Recap: Kevin returned to the old DMP headquarters where he fell from a makeshift bridge, only to be caught by Mars, leaving him at the mercy of a bitter and angry Mars, who threatened to take Kevin's life to free up a place on the IWF roster for himself.

Chapter 36 – Whatever Happened to a Handshake?

"Zero."

Mars pulled his finger sharply from Kevin's grasp, and Kevin began to fall to his doom. Kevin began to cry out in despair, but his tone quickly rose to a scream as Mars swooped down and grabbed his hair, halting his fall. Kevin screamed out in agony, looking up at Mars, who was leaning down over the ledge, one hand wound around his hair.

"Well what do ya know, your pretty boy hair just saved your sorry ass!" Mars sneered, before pulling himself back to safety, dragging Kevin with him.

Kevin grabbed his hands at Mars's arm, pulling himself up to alleviate the strain on his hair. Mars pulled him upwards, grinning as Kevin squirmed and moaned in pain, dragging Kevin's body up onto the ledge before finally releasing his hair. Mars then reached down, grabbing one of Kevin's ankles, he yanked Kevin's leg up and threw him onto solid ground.

Mars quickly leapt to his feet, kicking Kevin in the ribs, forcing him to roll over away from the lava pit. Mars swung his leg to aim a second kick at Kevin, but Kevin quickly rolled out of the way, leaping to his feet to stand face-to-face with Mars.

"Ungrateful asshole!" Mars snarled, placing both hands on Kevin's chest and shoving him back.

Kevin stumbled backwards, before promptly marching back up to confront Mars again. Mars aimed a fist at Kevin, but Kevin expertly caught the blow in one hand.

"Let's not go there, shall we?" he said. "We already did, and I seem to recall that you came off the worst from that little fiasco."

"Bastard," Mars growled, yanking his hand from Kevin's grasp and turning his back on him.

Kevin watched Mars stomp towards his old cave, dropping himself down by the mouth of it and sitting with his shoulders hunched over. Another wave of nausea washed over Kevin, and he was suddenly aware once more of the painful gash Mars's Red Rain of Pain had left in his side. Resisting the urge to touch a hand to his injury, Kevin cleared his throat and straightened his back, trying his best to hide his discomfort.

"You know for a moment back there, you had me really rather worried," Kevin confessed.

"Yeah, whatever," Mars mumbled, striking a match and lighting the small pile of sticks he had constructed by the mouth of his cave.

"Mars, what the bloody hell are you doing up here, anyway?" Kevin asked, starting towards him.

"Don't come over here!" Mars warned him, holding up one hand in protest.

Kevin obediently stopped, sighing in frustration. Kevin watched on in mild curiosity as Mars jabbed a sharpened twig into something meat-like and began to roast it over the small fire he had made.

"Y'know, I've saved your life two times now, and you still ain't never said thank you," Mars muttered sulkily as he watched the stick in his hand hover over the flames.

"I don't believe I'm hearing this!" Kevin drawled. "Honestly, you sound like a spoilt little child! What do want from me, Mars?"

"A bit o' gratitude sure wouldn't go amiss right about now!" Mars sneered, eying Kevin over before turning his attentions back to the fire and turning the stick over to cook the other side of his food.

"Alright then, thank you!" Kevin sarcastically replied. "There, how was that?"

"Say it like you mean it."

"Oh, what?"

"I hate you."

"Oh God, alright! Thank you, Mars. Thank you so much for saving me from certain death. Again. I'm eternally grateful. There, are you happy now, you miserable little shit?"

"Oh, you just had to add dat insult on at da end, didn't you? You couldn't actually bring yourself to just admit dat I helped you out, and thank me honestly, could you?"

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Mars! What more do you want? Shall I write my thank you in blood for you? And besides, why the hell should I be thankful to you? Need I remind you that you have never saved my life wilfully? You even said as much yourself! You only ever helped me because there was something in it for you. You only ever saved my life for your own personal gain, you selfish, yellow-eyed prick!"

Mars turned to face Kevin, his lips pursed and his eyes narrowed.

"Okay, so maybe I saved you before because you was gonna tell me your daddy's secret, but what about tonight, huh?" Mars challenged, waving his stick at Kevin as he spoke. "I saved you out of da goodness of my heart, and you can't even say thank you properly for it!"

"First of all, I did say thank you "properly"!" Kevin retorted, squinting at the mat on the end of the stick in a mixture of disgust and curiosity. "And secondly, tonight you saved my life for personal gain. Yet again. You knew that if you let me fall, and any harm were to come to you as a direct result of your actions, you would be left with another scar. And you're so bloody vain and self-centred, you didn't want any more blemishes on your perfect body or your perfect face!"

"Dat's not true. And it ain't my fault I'm such a handsome guy."

Kevin sighed and growled and shook his head, raking the fingers of one hand through his hair. Kevin snarled in frustration as his fingers got caught in his now knotted hair, muttering a string of curses under his breath as he untangled his fingers, pulling out several strands of his hair in the process.

"You never cared about me."

Mars fixed his eyes onto Kevin again, a hint of a smile flickering on his face for a brief moment.

"Excuse me?" he asked quietly, as he prodded a finger experimentally at the meat on the end of his stick.

"I said you never cared about me," Kevin repeated.

"Okay, now who's soundin' like a crybaby, huh?" Mars sneered.

"Well it is the truth," Kevin continued, shaking wisps of honey blonde hair from his gloved hand. "A true friend would have cared. You never cared if I lived or died, did you?"

"Ditto," Mars shortly replied, pointing his nose up in the air.

"I was new to the DMP! You should have been looking after me!"

"Would you listen to yourself, Mask? Is dis really da sort of talk for a Chojin Crown Champion? Man, you've got some serious issues. You need some counsellin'."

"Oh, looks who's talking…"

Mars carefully placed down his stick and food before slowly rising to his feet, turning his head to one side to watch Kevin from the corner of one eye.

"I don't like da way you just said dat, Mask," Mars growled.

"I know more about you than any other living person," Kevin darkly replied. "I know things about you that your little girlfriend would probably die if she heard me repeat."

Mars slowly nodded his head.

"Maybe dat's true, but you forget dat you ain't da only one who knows all o' my secrets," Mars pointed out.

"Oh really?" Kevin sneered, folding his arms across his chest. "And who else knows half of what I do about the real Mars?"

"Dat waitress broad from High Park knows all my secrets," Mars replied. "Or did you forget dat she was camped outside my bedroom for six weeks? Cause dat girl knows all your secrets too, Mask."

"I don't think she's really much of a threat to either of us, Mars."

"Oh yeah? Why, did you kill her?"

"I don't need to."

Mars took a step closer to Kevin, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Cause I don't trust Julie no more dan I trust you right now, Mask," he said.

"Julie?" Kevin echoed. "Who the hell is Julie?"

"Oh, now you're gonna pretend like you don't remember her, huh?

"Julie?"

"Da girl you had a cutesy little crush on!"

Kevin paused, before sighing and rolling his eyes towards the sky.

"Amy," he corrected Mars.

"Julie, Amy, whatever her name was, you know who I'm talkin' about," Mars sneered.

"Amy," Kevin repeated. "Amy was at our match yesterday, I'll have you know. But she's no threat to either of us. She's just another stupid fangirl."

"Oh yeah? I see she kept your mask, Mask."

Kevin touched a hand to his cheek self-consciously, narrowing his eyes at Mars.

"And yet I see that she gave you back your stupid bird headdress…" he muttered.

"Hey listen Mask, if you just came here to insult me, I'ma have to kick your sorry ass back down dat lava pit!" Mars snapped.

"Alright, alright!" Kevin sighed. "I came here to look for…"

Mars took another step closer to Kevin, folding his arms and tilting his head expectantly as he waited for Kevin to continue.

"Well, if I'm being completely honest, I half-expected to find Amy here with my mask," Kevin quietly finished. "Failing that, I rather hoped I might find Edward."

"Eddie ain't here," Mars flatly replied. "And da last I heard, Amy went to your hotel wid your mask, lookin' for you."

"She did?" Kevin echoed, his eyes widening in unabashed interest. "But how did she know where I was staying?"

"She's a crazy fangirl, she's probably been watchin' you all dis time! I bet she followed you when you left here, followed you when you an' Pumpinator an' Dial Bolic took on da Muscle League. Den she followed you when you ran away to wherever it was you got to, den followed you when you was plannin' against me in da Generation Ex Tournament. And den she followed you while you was trainin' wid da android wid no pants. And den she went to all your matches in da Chojin Crown Tournament!"

"I hardly think so! Did you forget that Doomsmane almost killed her? I took her to a hospital when I left here! She had no idea where I went to next, she in intensive care!"

"You went to fight Kid Muscle and his friends next, you idiot! It was on international television, everybody saw you!"

"Yes, alright, but really Mars, give the girl some credit! She was never a complete fool!"

"You would say dat, you always had da hots for her."

"I did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Mars, how old are we? This is ridiculous! No-one would know that we were the two finalists of the Chojin Crown if they could hear us now! This is so childish!"

"Did too."

"I bloody well did not!"

"Den why's your face goin' red, huh?"

Kevin quickly turned his back on Mars, loudly drawing in a deep breath of the cold night air through his nostrils.

"Kevvy likes Amy!" Mars sang quietly behind him.

"Do you know," Kevin began, turning back to face Mars, waving one finger in the air. "I have travelled the world, I had Edward Mask as a younger brother, I was stalked by that Amy girl, I have worked with Kid Muscle, Terry Kenyon, Wally Tusket, Dik Dik Van Dik and Jaeger, I have had to tolerate screaming, incoherent fans, I have had to put up with Roxanne, Trixie and Kiki, but I can honestly say, with my hand on my heart, that you, Mars, are the single most irritating bastard that I have ever had the misfortune to be associated with!"

"I missed you too, Kev," Mars replied, cocking a smirk at Kevin.

"I've had enough of this crap," Kevin grumbled.

"Hey, all I was askin' for was a little appreciation," Mars reminded him. "You ain't never thanked me once."

"Perhaps because we always end up falling into ridiculous arguments about ludicrous matters! Kind of like what just happened just now!"

"All I wanted was for you to say thank you."

"And all I wanted was for you to admit that you have never done anything out of the goodness of your heart, you bird-faced arsehole!"

"You see dis is why we always argue. You start it. Every time. Always wid da insults. You got da social grace of a gorilla wid his finger up his ass."

"Good God, look at us. You're right. I am thankful for what you've done. And likewise I'm sure you know the true motivations behind your actions. Both of us are guilty of over-complicating matters, and both of us are too proud to admit when we're wrong. Whatever happened to a handshake, eh?"

Mars smiled, taking another step towards Kevin and extending a hand towards him. Kevin searched Mars's eyes suspiciously for a moment before taking a step forwards and reaching out to take his hand. At the last possible moment, Mars tugged his hand out of Kevin's reach, spinning on his heel and turning his back on Kevin.

"Just get outta here," he muttered.

Kevin blinked several times in confusion, his hand still hovering where Mars's had been. As he watched Mars kick a small pebble into the fire he had built, Kevin slowly began to regain his senses once more. As Mars leaned down to retrieve his stick, holding it over the fire once more, Kevin sighed to himself.

"Before I do go Mars, there is just one other thing I have to ask you," he began, lowering his hand to his side.

"No," Mars stubbornly replied without turning round.

"You can't answer a question I haven't even asked yet, Mars," Kevin pointed out.

"I'm tellin' ya, whatever it is, da answer is no," Mars firmly replied. "I'm not interested."

"It's about Edward."

Mars stiffened, turning his head to one side to watch Kevin over his shoulder from the corner of one eye.

"I'm listenin'," he said.

"Well, as you know, Edward was always very…" Kevin began, waving his hands in front of himself as he tried to think of a suitable word to describe his brother.

"Disturbed?" Mars offered.

"In love with you," Kevin said.

"Da feelin' was never mutual, trust me."

"Well good. And you never…"

"Never what?"

"Well, you know..."

"No. Da only time I ever did anything like dat was dat time he made me kiss him and you walked in on us."

"Alright. Thank you Mars. And I'm sorry I doubted you on that one."

"Dat's alright. I can forgive you if you can thank me for savin' you all dose times."

"Right."

Mars lifted the stick from the fire, plucking the meat from the end of it. He opened his mouth to eat it, pausing as he caught Kevin watching him with wide eyes.

"You want some?" he offered Kevin.

"No thank you, " Kevin replied, waving a hand at him dismissively. "I haven't been able to keep anything down since our match yesterday. I think I must have eaten something beforehand that disagreed with me. Probably one of that android's protein drinks."

"Or maybe da Skull of Mystery?" Mars asked, before biting into his meal.

"Ah," Kevin said slowly, touching a hand to his stomach. "That might explain a few things. Like why I've been vomiting blood, for a start…"

Mars nodded as he finished off his food, turning his back on Kevin again and tossing his stick into his cave.

"Heh. Whatever happened to a handshake, huh?" he muttered.

"That's a bloody good question," Kevin quietly replied.

Kevin raised his hand again, holding it out towards Mars's back. Mars looked down at Kevin's hand and then up at Kevin himself before turning to face him again.

"I forgive you for doubtin' me," he conceded, clapping his hand against Kevin's.

"Thank you," Kevin replied, gripping onto Mars's hand. "For everything."

"Good luck wid bein' champion, yeah?" Mars added.

"Yes," Kevin sighed. "I rather suspect I'll need it. And good luck with whatever it is that you decide to do next."

"And hey if I don't see ya again in dis life, I'll see ya in da next one, yeah?"

Kevin nodded his head, before releasing Mars's hand. Kevin took a step back from Mars, looking around himself thoughtfully.

"Dat way," Mars offered, pointing over Kevin's shoulder.

"Ah," Kevin said, nodding his head as he looked in the direction Mars was pointing. "But I left my bike down that side," he added, pointing down the hill.

"Den I guess you got a long walk back," Mars plainly replied.

Kevin watched Mars walk back over to the entrance to his old cave and sit down facing the small fire he had built, crossing his legs in front of himself. When Mars failed to look his way again, Kevin slowly nodded his head, backing away from Mars.

"Goodbye, Mars," he said, holding up one hand.

"Goodbye, Kevin," Mars replied, his eyes still fixed on the fire.

"Goodbye," Kevin whispered as he continued to back away.

When Mars still did not look up, Kevin turned around and began to stride around and down the hill, avoiding the long lava-filled ravine. Walking around it to get back down to his bike would make his journey much longer, but at least it was the safe option.

"Goodbye Mars," Kevin muttered to himself as the ground beneath his feet steadily became more solid and dependable. "Goodbye, my friend."

Next Chapter: Kevin Mask goes to the Chojin Crown celebration ball, where he is forced to confront the Muscle League, the McMadds and even his own father. After reflecting on his past, Kevin makes a decision about his future. Chapter 37 – Birds of a Feather.