Recap: Mars saved Kevin's life (again) and after discussing their pasts, presents and futures, Kevin decided to go back to the IWF and Mars decided to stay at the old DMP headquarters.

Chapter 37 – Birds of a Feather

Kevin Mask cautiously pushed one of the double doors open, peering through it at what lay beyond. The hall was as brightly lit and as gaudily decorated as it had been for the pointless dance and buffet sessions the McMadds had held between every round of the Generation Ex Tournament three years previously, the only apparent difference being that this ball was hosting far more guests, and only wrestlers seemed to be present.

Kevin pushed the door fully open, taking one step through it. He quickly surveyed the room again, passing, but soon returning to, a group of three men standing by the punch bowl at the end of one table. Even from his position some distance from the three figures, Kevin could quite clearly make out who they all were. Then again, it was not really difficult to recognise the lurid turquoise tuxedo of Kid Muscle, the checked shirt and leather waistcoat of Terry Kenyon or the cumbersome green helmet of Jaeger.

Kevin began to curl his lip in disgust, but quickly stopped himself for two important reasons: first of all, he had yet to retrieve his mask, and without it, everyone could see what sort of expression he wore, a concept he was going to take some getting used to, and secondly, and perhaps most importantly of all, Kid Muscle, Terry Kenyon and Jaeger were now officially his team mates. Kevin was going to have to learn to get along with them whether he liked it or not.

Kevin cleared his throat nervously, stepping fully into the room. A chunk of hair fell from the band Kevin had used to tie it back at the back of his neck, falling forward and covering part of one eye. Kevin quickly tucked the hair behind his ear, glancing around himself as though he expected to be reprimanded for his actions; but no-one in the room appeared to have so much as noticed his arrival yet.

As the star of the ball, as the new Chojin Crown Champion, Kevin knew that he was effectively the guest of honour, and a part of him expected to be treated as such; but an even bigger part of Kevin was screaming at him to just turn around, run out of the hall, jump onto his motorbike and get as far away from the hall, the Muscle League and the IWF as was humanly possible.

Clearing his throat again, Kevin tugged at his tuxedo jacket, straightening his back and lifting his chin upwards. He was the Chojin Crown Champion now and it was time he started acting like one. Kevin began to march boldly across the hall only to stumble to a halt as three girls half his size wandered across his path.

"Hey check it out, girls! It's Nick Hasler!"

"Damn, I don't have a pen! Do you girls think he might give me his autograph with my eyeliner pencil instead?"

"Trixie, Roxanne, leave it out! And Kevin, go put your mask back on! You're scaring the children!"

Trixie clapped a hand over her mouth, but her giggles were still easily audible. Roxanne gasped, her jaw dropping as she stared at Kiki in shock at her last remark.

"Good evening to you too, ladies," Kevin dryly replied. "And if you really must know, Kiki, I would love to put my mask back on, only someone stole it from me."

"Yeah, Jacqueline McMadd!" Trixie said, shaking her head. "And let's face it, she's got more need to cover that ugly mug than you do!"

"Jacqueline McMadd?" Kevin echoed, frowning in confusion.

"Julie left your mask outside your hotel room, but you'd already left by the time she got there," Kiki explained. "Jacqueline McMadd went there to look for you, and she found your mask."

"And she's been carrying it around with her ever since," Trixie added.

"Maybe because she totally wants Kevin now that he's the new champion," Roxanne sarcastically replied.

"Julie?" Kevin said slowly. "You mean Amy?"

"No, I mean Julie!" Kiki snapped. "She's the girl with the scars on her face!"

"Yes," Kevin replied, nodding his head. "Her name is Amy."

"But Mars said her name was Julie."

"No, her name was Amy."

Kiki pursed her lips at Kevin's short reply, eying him over thoughtfully before locking eyes with him again and grinning up at him maliciously.

"Whatever her name was, she totally hated you, Kevin!" she sneered.

"Well good, because I hate her too!" Kevin casually replied. "In fact, I hate her almost as much as I hate you."

"Yeah, whatever!" Kiki snorted.

"Excuse me," Kevin said, stepping past Kiki.

"What a jerk," Kiki grumbled as she watched Kevin walk away.

"Who cares about Kevin Mask anyway?" Roxanne said, shrugging her shoulders.

Kevin, who had still been close enough to the girls to hear Roxanne's last remark, found himself placing more significance on her words than perhaps even Roxanne herself had intended. After all, he thought to himself, who did care about him?

"120 million wrestling fans worldwide!" Ikeman wailed, stepping into Kevin's path and halting his advance.

"What?" Kevin echoed, frowning down at the IWF chairman.

"130 million wrestling fans worldwide saw you dispose of your title like it was common household garbage!" Ikeman continued, shaking the Chojin Crown Championship Belt in front of Kevin's face.

"Oh that old thing!" Kevin casually replied, taking the belt from Ikeman. "I wondered where that had gotten to."

"You wondered where it had gotten to?" Ikeman echoed. "You dropped into a garbage can, Kevin Mask! And you were seen by 140 million wrestling fans worldwide!"

Kevin paused, frowning to himself. He was beginning to sense that Ikeman was even more upset by his treatment of the championship belt than he had at first thought, since it appeared that the chairman was getting a little confused with his numbers.

"I disposed of this belt in the backstage area," Kevin slowly said. "There were no cameras. How could anyone have possibly seen what I did?"

"Because there was a camera crew backstage waiting to interview the winner of the match!" Ikeman replied. "And they caught you on camera! On live television, no less! And it was broadcast to 150 million wrestling fans!"

"Worldwide?"

"No, that was just in this country! There were probably ten times that many fans watching worldwide!"

"Ten times that many?"

"Worldwide!"

"1500 million fans? One and a half billion people?"

"And they all saw what you did!"

Kevin pulled a sceptical face at Ikeman, no longer caring that his expressions were exposed for all to see.

"Do me a favour, McMadd," Kevin sighed, unbuttoning his tuxedo jacket and pulling the championship belt around his waist.

"What?" Ikeman asked, watching as Kevin fastened the belt in place and then lowered his jacket over it, leaving the jacket open at the front to show the gold plate to all.

"Piss off," Kevin said bluntly, before marching onwards, past the IWF chairman.

Ikeman watched Kevin go, his jaw hanging open in shock.

"You can't talk to me like that!" he shouted after Kevin.

"I just did," Kevin called back over his shoulder.

Ikeman gasped in horror.

"What a vile man!" he hissed.

But Kevin did not hear Ikeman's last remark, as he was already out of earshot, closing the gap between himself and the Muscle Leaguers by the punch bowl with every long stride he took.

"Kevin."

Kevin jerked to a halt, taking one step back in shock at the sight of the man standing in his path.

"Father?"

Robin Mask sighed, his eyes lowering to the belt around Kevin's waist.

"Congratulationsh, shon," he said, raising his eyes to Kevin's again.

"Thank you," Kevin tightly replied. "And…?"

Kevin cleared his throat expectantly, but quickly regretted the action, as something scratched at his throat, bringing with it an overwhelming desire to wretch.

"You don't look too happy, Kevin," Robin said, catching the twisted expression on his son's face.

"Well, I seem to recall that you made me a promise, Sir," Kevin replied, nipping at his throat with his fingers as he tried to get relief from the scratching, burning sensation that had taken up residence there.

"You mean the keysh to the Mashk Family Eshtate?" Robin asked.

"That's exactly what I mean," Kevin confirmed. "You did promise them to me. Unless of course that was just another one of your crappy false promises that you intend to break."

Robin silently reached one hand into the pocket of his suit jacket, pulling out a bundle of keys.

"I am a man of my word, Kevin," he said coldly, dangling the keys in front of Kevin's face. "I am a man of honour."

Kevin reached a hand out towards the keys, pausing as his father's words began to take on a hidden meaning inside his mind. He shifted his eyes to the burning red eyes of his father, glowing out from beneath the shadow of his mask.

"Are you implying that I am not a man of honour?" he asked.

"Not at all," Robin monotonously replied.

Kevin slowly closed his hand around the keys to the Mask Family Estate, which his father then obligingly released.

"You've never forgiven me for joining the DMP, have you?" Kevin asked as he slowly lowered his hand to his side.

"I never shaid that," Robin replied.

"You didn't answer my question," Kevin pointed out.

"I don't really think that I need to anshwer your question."

"Of course not. But do you know, maybe, just maybe, if you had been a better father to me, I would never have run away from home in the first place. And I would never have joined the DMP. I would have been at home to receive my invitation to join the Hercules Factory training programme just like all the other new generation Muscle Leaguers, and I would have followed the path of a Justice Chojin from the very start!"

"We can't change the pasht."

"No, and apparently we can't change ourselves, either. You have just proven to me yet again that you are a useless father. Rather than offer to train me for the Chojin Crown yourself, rather than try to instil the Mask family values into your eldest son, you chose to programme your pet robot to do it for you. And not only that, you had the nerve to make that thing pretend to be my friend! And you told it to tell me to make friends with that group of idiots!"

Kevin thrust a pointed finger in the direction of Checkmate, Wally and Dik Dik Van Dik, who were all playing a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, with Checkmate and Wally laughing every time that Dik Dik lost. Robin looked over his shoulder at the trio, before turning back to Kevin.

"Well, you have what you alwaysh wanted now, Kevin," Robin said. "You have your Chojin Crown championship, you have the family eshtate and you have your freedom."

Robin walked on, passing Kevin, who turned to watch him leave in shock.

"What?" he called after his father. "Is that all you have to say to me? After all these years, that's it, is it?"

Robin stopped, turning back to face Kevin.

"No, you're right, there ish jusht one more thing I have to shay to you, Kevin," Robin called back to him.

"Oh yeah?" Kevin asked, planting his hands on his hips with an air of nonchalance.

"Yeah," Robin replied. "Be a good boy and put your mashk back on, you're shcaring the children."

Kevin's jaw dropped open, but Robin merely turned his back on his son and marched onwards, across the hall away from Kevin.

"What the…?" Kevin muttered, touching a hand to his cheek self-consciously.

Kevin growled in frustration, but his growl quickly turned into a short choking spell as something scraped at his throat, temporarily restricting his airways. Kevin quickly recovered himself and continued on his way towards Kid Muscle, Terry Kenyon and Jaeger, but again he was stopped on his journey.

"Kevin Mask!" Dik Dik greeted him, stepping into his path. "You may have beaten me in that stupid round of "Ha, made you look!" but I'd like to see you beat me in a real wrestling match!"

Dik Dik lifted his fists up in front of his face, pretending to challenge Kevin to a boxing match.

"You'll excuse me, but I'm not really in the mood to go ten rounds in the ring with a man who looks like Bambi's stunt double," Kevin dryly replied.

"You know Kevin, that really wasn't a very nice thing to say!" Wally protested. "It's no wonder you don't have any friends!"

"And it's a wonder that you do, you lard-arsed, hairy-faced, fish-smelling bastard," Kevin retorted.

"I fear Wally hath spoken the truth, Kevin Mask," Checkmate argued. "For I should not be as fastidious as thou art for a kingdom!"

Kevin slowly eyed Checkmate over, his top lip curling in disgust.

"Well maybe you should consider it," he spat. "You know, when you were in the DMP, you were alright. But look at you now! You're nothing but a loser! You didn't even make it past the Three Feet Heat! And all because of the company you keep…"

"What Checkmate did in the Three Feet Heat was the honourable thing to do!" Wally pointed out.

"Oh shut up, you fat bastard," Kevin sneered.

"You're not much fun at a party, are you Kevin?" Dik Dik asked.

"I didn't come here to have fun," Kevin snapped. "Now if you will all excuse me, I have some very important business to take of."

Kevin pushed his way between Checkmate and Wally, marching onwards. He sighed quietly to himself as he went relieved that, at last, he could reach his goal in peace.

"There you are Kevin, you sly devil, you!"

"Oh God…" Kevin groaned, slowing to a halt as he sighted Jacqueline McMadd standing by the punch bowl.

Kevin forced a tight-lipped smile as he slowly made his way over to Jacqueline, stopping by her side. Kevin glanced across the table at the trio standing at the other side, silently hoping that whatever Jacqueline had to say to him was briefer than his last few confrontations had been.

"I am so glad that that horrible Lord Flash has finally gone," Jacqueline sighed. "Because now I can have you all to myself."

Jacqueline placed both hands on Kevin's chest, moving them outwards, pulling his jacket with them.

"What the devil do you think you're doing, woman?" Kevin yelped, grabbing her wrists to stop her from removing his jacket entirely.

"Oh Kevin, stop toying with me!" Jacqueline moaned. "I've been such a good girl, I waited so patiently for you all the way through the Chojin Crown Tournament, don't deny me any longer."

Kevin turned his head sharply at the sound of stifled giggles, finding Kid, Terry and Jaeger watching him with smirks of amusement. As Kevin turned back to Jacqueline again, the trio burst out laughing. Kevin opened his mouth to yell at them, but failed to make a sound as another spasm of pain shot through his throat and he suddenly found Jacqueline's hand in a place he was sure he could sue her for putting it.

"Mm, big boy!" Jacqueline said as she gripped her fingers into Kevin.

"Get off of me, you crazy, mad bitch!" Kevin screamed, grabbing her shoulders and shoving her back.

The room fell silent, even the music died away, as Jacqueline McMadd stumbled backwards into the table, one of her heels catching on the tablecloth. Jacqueline began to fall backwards, and Kevin quickly reached out towards her in an attempt to catch her. As she fell, Jacqueline's elbow caught on the punch bowl, flipping it over in the air. Kevin lunged towards Jacqueline but was too late to stop her from falling hard to the floor; although he did manage to catch the punch bowl over his head.

Kevin Mask blinked as the punch stung his eyes, slowly reaching one hand up to lift the glass bowl up off his face. Peering out from under the rim of the punch bowl, Kevin could see that he still held the attention of every other member of the room. Clearing his throat nervously, Kevin lifted the bowl completely off his head, carefully replacing it to the table. He held out a hand towards Jacqueline, but Kid Muscle quickly leapt over the table, helping Jacqueline up himself. He scowled at Kevin, shoving the heel of one hand into Kevin's chest to shove him back.

The force of Kid's blow caused Kevin to wretch as he stumbled backwards, shuddering as something hard and jagged shot up his throat and out of his mouth.

"Ze Skull of Mystery!" Jaeger cheered as he caught the mucus-coated projectile from Kevin's throat.

Kevin groaned, touching his fingers warily to his lips. As he drew back his hand, Kevin frowned down at his fingertips, suppressing another groan as he saw traces of blood and saliva smeared over his fingers.

"Reckon you oughta leave now, Kevin Mask," Terry Kenyon said.

"What?" Kevin echoed, turning to Terry with a questioning frown.

"Yeah Kevin, no-one wants you here," Kid added. "You just piss people off."

Kevin turned to Kid, glaring at him indignantly.

"An' physically attackin' a woman is about as low as a Chojin wrestler can get," Meat added as he joined Kid by the now empty punch bowl.

"I didn't physically attack her!" Kevin argued back.

"Oh no?" Terry asked.

Kevin turned to Jacqueline, who turned her head haughtily from him, smoothing her hands over her cerise hair.

"Well, I mean…" Kevin stammered. "That is to say that… I merely… Oh come on, it was clearly an act of self-defence! Anyone can see that the bloody woman is ruthless!"

"You heartless bastard!" Kid cursed Kevin.

"What?" Kevin yelped.

"I think maybe you should leave now, Kevin," Vance McMadd said as he joined the group. "And don't come back until you've learned how to behave like a true Muscle Leaguer, ya hear?"

"But–"

"Just get out of my sight, Kevin Mask!" Jacqueline shrieked.

Kevin slowly looked around the irate faces staring at him.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," he submitted, holding up both hands in defeat. "I never wanted to come here in the first place…"

Kevin turned away from the group and headed back towards the door. As he passed the trio of Roxanne, Trixie and Kiki, Roxanne added one final insult.

"So why did you come here in the first place, jackass?" she muttered.

Kevin ignored her remark, walking slowly across the hall, wiping the droplets of punch from his face as he went. As much as he had been dreading going to the Chojin Crown ball, he had never imagined that it would be quite as bad as it had been. In many ways, Kevin was relieved that he had been banished from the whole affair, as it was a perfect excuse to escape.

Once he was safely outside Kevin slowed his pace, letting out a long sigh. He massaged a hand at his throat, swallowing hard as he came to the conclusion that the Skull of Mystery must have scratched his throat raw. Stopping and closing his eyes, Kevin began to come to the conclusion that the past two days had officially been the worst in his life. He suddenly found himself wishing for his mask back, if only for the security he felt when he was able to hide his true expressions behind it.

"Hey, you ignorant jerk, you forgot this!" Jacqueline McMadd yelled from the doorway of the dance hall.

Kevin turned around, lifting up his hands in time to catch his mask awkwardly at his chest. He watched Jacqueline make a series of rude hand gestures at him before slipping back into the hall and slamming the door shut.

Kevin slowly looked down at the mask in his hands, turning it over to look to study it more closely. As he moved his eyes over the telltale dents and scratches on the surface of his trusty iron mask, an idea began to formulate in Kevin's mind.

Kevin hated Jacqueline McMadd. He hated Ikeman McMadd, and he even hated Vance McMadd. He hated Kid Muscle, he hated Terry Kenyon, he hated Wally Tusket, he hated Dik Dik Van Dik, he hated Jaeger and he even hated his one-time DMP ally, Checkmate. He hated Meat, he hated Marie, he hated Roxanne, he hated Trixie and he especially hated Kiki. Kevin hated his father and he hated Warsman. Kevin loved being alone, but something had changed, and the idea of being alone no longer held the same appeal to him that it once had.

For the first time in his life, Kevin wanted to have a friend.

Kevin envied the Justice Chojins of the Muscle League, who were always spurred on to victory by the support of their friends; by their clichéd "power of friendship". None of the other new generation Muscle Leaguers were Chojin Crown Champions, but none of the other new generation Muscle Leaguers felt as miserable as Kevin did at that moment in time. As long as they had the support of their friends, it did not matter whether they won or lost.

"Bastards," Kevin grumbled, pushing his mask onto his face and securing it into place.

Kevin had never trusted anyone in his life, he had never truly enjoyed the company of any other person, and he had always enjoyed being alone.

But, Kevin thought to himself, that was not strictly true.

Whilst on the outside, Kevin rarely betrayed his true feelings about others, he had allowed some to get closer to him than he had ever thought possible. He had trusted Lord Flash, and had accepted him as a friend. Of course, Lord Flash had turned out to be a lying robot programmed to like Kevin regardless of who he was or what he did, but the old android had at least taught Kevin that he could forge friendships with others.

Kevin clenched his fists at his sides, turning his head up towards the sky. As he scanned over the countless stars littering the night sky, Kevin remembered that he had actually shared a friendship with one other person. A real person. Someone he had trusted once, someone he had been able to laugh with like Kid Muscle did with his friends. As much as it pained Kevin to admit it, this someone brought out the best in him, by always challenging his abilities in every way. Kevin always learnt something new from his old friend.

And Kevin missed him.

It was like his old friend had once said to him: "you and me Kev are birds of a feather; and birds of a feather, they flock together."

With that thought in mind, Kevin turned towards the dance hall, drawing in a deep breath. It would be worth facing those within the hall just one more time if Kevin could just achieve one final thing. Walking confidently up to the doors, Kevin pushed them open and entered the dance hall, ignoring the disgusted looks he got from those within as they gradually spotted his entrance.

Kevin headed straight towards Ikeman McMadd, glad that at least this time he made it to his goal unhindered.

"McMadd, we need to talk," Kevin said firmly.

Ikeman stood up from his seat, facing Kevin expectantly.

"It's about Mars," Kevin added.

"Did you hear that?" Trixie hissed, elbowing Terry in the ribs.

"Did Kevin Mask just say something about Mars?" Roxanne asked, huddling closer to Trixie and Terry.

"Mars?" Kid wailed, leaning closer to the group.

"Ikeman said that Mars could join the IWF if Kevin let him, remember!" Kiki gasped.

"Do you guys think ol' Kevin had a change of heart?" Trixie asked.

"I reckon there's only one way to find out!" Terry replied. "We gotta get ourselves some disguises an' go undercover so's we can follow those guys!"

"Again?" Kid groaned.

"But what sort of disguises would we need?" Trixie asked.

Terry beckoned for the gang to huddle closer, and so all five formed a tight circle.

"We could go as wrestlers from the DMP!" Kid suggested.

"Too stupid," Terry replied.

"How about we just wear long coats and dark glasses like we usually do?" Trixie offered.

"Nah," Terry responded. "Too obvious at this time o' night."

"That's never stopped us doing it before…" Trixie grumbled under her breath.

"We could dress as security staff!" Roxanne suggested.

"Too complicated," Terry replied.

"What's so complicated about dressing up as security staff?" Roxanne muttered.

"Why don't we just follow Kevin at a safe distance?" Kiki suggested.

"That could work…" Terry said thoughtfully.

"Well, not really," Trixie said, folding her arms.

"Why not?" Terry asked her.

"Because Kevin Mask has already gone, and he's taken his motorbike, so he'll have gotten a pretty good head-start," Trixie replied.

"Oh," Terry said in a deflated tone.

The others all looked around each other apprehensively in the short silence that followed.

"I got ze Skull of Mystery back!" Jaeger sang as he skipped past them.

"Someone shoot him," Roxanne growled.

Next Chapter: Kevin goes on a mission to find Mars and convince him to return to the IWF as a member of the Muscle League. But can Kevin Mask really persuade bad boy Mars to conform and become one of the good guys? Chapter 38 – Babyface.