Requiem for the Wrestling Few

By Son Rhandi

Chapter 11: 'The Sorrowful Final Fight'

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Muscle League was in one hell of a fix. Two of the remaining three New Gens were hospitalized, leaving only the yellow-bellied muscle prince to represent. Gen-EX was there, too, roughed up but able-bodied enough to be of use. Gazelle Man, that free agent, was right beside, so altogether, they had five, five to protect Japan……

Tamerlion was one crazy fuck, and that was really the only term that fit. With his threat on the entire island nation prevalent in their minds, the plan to defend against the feral feline came into fruition. But… how could they plan to defend against him when they knew nothing of what he was capable of?

Minotoro and Huskitooth were dead, so there was no one left to tell them anything. As far as Gazelle Man knew, all Animus grads were capable of transforming. Would Tamerlion become a monstrous giant as Minotoro had? Or would his speed and agility multiply as did Huskitooth's?

"Damn! This is a fix. This is a reeeeal fix…" Crione Man shook his head. "How is it that we got sucked into this mess, anyway?"

"That's not what we should be thinking about right now," said Jade, his head sans helmet. "Even though we're from different classes, it's our duty to protect Earth."

"I don't see much we can do right now," a downcast Mantaro piped up. "The ball's in Tamerlion's court. We can't play defense until he puts up his offense…"

"Maybe we can……"

The others turned to Gazelle Man. "We could attack him at the ship. That way, he won't be expecting us..!"

"I don't know…" A doubtful Dead Signal stroked the bottom corner of his yield sign. "A raid sounds mighty risky. Besides, that's not how wrestlers should operate."

The gazelle shrugged. "Desperate times, Signal. The rules have to be bent somewhere. Would you risk all of Japan for a match in the ring?" Gazelle ran a finger over his split ear. "While we sit, he could already be preparing to get back at us!"

"Get back at you," Crione pointed the finger. "As far as any of us know, this is only happening because of your poor judgment..!"

Gazelle Man lowered his head. "Maybe… Maybe it is…" He turned back to yesterday, envisioning Huskitooth's final moments, Seiuchin writhing in pain… "But… none of that matters now!" The buck continued. "As long as he's here, Muscle League, Japan, all the Earth is in danger! Even if I'm killed, do you think an unstable man who so despises humankind would stop there? I just wish…" he clenched his fists. "…someone was still around to tell us something!" Gazelle turned to the Muscle Prince. "Mantaro, you're the top-ranking wrestler here on Earth. What do you think we should do?"

"Y-Y-Your asking me?! Well…… If you think for sure that we can catch him off guard, I say go for it…"

The crimson stag nodded. "Alright. Is everyone for this?"

Crione Man scoffed. "Not as if we have much of a choice, anyway, but what can we do? Gen-EXers?" Jade and Dead Signal concurred. "With any luck, we can resolve this quickly. A swift, hard-hitting war…"

"Ja! A blitzkrieg!" Jade cheered, socking a fist into his open palm. "When do we strike?"

"We leave immediately," Gazelle Man fielded the question, slipping on his gauntlet. "If he's anything like the lions here on Earth, he's not very active during the day. Personally, I'd prefer it we go at night; we'd have better cover. But that would act as a double-edged sword. He'd have the same cover once out in the open. I'm going to check with Terry and Seiuchin a final time before we roll out. You all meet me at the uptown train station and have 5 tickets to the Hiroshima area ready."

"Hiroshima? But I thought the ship was at the base of Mt. Fuji..?"

Gazelle Man shook his head. "Tamerlion moved the ship while I was there for those ten days. You'll need to take one of the uptown trains to get out to the new location. Wait for me there and we'll head out together."

"Alright. You brief Terry and the rest and we'll get going."

So the plan was set: a lightning war against the lion from space. Of course, if Tamerlion had relocated in that time frame, someone would have noticed. He didn't want to lie, but this was his fight. He had to get revenge for Seiuchin and Huskitooth, and even Minotoro… Tamerlion made him ashamed to even call himself a Dôbutsu Chôjin. No, how dare that feral cat call himself a Dôbutsu Chôjin, he who had the attitude of those of New Generation dMp--Akugyô Chôjin!

He wasn't Muscle League any more, no longer tied back by obligations to uphold peace or fight fairly. No, this wouldn't be a formal bout, but a death match…

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"This isn't fair… I can't go home……" He sniffled. "Superintendent Rhino will kill me if I show up empty handed… But even if I had Gazelle and Seiuchin, I'd be punished for offing Minotoro and Huskitooth… I'm sick of this planet…" Tamerlion buried his face in his paws, cursing Minotoro for gouging out his right eye and Gazelle Man for his two front teeth. "I'm so ugly now… I want to die………….. Hee hee hee…… There's that stench again..! Dirty humans stinking up the entire world..!" He began to laugh maniacally.

The dejected lion moved to the front of the ship, actually ripping the auto port from its grooves before it had a chance to open, and gave a fearsome roar.

"MUSCLE LEAGUE!!! COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!!!"

He continued his roaring, which echoed for miles. Only when his ears picked up a ripping did he cease. Looking down, he discovered his shirt and overcoat had split at the seams, the both of which now floating around his waist in fabric shrapnel. Tamerlion felt his face, no longer flat like a human's but full and stuck out with a muzzle, like the lion's. The addition of a tail thrashing about also nabbed his attention. In his inferno, he had involuntarily transformed.

"I'm getting worse… Can't even control my body anymore…" His left ear shifted, a sound behind him, the rustling of grass…

"Tamerlion…" The buck was taken aback a bit by the change in his appearance. Was this truly Tamerlion..?

"Gazelle, I'm glad to see you."

"I'll bet," he spat, thrusting his hand into his gauntlet. "Prepare yourself."

Gazelle Man took off like a shot, rushing to that mono-eyed lion, who stood there as if oblivious to what was taking place. Stopping about three feet from him, the gazelle shot high up in the air, then keeping his legs together, rotated his body through the atmosphere, his sights set on Tamerlion.

"Savanna Heat!"

Tamerlion side-stepped the attack, the only injury sustained being a grazed right ear. Gazelle Man readied himself again, this time attempting to make a quick strike from the back. This would have proven to be successful, had the cat allowed him to pass once again. Going for another side-step, Gazelle Man flew right past him, and with perfect timing, clutched onto the stag's leg with one massive paw and swung him over his head, smashing him into Gamera's side. The young buck fell to the grass, groaning a bit but looking fine, otherwise.

"Now we're even," said Tamerlion, lurking over him. "An ear for an ear. Care to continue? If so, you better make sure you kill me, because once you get up, I'm not gonna stop."

Gazelle Man lifted himself to his feet, fists in front of his chest in the combat-ready position. "Okay, then," the lion shrugged. "As a bit of fair warning, what you see in front of you is a result of heart reflection, but that certainly isn't all I'm capable of. I can slip in and out of all my other transformations--five, including the standard--at will, and without going back to standard form to do so. Ready?"

Tamerlion crossed his arms in front of himself, growling, then unleashed a deafening roar. The force of its wind pushed Gazelle Man back, then swept him off his feet, leaving him to tumble in the grass. When the stag recovered, he gasped, seeing that Tamerlion was no longer a cat which walked upright, but one on all fours--an actual lion!--and was coming at him full speed. The crimson stag rolled out of his path in the knick of time, leaving the lion's claw to connect with grass and dirt in his place. Gazelle, now on his fours to match the lion, discarded his gauntlet and came at him head-on, leaping over that mouthful of fangs and landing on his back, grabbing two fistfuls of fur and having no intention of letting go.

Well, that old lion bucked and ran about like a wild horse getting broke to a rider, snarling and roaring and cursing the crimson stag. Perhaps if he, that is, Gazelle Man, could tire him out a bit, he'd have an easier time of defeating him..? "Whatever you're up to, Gazelle, it won't work!!"

Tamerlion ceased his struggling and threw his head skyward, groaning. Gazelle Man furrowed his brow in question, then gasped as the lion's shoulders began erupting into towers…? No, wings! The stag discovered as the 'towers' unfurled to show themselves as open wings. Tamerlion took to the air, the gazelle clinging to the ends of his mane for dear life, taking a steep aerial climb upward, then tumbling jackknifed back to the earth. The Gs too much for him, Gazelle Man lost his grip, being thrown back to solid landmass. The stag cried out, landing on his right arm with a sickening 'crunch'. But there was no time for him to focus on that. The winged monster was coming in for another pass at him. Getting to his feet as quickly as he could, Gazelle scurried away in enough time to avoid being under the lion's foot.

The earth shook with the beast's landing, violently enough to knock the buck off his feet, causing him to land face flat in the grass. His right shoulder was messed up, he knew. He'd have to be careful about getting up. Lifting himself on his left arm, he flopped on his back, then rocked to obtain the leverage to sit up. Success. He barely had time to get to his feet when he spotted Tamerlion returning with relentless force, back in his standard form and closing in fast. In an echo of Savanna Heat, the whisker-bearing fiend leapt to the sky, but instead of launching himself to his target, as Gazelle Man did, he threw his arms up and--if the buck's eyes weren't playing tricks--sprouted two new pairs of arms.

"Ashura..?" In a mimic of the old legend, Tamerlion generated a second and third pair of upper appendages, sort of an Ashura Man-lion, if you will. Still in the air, the feral feline stuck all six arms out and spun his body round and round with unprecedented speed, coming to Gazelle like a airplane about to crash. Scrambling to his feet, the stag tried to get away, but it was no use. He was knocked skyward by the blow, to which Tamerlion stopped himself and came to grips with the gazelle, clutching onto his leg. The lion then flipped forward, the blood-red buck still in his grasp, and slammed his body to the ground.

Gazelle sputtered up a bit of blood, the sanguine mess flowing freely from his nose and lips. Tamerlion turned him over with his foot so that he lay on his back. "You disappoint me, Gazelle Man," the lion breathed. You told me when I let you out that day that you would kill me. But now, it looks like it'll be the other way around…"

There had to be someway for him… Someway to get out of this..! Gazelle Man looked around, a rock, a stick… A glint of light caught the corner of his eye. The stag turned his head and got a glimpse of his gauntlet in the grass, but just out of his reach..! If only he could…

Tamerlion knelt on Gazelle Man's abdomen, eliciting a little grunt from the knocked-about buck but not much else. He morphed back into his original form, the extra arms pulling back into his body. "This is for knocking out my two front teeth!" He extended his fore and middle fingers, morphing them into the sabre-teeth that took Huskitooth's life.

Not much time. He gathered up a handful of dirt in his hand…

"Goodbye, Gazelle Man!!"

"Never!" Gazelle Man threw a clod of dirt into the lion's remaining eye. Tamerlion bolted up and snarled, rubbing his eye furiously. With him distracted, the crimson stag dove for his weapon and shoved his hand in, then tackled Tamerlion, sending the weapon into his chest without a second thought.

Tamerlion gave a sickening little choke, his hot blood staining his fur, his good eye polluted with soil. "…Heh… Ha ha ha…. I didn't think you had it in you. That was low…"

"Shut up!!" Gazelle Man smashed his fist into the lion's face. "You don't have any right to call my actions 'low', not after the horrible things you've done!"

The beast spit out the blood from the stag's blow. "Maybe… Maybe I don't. But what a bit of irony, eh..? The gazelle killing the lion…"

Gazelle Man's ears twitched in confusion. "What are you talking about? I didn't plunge my Antler Fist in deep enough to get your heart…"

"Heh. Didn't you..?"

Tamerlion raised his hand, forming from his two fingers the sabre-teeth and sent them deep into his chest, his heart. Gazelle's eyes widened. "What are you doing?!" He shouted.

"Finishing the job you started," came the cat's reply. "Had you struck with a bit more force, I'd be dead already. This way, I'll bleed more and die quicker. The School won't take well to this at all, you know," Tamerlion continued. "But don't worry. They won't send anyone else here; they don't care that all of us are dead. Animus only cares about bragging rights, anyway. Even though I graduated third in my class, I never had a single match in the circuit. I'm just a disposable commodity…"

"…I don't pity you. You could have been a better man, if you wanted. You're just taking the coward's way out."

Tamerlion chuckled. "I know. But I would have been killed if I returned to space. I was given a direct order not to come back empty-handed, but look! No Seiuchin, no Gazelle Man… I've got nothing else to live for. Guh…" The pain in his chest became more prevalent. "…This is taking too long… Gazelle… kill me."

"What..?!"

"I didn't go in deep enough. Take your fist and give me… a mercy killing…"

"This is ridiculous. I refuse." Gazelle looked him straight in the eye. "You're too great a wrestler to just lay down and die." the stag removed himself from his body and extended his hand in an offer to help him up. "Come on. You can join Muscle League. Harabote will let you, if you show him you're willing to change."

Tamerlion spat in his face. "I'm not asking to be reformed, damn it! I'm asking you to take my life! Do you understand, you stupid antelope?! I should have eaten you when I had the chance! Good-for-nothing piece of meat!"

"Damn you, shut up!!" Before he even realized it, Gazelle Man threw his fist--the one bearing his weapon--and slammed it with all his might into Tamerlion's wound. The cat's body jumped from the pain, then relaxed, succumbing to death.

"Heh. I thought that might get you……" He laughed weakly. "…For the first time in my life, I'm not angry… It feels… good. Thank you…" He lifted his head and gave Gazelle Man a genuine smile, his two front teeth leaving it look awkward. With that, Tamerlion fell dead, ending the crisis that Animus brought to the Earth.

Gazelle Man stood over his body, looking strangely serene considering the circumstance of his death. The blood-red buck looked at that equipped fist, and tossed his weapon aside, disgusted with his actions. The stag plopped on his rump, next to the body of the lion. "I don't really have anywhere to go, either……"

Gazelle looked over his shoulder to Tamerlion's body. "Even though you were a horrible person, you were still alive…. Who gets to decide who should live and who should die, anyway..? It's not the same with animals, with predators. They have to kill in order to live. But we're men, so how can we justify any death that occurs due to violence?"

The stag buried his face in his blood-stained hands. "I really am… just a stupid antelope…… Just an antelope who thinks like a man………"