sneered at Kid.
"Loser, huh?" Kid retaliated, mocking Mars's tone.
"Oh now you're askin' for it, Muscle!" Mars growled, getting to his feet.
"So quit talking and bring it on, Mars," Kid drawled, allowing Mars the opportunity to regain his footing.
"If dat's da way you want it, den so be it. Lemme teach you a few tricks I learned at a place we call "Da Academy"…"
Kid dropped into the special defensive stance Meat had recently taught him called the "Muscle Curtain", readying himself to block any attacks Mars was about to launch. Mars curled a lip at Kid's manoeuvre, eying him over in disgust.
"Let's see you laugh your way outta dis one, loser," Mars challenged.
"Didn't you hear me, Devil Chojin?" Kid retorted. "I said bring it on!"
"Heh, don't say I didn't warn ya…" Mars muttered, shrugging his shoulders.
Mars pointed at Kid with the index and middle fingers of his right hand, holding the pose for a brief moment before stabbing his fingers forward, through the narrow gap between Kid's forearms and into each of Kid's eyes. Kid cried out in shock and pain, instinctively moving his hands over his eyes, dropping his Muscle Curtain. Wasting no time, Mars punched Kid in the gut with his left fist, swinging his right elbow into Kid's back between his shoulder-blades as he doubled over. Kid fell forwards towards the concrete mat, his descent accelerated as Mars grabbed one of his feet, pulling it up into the air.
"Now let me show you how us "Devil Chojins" do an ankle lock," Mars said darkly.
Mars twisted Kid's ankle over the crook of his elbow, wrenching his foot around with both hands. Kid was still too dazed from his hard landing to retaliate, allowing Mars to apply his move with maximum severity, bending Kid's leg at the knee and pushing him down to the mat with a well placed foot to his back.
Kid winced in pain, but quickly hardened his resolve, growling in determination as he started towards the ropes. Crawling on his elbows, Kid managed to stretch a hand to the bottom rope, grabbing onto it and pulling it towards himself. He grabbed onto it with his other hand, holding on tight as he gritted his teeth in pain.
"Nice try, loser, but dat ain't gonna work dis time!" Mars shouted at him, before wrenching Kid's ankle further round.
Kid cried out in pain, every muscle in his arms twitching as he gripped into the rope, a layer of sweat bursting out over his face, making his mask suddenly slippery against his skin.
"Don't count me out just yet, you DMP freak!" Kid snarled, releasing the bottom rope with one hand and grabbing onto the middle rope.
Mars frowned over his shoulder curiously at Kid as he began to walk his hands up the ropes, continuing until he was holding onto the top rope with both hands, his weight sagging more and more against Mars's arm as his body rose through the air. As Kid turned himself over to face the sky, Mars began to realise what he was about to do to counteract Mars's ankle lock, but he was too late to defend himself. Kid drew back his free foot and then stomped downwards, kicking the heel of his boot into Mars's chin.
Mars staggered back, releasing Kid as his fangs pierced into the inside of his lower lip, drawing blood that left a dull copper taste in his mouth. As Mars turned his attention back to Kid, he gasped when he saw that Kid had perched himself onto the top rope, and was waiting to launch himself at Mars. Kid leapt up, bouncing off the rope towards Mars. Mars began to move to one side to avoid the attack, but stopped, his jaw falling open as Kid was launched upwards as well as forwards, with tremendous speed, flying up and over Mars's head.
Mars grinned to himself, leaping up into the air himself. He dropped down, cutting out a chunk of concrete from the centre of the ring itself with his Swallow Tail Shovel and then kicked it upwards to meet Kid on his flailing descent.
Mars watched as Kid fell downwards and the concrete divot flew upwards, a vicious collision seemingly imminent; but Kid had a plan. Mars's smile dropped from his face as a blue light flared around Kid Muscle, and the burning symbol of Ultimate Muscle shone out from his forehead. Every muscle in Kid's body bulged outwards, surging with raw power and energy. Kid spun around in the air and drove both heels into the approaching lump of concrete, shattering it effortlessly.
Mars quickly sheltered his head with both arms as shards of high-speed concrete rained down all around him. As he removed his arms again, he mouthed out a curse of frustration as Kid landed on his shoulders, flinging him over in a Frankensteiner, battering his body against the broken concrete of the ring.
Mars quickly scrambled down into the crater he had created in the ring in an attempt to buy himself some time to recover and to plan a strategy to retaliate, but Kid grabbed both his ankles, hoisting him back and up. Kid began to spin around, spinning Mars around him by his ankles, gradually building in speed.
"I don't have time to waste fighting you again, Mars!" Kid shouted as he spun Mars around. "I have to prepare for my fight against Kevin Mask in three days' time, so I hope you can understand that I have to finish this one right now!"
Kid swung Mars upwards, releasing his ankles, sending him spinning up through the air. Kid jumped up onto the top rope, catapulting himself up after Mars. Mars tried to right himself as he flew aimlessly through the air, but before he could do so, Kid grabbed him and set him up into the Kinniku Buster.
"Ain't we been here before, Kid?" Mars growled, slipping out of the move and reversing it.
"Oh no you don't!" Kid argued, slipping out before Mars could lock his head into place.
Mars quickly grabbed his gold visor, pulling it down over his eyes. Kid's eyes widened as he saw Mars's headdress turn yellow and come to life around him. Mars rounded on Kid, and the two ducked and dodged each other as they fell towards the ring, eventually separating as Kid chose to land by one corner of the ring, whilst Mars bounced off the top rope, using it like a trampoline to launch himself upwards again.
Kid tilted his head, studying Mars as he shot upwards through the air like an arrow, his arms and legs tucked in at his sides to make his body as aerodynamic as possible.
"Well, Meat isn't here to help me this time," he sighed. "And these ropes were designed to help me win. Mars has already used the concrete against me, now it's my turn to use the advantage Jacqueline gave me in this match."
Kid ran across the ring, throwing himself at the ropes.
"Muscle Millennium!" he yelled as he fell back against the ropes, stretching them out as Mars began his descent.
Kid fell back on the overly elastic ropes, tensing as they slowly tightened behind him. As the ropes began to fling Kid forwards again, Mars's falling form neared the centre of the ring, the perfect set-up to deliver a lethal Muscle Millennium that would once more secure Kid a victory over the determined ex-DMP Chojin.
Kid grinned coldly as he caught the frightened look in Mars's eyes, which seemed to glow out from the shadow of his Mask of Madness. Kid grabbed Mars's arms and speared his head into Mars's back, shooting the pair towards the opposite set of ropes with deadly speed and force.
A flash of light illuminated the duo, blinding the spectators, followed shortly by the sickening sound of the ropes snapping from their posts, one by one from the force of the impact. A silence fell over the stadium as the bodies of the two warring Chojins fell to the concrete floor outside the ring, a cloud of dust shrouding them from view.
"No…" Kiki whimpered, her head still turned away from the ring, tears in her eyes.
"The force of that collision will have been enough to kill Mars, you know," Dik Dik solemnly announced.
"Dik Dik!" Trixie snapped, smacking him with her handbag. "How can you be such an insensitive jerk at a time like this?"
"I'm so glad Kid won!" Roxanne sighed, tears slipping from her eyes as a smile of relief spread across her face. "What does King Muscle have to say about that?"
Roxanne folded her arms and tilted her chin upwards defiantly, looking up at the skybox where King Muscle was sitting with his wife, the McMadds and his fellow Muscle League Legends. Roxanne watched as the king stood abruptly, his bottom lip protruding, his eyes narrowed beneath the shadow of his furrowed brow, his chair falling down behind him.
Belinda leapt up at his side, looking rather as though she were pleading with him over something, but he ignored her cries, turning his back on her to come face-to-face with Ikeman McMadd, who was also standing, wearing the sort of grin a Cheshire cat would be proud of.
King Muscle swung out an arm, knocking Ikeman down over the long table he had been sat at, kicked his fallen chair aside and marched out of the skybox, leaving Belinda sobbing his wake.
Roxanne frowned in confusion, her blood running cold through her veins as the audience began to applaud the victor of the match. She slowly lowered her large, round brown eyes to the ring, gulping and turning pale at what she saw.
The loser lay facedown, surrounded by medics, where he had landed outside the ring. The winner had climbed back up into the ring, and was standing at the edge of the crater in the concrete mat, one fist raised above his head, a proud smirk on his face.
Roxanne head suddenly felt unnaturally light on her shoulders, and she swayed slightly on her feet, relieved when Trixie curled a steadying arm around her shoulders. She turned to look up at her friend, who looked as shocked as she felt. Waiting for an explanation, all Trixie was able to provide Roxanne with was a nod of her head, aimed in the direction of the giant monitor mounted high in the stadium, which was showing a slow-motion replay of the final moments of the match.
Kid had been executing a flawless Muscle Millennium on his opponent, his hands holding Mars's arms out behind his back, his head buried into the base of Mars's spine, driving Mars's body towards the ropes. But as the flare of blue light created by the force and energy of Kid's trademark finisher engulfed the duo, Mars swung his legs upwards, grabbing Kid's hands at his back and flipping himself over, driving his knees into Kid's back and pulling Kid's arms out behind him, effectively reversing the Muscle Millennium.
As the giant image of Kid being slowly squashed between Mars's body and the ropes played out on the screen, Roxanne began to sob and tremble.
"No!" she wailed, grabbing onto the steel railing with both hands. "No…"
Jaeger pushed his way over to Roxanne's side, studying her carefully before moving his eyes to Trixie.
"Go check on Kid," Trixie whispered to him.
"Ja," he agreed with a nod of his head.
Jaeger leapt over the railing, sprinting over to the team of medics who were loading Kid's body onto a stretcher. Terry Kenyon hurried after him, followed shortly by Wally Tusket, Checkmate and then Dik Dik Van Dik. Trixie watched them until Terry raised one arm in the air, giving her a thumbs-up gesture to tell her that Kid would survive. Nodding her understanding, Trixie moved closer to Roxanne, touching her hands to Roxanne's shoulders.
"Kid's gonna be alright, Roxanne," she said softly.
"But I'm not," Roxanne muttered, her head hanging low beneath her arms, which were draped over the railings. "Now that old bastard will never let us get married."
"Don't say that, Roxanne!" Trixie said firmly, gripping her fingers into Roxanne's shoulders. "This is just a minor setback! Don't you worry I'll find us a way out of this. You will marry Kid Muscle, I promise you, Roxanne!"
Roxanne slowly stood up, groaning as she sighted Mars making his way towards them.
"I have to go now," she grumbled, pushing Kiki roughly down into her seat and stepping over her.
Kiki yelped in shock, watching with wide eyes as Roxanne trudged along the front row, before heading back up the aisle towards the backstage area.
"Looks like it's just you an' me, squealer," Mars said gruffly, stopping in front of Kevin Mask at the railings.
"Indeed it does, scarface," Kevin tightly replied. "I look forward to showing you once and for all who the better man is."
"Hey Mask, didn't nobody tell you?" Mars asked darkly. "Dis tournament ain't about who da better man is, it's about who da better wrestler is. I hope you an' no pants here have been trainin' hard, cause otherwise you ain't got a hope in hell of beatin' me."
"We'll see about that, scarface," Kevin growled.
"Mars."
Mars turned around at the sound of his name, nodding his head respectfully as he saw Buffaloman approaching.
"And so there you have it, fight fans!" Jacqueline McMadd said dramatically, leaping between Mars and Kevin. "With Kid Muscle no longer a contender in the Jacqueline McMadd Chojin Crown, the fight has come down to honour and redemption, forces obviously much stronger than love–"
"Ah, can it!" Mars snapped irritably.
Jacqueline hesitated, glancing at the camera with its blinking red light that informed her that they were still on live television all over the world, before turning her eyes to Mars, blinking up at him in shock.
"He said shut-up," Kevin explained after a tense moment of dead air had passed. "And whilst you're at it, might I suggest that you also bugger off?"
Jacqueline mouth formed an o-shape as she turned to Kevin, her eyes widening further still in an expression of her utter disbelief at what was transpiring.
"Believe it or not, you stupid little girl, this tournament isn't actually all about you!" Lord Flash spat venomously
"In fact, this tournament isn't about you at all," Kevin added.
"It's about wrestlin'," Mars put in.
"It's about revenge!" Lord Flash said.
"It's about honour," Kevin said.
"It's about redemption," Mars said.
"But above all…" Lord Flash began.
"It's about us," Kevin and Mars said in unison.
"Sell that slogan to your fans!" Lord Flash sneered, turning towards the camera.
"Train hard, Mask," Mars said to Kevin. "I like a challenge."
"Then you had better train hard too, scarface," Kevin returned. "Because I want my victory to be a glorious one, not just the result of a match that only lasted all of two minutes."
"You know you can always count on me to put on a good performance, Mask."
"Indeed I do."
Mars turned his back on the others, and, accompanied by Buffaloman, made his way back to ring, and back up the aisle to the locker rooms backstage. Jacqueline turned back to the camera, her mouth still slightly open and the whites of her eyes still prominent from her startled expression.
"Go to commercial…" she said numbly.
The cameraman obediently switched the camera off, leaving Jacqueline to wander listlessly from the ringside area.
Behind her, Kiki and Trixie were looking at each other in silence, each trying to gauge the other's thoughts.
"I sure hope Roxanne's okay," Kiki eventually said.
"She will be," Trixie said firmly. "And she will still marry Kid. This is a harder way of doing things, but I can still make it work. And at least this way you get to keep Mars, right?"
"That's assuming Mars can beat me," Kevin scoffed, brushing past the girls, followed at his heels by his trainer.
Kiki watched Kevin go, before turning back to Trixie.
"You know, that day in the diner, when you first said that you had an idea for how we could get Kid and Roxanne back together?" she began. "Well, I never thought, not even in my wildest dreams – and I do have some pretty wild dreams sometimes – I never, ever would have thought that any of this would have happened. Can you believe all the crazy things that have happened since then?"
Trixie slowly shook her head.
"I get a feeling the craziness isn't over just yet, Kiki," she said solemnly. "It won't be over until this tournament finally ends and Kid and Roxanne finally get married."
"I guess so," Kiki agreed. "Once the Chojin Crown is over and Kid and Roxanne are married, nothing else crazy could possibly happen, right?"
Next Chapter: Needless to say, the Kinniku's are furious about Kid's loss, but Kid tries to reason with them when he asks his father one more time if he can marry Roxanne. Chapter 29 – Dealing with the Past.
