Rocky IV

by BearFrog

After years of quiet the Soviet Union reformed itself, more opressive and more powerful than ever. With plans of global domination they begin work on creating super soldiers. Their prototype: Ivan Drago, a super boxer. The Cold War ends here.

A Pinnicle-Mazz Production

A BearFrog Fanfic

Darkness. Pure darkness consumes all. Wait! A glimmer of silver has appeared. The whole world watches, as there is nothing else to see, as the silver object floats up. A boxing glove. A lone silver boxing glove, with so much power within it that no one wishes to feel its wrath.

"ARRRGH!!"

"Again! Again!"

Suddenly, the rival to this glove appears. Another silver glove floats in the empty darkness. The glove has as much power as the other. The first glove begins to rotate and reveal itself, showing it's red and white stripes alongside it's white stars engulfed in blue proudly. The other glove shows it colors proudly too. A red background with a yellow symbol, that of a star, a hammer and a sickle. This symbol became weak in the 90s but has come back, and it's powerful.

"He's getting killed out there!"

"No he's not getting killed, he's getting him mad!"

The two gloves charge toward one another. The hatred they hold for each other is beyond comprehension. The two fists meet and as they impact an explosion of fury erupts.

Risin up,back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

"Come on! Whole world's watching, knock me out! Come on, knock me out!" yelled Rocky. Clubber hit Rocky hard in the back. Rocky smugly said "Hit me harder! Come on!" Clubber responded by giving him another blow to the side of Rocky's gut. Apollo's trainer cried out to Rocky screaming "Noooo!"

Clubber unleashed a hard left to Rocky's defensive arms. His white mouthpiece was a combo of disgusting red and yellow. His mouth opened wide before the next hit, which was a right to Rocky's guarding arms. He managed to get Rocky in the back of the head. Rocky was now moving away from Clubber, even as another punch was hit on the back of his head.

So many times, it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

"Come on champ! Ain't so bad! Ain't so bad! Ain't nothin'!" yelled Rocky as he tried to move his injured mouth, which was difficult with blood dripping into his mouth. Rocky was backed into a corner. Clubber's blows kept missing. Rocky had planned this and began attacking Clubber and moving out of the corner. Then with one huge blow, Rocky punched Clubber Lang in the head, and the behemoth fell to the ground.

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night

Clubber Lang got on his hands and knees and began shaking his head to regain some focus. He did around the first second he was on the ground. He looked up into Rocky's eyes and saw something that wasn't there before.

"Stay down…" cried Taarin.

Those eyes…they once were his. Rocky had Clubber's eyes. Clubber never had blue eyes, but the look…Clubber had looked for it in the mirror everyday and could not find it. He now knew what that look was. He lost the Eye of the Tiger. He knew he had no chance of winning the fight. In shock, he stayed there for the full ten seconds. Rocky Pinnicle regained his title. He jumped up in the air with joy and the ring was flooded with his friends.

And he's watchin' us all with the eye of the tiger…

Rocky IV

Starring Rocky Pinnicle

"Come on, we made a deal!" said Apollo as they entered the dark gym and walked towards the ring. Apollo was wearing red shorts while Rocky was wearing yellow.

"I know, but this is extremely crazy."

Apollo Creed

"I know, it's mentally irregular. But it makes all the sense in the world. You owe me a favor."

John Mazz

"I know, but when did you think of this?"

"About three years ago. Last time you beat by one second, one second. That's hard for someone of my intelligence to handle."

"I thought you said that after I beat you, you learned to live with it."

Ivan Drago

"I lied." Said Apollo jocundly as they entered the ring.

"So this is just to prove it to yourself, huh?

"That's right. No T.V.s, no camera crews, no crowd. Just you, me and the ring."

And Bob as Bob

"You sure you want to do this? You taught me all you know."

"Almost everything. You fight great but I am a great fighter." Said Apollo as he put his mouthpiece in.

"You wanna ring the bell?" Rocky asked.

"Sure. Ding, Ding." Said Apollo as he moved his left arm in the air jokingly.

"Wow, looking smooth."

"I taught you well, Mountain."

"I might aim for the wrong guy."

And then the two threw a punch at the other's head at the exact same moment. That fight, which not even I know the outcome of, was one of Pinnicle's greatest bouts…

"Rocky IV" written by Sylvester Stallone

Neptune Circle created by Rocky Pinnicle and John Mazz

Fanfiction written by BearFrog

The television suddenly blinks on. A yellow city appears on the t.v. with jazzy music in the background.

"From NBC Studios in New York… Late Night with Conan O' Brien! Tonight, from the hit t-v show 'Cooking with James'…Migos Username! Also tonight, the author of many great horror stories… Bovine Sith! Last but not least, Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the world and one of the best flash artists ever…Rocky Pinnicle! Musical Guest Papa Roach!"

Suddenly the scene shifts to inside the room where the magic takes place.

"With Max Weinberg and the Max Weinberg Seven! And here he is…your O' Brien!" yelled the announcer as the screen moved to the area where Conan does his monologue each night. He did his usual strange dance, with the licking of his hair and the music intensifying and finishing off with a big jump, which ended the music. A little bit of drumming was done as Conan moved around a bit but that's all the music that was given. The applause was gigantic, since Pinnicle had a huge fanbase.

"Wow. Let me tell you folks right now that you are in for a great show. Lots to talk about, let's start off with some world news. Recently the Soviet Union has reformed, I'm sure you've all heard about this. All the former Soviet Republics have been keeping real quiet for months and then suddenly told the world society that the U.S.S.R. is back. " The crowd was pretty quiet about Conan's statement. They all had heard about it. The Cold War was back on. "Yeah, pretty amazing isn't it? The first thing they said after they declared the reformation was 'You can keep the girls we sent you.' " The crowd gave a faint giggle.

"Hey, you've got the easy job! I've got to say these jokes!" screamed Conan. "But seriously, we have a great show tonight. I say that every night because I have to, but tonight we really have a great show. We have Migo from the show Cooking with James." Conan said and the crowd cheered madly. "Good show, good show. Also tonight we have someone who is very interesting. If any of you can read you might know about his great books. We will be having Bovine Sith on our show tonight!" Conan told the crowd. Once the wave of cheers faded he started talking again. "Also tonight we have the heavyweight champion making his first press appearance after his victory of Clubber Lang three weeks ago…Rocky Pinnicle!" The crowd let out it's biggest cheer yet. "And finally we'll have musical guest Papa Roach! And here's Max Weinberg and the Max Weinberg Seven!" yelled Conan as he pointed to Max and his band who began playing as Conan went to his seat.

"Now as you all know, unless you're like that chick from 50 First Dates and have crappy memory, the Soviet Union has reformed itself. It even has China under its rule. The only former Soviet republic not a part of the new U.S.S.R. is Germany. Now here is one question I have to ask: How did we miss that? How can you not notice the biggest Communist Empire in the world rebuilding itself? This isn't the kind of thing that just sneaks up on you. But on a positive note, at least it's just the Soviet Union. It's not like the Roman Empire. This country has never done anything wrong and to prove it we're going to show you a special tribute to this great country. Let's take a look."

A video plays, playing happy music as it shows clips of all the terrible things the Soviets did to its people, like slave labor and no rights and concentration camps. It also shows all the horrible things the Soviet countries have done. After watching the video, Conan was seen laughing and said "We are going to get so many angry letters tonight." Conan said, laughing. The crowd laughed at this too.

"Our fist guest tonight is from the one cooking show that has actual humor and real food. From the hit t.v. show 'Cooking with James' , the co-star of the show. Migos Username! Migo!" yelled Conan.

Migo walked into the room and waved at the crowd as they cheered him on. He sat down on his seat comfortably, shook hands with Conan and began the interview.

"It's a pleasure to have you here. It really is. I just love your show."

"Thanks."

"I think the show is pure genius. It has real comedy and real food in the same show which is very hard to find. But I have to ask you one question:"

"Sure."

"Do you think that the only reason people watch it is because of Rocky Pinnicle's cameos?"

"Well, I think that is the reason some boxing fans watch it."

"Some boxing fans? What do the other ones watch for? I'm a boxing fan and the only reason I got into the show was because I heard Rocky was on it."

"Well that's what get's them in, but then we keep them with our humor and good recipes."

" I've noticed Rocky doesn't seem to like much of what you have on the show. You want to share with us one of his favorite recipes?"

"Rocky really likes the Boxer's Drink."

"And what is that? Gatorade or Powerade?"

"Actually, it's egg yolk in a glass." Migo said as the crowd cried "iwwww." In disgust.

"Egg yolk in a glass?" said Conan with a semi-snorting laugh.

"Yes. You take some eggs, and you crack them. And then the egg yolk goes into the glass. And then you drink it."

"This sounds like something my wife made once."

"Would you like to try some?"

"You know, I would but we are out of eggs in the NBC studios kitchen. Brokaw ate them all before he left, so-"

"I've got some eggs Conan!" yelled Max as he held up a box of eggs.

"…I'm not gonna even ask why you have those with you." Conan said to Max which was followed by laughter from the crowd. "But still, I don't have glass."

"It just so happens that I have a glass." Said Migo.

"You have a glass with you? Where do you people keep this stuff?"

"I don't have it with me, but I can summon it. James taught me a little bit of the dark arts."

"Really? This should be interesting. Let's see your dark magic."

Migo's eyes rolled into the back of his head. The lights flickered on and off until they went off entirely. Then a puff of yellow smoke appeared and the lights turned on. And on Conan's desk and a scary gauntlet appeared on the desk.

"Well, crap. I knew I should've had coffee tonight! Oh well, crack the eggs."

The eggs were cracked. And then Conan drank the drink.

"What do you think?"

"There's a reason Rocky Pinnicle can handle anything." Conan mumbled queezily. The crowd laughed. "Migo, everybody! When we come back, Bovine Sith will be here!" Conan told the audience truthfully. For when the commercials were done and over with, Conan and Migo sat waiting for Bovine.

"Our second guest tonight is an author who makes Stephen King seem like A.A. Milne. Presenting Bovine Sith!" yelled Conan as the dark figure loomed into his seat, shaking Migo's hand as Migo moved to another seat, and shaking Conan's afterward.

"It's great to have you here."

"It's great to be here."

"You have a very interesting name. How did you come up with such a name?"

"Well, I had an obsession with cows and took the name Darth Cow. Eventually I expanded on that name with Bovine Sith."

"I went through a cow phase myself."

"Really?"

"Yes, but it ended after a big incident with three midgets and a Canadian officer." The crowd laughed at the comment. "So I understand you know Rocky Pinnicle?"

"To an extent. I've mostly just written stories about him and the cast of NC on the Neptune Circle forums."

"I joined the forums."

"Did you?"

"Yes. John Stewart and me joined. He said we could pick up chicks."

"John Stewart lied. And aren't you married?"

"I wasn't looking for me. I was looking for Triumph. He's very shy online."

"That's surprising. So did you read any of my stories?"

"I've read a few of your stories and let me just say this: you have a sick and twisted mind." Conan said and got a laugh. "I saw Gigli and this gave me even more nightmares."

"Still using Gigli jokes?"

"Well, they made me write the jokes for this one."

"Ah."

"But seriously, you write some pretty vivid stuff. Your most famous story is very scary, very well written and very suspenseful. But here is one thing I have to ask. Why wasn't P.J. the villain?"

"P.J. just doesn't make a good villain."

"But P.J. is cool!"

"P.J. is funny, not evil."

"We can debate this all night. I've got the time. I usually have time to kill so we can fight about this all night!" the crowd cheered.

"Any other comments?"

"It took very long for me to figure out who the killer was. At one point I just skipped the last chapter and started reading backwards until I found out who the killer was."

"Well Conan, I wanted to try and keep the killer a secret as long as possible to increase the dramatic effect."

"Well, that just got me angry. I'm used to just talking to movie stars, but for you I had to actually expand my mind."

"Heh. Sorry about that."

"Now, you've written some other works on the site. Are there any you are particularly proud of? I, myself, enjoyed Fortune Teller Sith."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I didn't like that one. I felt I could've done better. It felt like I just threw it together."

"Well, I'm not saying it's better than Lord of the Yanmas. I think your fic is an excellent piece of work."

"It probably is."

"It probably is. How many people say that about their work besides the president?"

"Heh. No, it's not that it isn't a good piece of work. Far from it, it's just that people's worst critics are usually themselves."

"You haven't watched this show before, have you?"

"Okay, second worst critic."

"Thank you!"

"Heh. So I was listening to your monologue and you might not have known about this little piece of info. China is part of the Soviet Union. And of course Cuba is, who happens to be right by us."

"Well we all knew about Cuba. But you are saying that China is now part of the Soviet? China is already huge!"

"I know. There seems to be a sort of power struggle going on within the government between the Russians and the Chinese. The Chinese only joined because of debt problems, but they want to take control and be the supreme nation in the union."

"Wow. I didn't know that. Would you look at that? We are out of time. It's been great having you here." Said Conan as he shook Bovine's hand.

"I'll still be here after commercials."

"I know, but most celebs can't wait to get out of here so it's sort of a habit. Bovine Sith everybody! When we get back, the world heavyweight champion of boxing Rocky Pinnicle!"

Thus did the commercials air. And then it came time for Rocky to appear.

"Our next guest tonight is the heavyweight champion of the world. He just defeated his most fearsome opponent he has ever faced, Clubber Lang, and won back the title. The Mountain Peak…Rocky Pinnicle! Rocky!" yelled Conan as the band began playing Rocky's theme. Rocky came out, wearing a early twenties hat and sporting a black eye to go with it. He smiled as he waved to the people and happily shook the hands of Conan, Migo and Bovine before he sat down.

"It's an honor to have you on this show."

"Tha-"

"And I'm not just saying that so you won't beat me up." Rocky gave a hearty laugh to Conan's jest before the Irish comedian continued. "That is a nice hat. I wish I hat a hat like that."

"Thank you."

"It'd be nice but my hair would just sorta pop it off after it was on my head for three seconds." Yet again Conan got laughs. "So where'd you get the hat?"

"A friend gave it to me."

"You didn't have a black eye after the fight. Where'd you get the black eye?"

"Same friend." Rocky said. This time the crowd laughed at Rocky's true joke.

"You have some pretty screwed up friends." Said Conan. The crowd laughed as they began to think of the cast of Neptune Circle.

"You wanna know something?"

"What?"

"Even now that I'm so famous, we've only sold about 3 pieces of merchandise on the site, not including the ones we bought for ourselves."

"Wow. That is pathetic." Said the talk show host as the crowd burst with laughter.

"Maybe you should try getting professional models as opposed to that one angry looking kid."

"I've been thinking about it, y'know. It costs a lot to keep the site running and we need the money from the merchandise."

"But you are the heavyweight champ. You do get paid a lot."

"That is true. The job pays well. But all the money I get goes straight to charity."

"Wow. You're a nice guy, taking all those hits for others. Rocky, I heard that you were going to retire. Is this true? Will the final bout that Rocky gives us be Rocky Pinnicle vs Clubber Lang?"

"Well, I was going to retire because I don't want to get used to all that fancy living and such, y'know? It gets ya weak. So then I decided that I would start a charity foundation and put all of my boxing earnings into that. So boxing would just be my hobby of sorts."

"Your hobby?"

"Yes."

"As long as you aren't retiring, that's good with me. So what do you think about the whole Soviet situation."

"Well…Tssh. To bad Maci isn't here. I myself don't really care much about the new Cold War. I never understood all the fear and hatred. I say that we should all just be peaceful."

"This is coming from a guy who fights people for a hobby."

"Hahahaha," Laughed Rocky.

"What do you plan on doing once your career is over with?"

"Well, I was hoping to make a living off of my flash skills."

"You are a skilled flash artist. I hope it works out for you."

"Thanks."

"Rocky Pinnicle everybody!" Conan yelled loudly. After the commercials he introduced Papa Roach and allowed him to play his song.

"Cut my life into pieces
This is my last resort
Suffocation no breathing
Dont give a #$ if I cut my arm bleeding

This is my last resort

Cut my life into pieces
I've reached my last resort
Suffocation no breathing
Don't give a#$ if I cut my arm bleeding
Do you even care if I die pleading
Would it be wrong, would it be right
If I took my life tonight
Chances are that I might
Mutilation out of sight
And I'm contemplating suicide

Cause I'm losing my sight, losing my mind
Wish some body would tell me I'm fine
Losing my sight, losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine

I never realized I was spread to thin
Till it was to late and I was empty within
Hungry, feeding on chaos and living in sin
Downward spiral, where do I begin
It all started when I lost my mother
No love for myself and no love from another
Searching to find a love up on a higher level
Finding nothing but questions and devils

Cause I'm losing my sight, losing my mind
Wish some body would tell me I'm fine
Losing my sight, losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine

Nothing's alright, nothing is fine
I'm running and I'm crying
I'm crying

I'm crying

I'm crying

I'm crying

I cant go on living this way

Cut my life into pieces
This is my last resort
Suffocation no breathing
Don't give a #$ if I cut my arm bleeding
Would it be wrong would it be right
If I took my life tonight
Chances are that I might
Mutilation out of sight
And I'm contemplating suicide

Cause I'm losing my sight, losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine
Losing my sight, losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine
Nothing's alright, nothing is fine
I'm running and I'm crying

I CAN'T GO ON LIVING THIS LIFE

Can't go on
Living this way
Nothing's alright"

Conan and the other walked on the stage after the song was over. "I'd like to thank all of our guests! Rocky Pinnicle, Migo, Bovine Sith, and Papa Roach! See you all next week!" yelled Conan as the show ended and the credits rolled. Conan headed to the parking lot while Rocky, Migo and Bovine headed to the roof.

"You guys coming over for John's birthday?" asked Rocky.

"That's tonight?" asked Migo.

"Yeah." Replied Rocky.

"I'm not sure I can come. I've got homework. Plus I live pretty far away." Migo said quietly.

"Come on! You guys can stop for a few minutes to wish him a happy birthday!"

"But my present is at my house." Bovine retorted.

"Same here." Migo chimed.

"Well let's hurry up and grab those gifts! I'll go with Migo and give him a Kamehameha boost to his house. You meet us at John's, okay?"

"Got it." Replied Bovine Sith.

Thus did all of them fly into the night sky. Ten minutes later they all arrived at John's front door. Rocky grabbed the doorknob and lead them in.

Shalashaska and James were sitting on the couch, watching Buff the Vampire Slayer. Eyes glued to the screen, they did not even notice Rocky and the others enter the room.

"Hey, guys." Rocky said as he casually entered.

"Shhh!" screamed James, who had not yet seen this episode. Shala had seen every episode, yet he enjoyed the occasional re-run.

"We're here." Rocky told everyone in the room.

"Rocky! Hey, what's up?" asked James as he got up.

"Nothing much. We were on Conan's show."

"Really? We missed it. Buffy Marathon, y'know." Shala said to Rocky.

"Don't worry, I have the VCR set upstairs." Rocky grinned.

"I'm glad you're here because I was getting hungry." Said James as his stomach growled. The group went into the dining room, where John sat, making some sort of flash on his laptop.

"I've had time to make three games." John muttered when he heard them enter, not even looking up from his laptop.

"Sorry, we're late." Rocky told John cheerfully. John closed the file and shutdown his laptop.

"If we waited any longer it'd be my next birthday." Said John as he closed the laptop.

"Bovine, Migo! Glad you could make it!"

"We can't stay long. We got to head home. We just came to wish you a happy birthday and drop off our presents."

"Thanks guys." Said John as they set down the gifts on the gift table.

"Happy birthday." Migo said as he left.

"Happy Birthday." Bovine said as he left.

And then the room was silent, except for P.J. lazily twirling a noise-maker. Rocky then asked John "Are you ready for your present?"

"Is it in the driveway?" asked John.

"Here, limme dim the lights to set the mood." Said Rocky as the lights dimmed. Suddenly, Boot hovered in, holding John's cakes and with techno music coming out of it's speakers.

"What? The cake?" asked John quizzically.

"No, not the cake! Can't you tell that I rewired Boot to make him run more efficiently?" asked Rocky. John looked at Boot.

"I can tell by the slight glitter build up on the outside that you tried switching the X and Z cables with Carbon based fluid as opposed to Oxygen based fluid. However the energy burst is only temporary and harmful if used for too long. But a nice attempt."

Rock sighed. What could he get a computer genius that the genius couldn't make it himself in five minutes. John looked at the cake that Boot set down. He made a mental note to fix Boot as he looked at his cake, with a picture of the flash version of himself on the cake, except wearing a ninja outfit but no mask on his head.

"That's a good lookin' guy." John joked as the cake was cut and the pieces were handed out to everyone in the room. After that, it was time to open presents. P.J. had gotten John a hat in which you can drink beverages without hands. Migo had gotten John a cookbook. James got John a very long chain. Chad got John some underwear (thankfully unused). Maci gave John a M-16. Bob gave John a dead Squirrel. Clarence gave John a fruitcake. Taarin and Cat had given John a big box of chocolates. Shala got John a copy of Chrono Trigger. Boot gave John an upgrade on John' laptop. Bovine Sith gave John a Smart Board, which John of course loved since he could see his flash movies on a screen bigger than a television. Fargoth and Cyber B made John a flash movie together using sprites Cyber made.

"Well, that's all of them." John said, happy with his presents.

"Wait, there's one more." Said Cat as she picked up the last present which seemed to be the size of one of the newer Harry Potter books. John grabbed it and looked at the label. It was from BearFrog.

"BearFrog? I didn't see him come here." Said John as he tore open the present to find to video tapes. One was labeled 'A Christmas Carol' and the other was labeled 'Fight Remix'. John laughed at loud as he remembered when BearFrog had told him about these tapes. A Christmas Carol was a school project when he used Video from RPG Maker and Audio from The Muppet Christmas Carol. Fight Remix was a video tape with an hour of non-stop fighting. John set them down and noticed a sticky note on the back of Fight Remix. John tore it off and began reading.

I Dear John,

Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy the presents. I'm sorry I could not join you on this occasion, but I have very important matters to attend to. I'll see ya later.

-BearFrog /I

BearFrog was in China. He was with the rest of the crowd who were all on the Great Wall. Next to the wall, a ring had been made. This ring was to host the Soviet Union's Heavyweight World Amateur Championship Boxing Match. This match was Communist vs Communist, Russia vs China. This fight was not only going to decide their champion, but also which side would take political control. This bet had many people anxious. However, almost nobody in the outside world knew about the wager, let alone the match. Yet BearFrog did know, and he was there. He had to see if the rumors were true. He had to see the… Super Warriors.

Suddenly, music began playing. Very light music, played on some sort of string instrument. Then BearFrog saw the first contestant walk towards the ring, punching the air as he moved. He was wearing no robe, but he was wearing red shorts with yellow stars. His gloves were the same too. His face was a little deformed and he had very large eyes. The Asian man punched the air real hard so anyone who knew enough about Ki could feel his power. And BearFrog felt it. The power this fighter had was a little bit shocking, but still it was probably just the one boxer. The rumor about the Super Warriors couldn't be true…

The man stood in the ring as he waited for his Russian rival to enter the ring. He danced around as he waited. Then suddenly, a hole in the ground opened up. Smoke appeared. Nobody could see. Then the smoke cleared and the giant behemoth of a Russian stood in his corner of the ring, eyes staring at nothing in particular. His crew was right there behind him. The Russian had his blonde hair raised so it looked like a crew cut. His size, over seven feet. His muscles, gigantic. His emotion, none. And his shorts, depicting his nation's symbol of a hammer and sickle with a star. BearFrog could feel no energy specialties for this one and assumed Joe Chan would easily win.

" Ladies and Gentleman! " cried the Russian announcer. BearFrog got an F in Russian class, but was glad he at least knew some of the language so perhaps he could find out a little about the opponents.

" Welcome boxing comrade vs comrade. " BearFrog heard the announcer say. He silently cursed himself for not trying harder in Russian class. He did try hard, true, but not as hard as he could have. He focused himself more and tried to grasp what the man was saying.

" Tonight great match. In Red corner, from Cheng Du, China and weighing 86 kilos, The Eastern Dragon: Quick Fists Joe Chan! " cried the announcer as he pointed to the thin Asian.

" And in the yellow corner, from Moscow Russia! Weighing in at 118 kilos, The Siberian Bull! Ivan Drago! !"

BearFrog looked intensely at Drago. Drago seemed so emotionless, and yet…so powerful. The presence BearFrog felt was one that could only be felt if one had a true understanding of Ki, for Ivan's Ki was well hidden. Surpressed. Yet BearFrog could feel the destructive power and had now assumed the victor, but he knew to never count out the little guy. The fight began with the ringing of a bell.

Ivan and Joe circled each other, trying to get a feel for their opponent. Chan decided to throw a few test punches at Drago. A right to the head. Another right to the head. And another right. Then a left.

"How can this short guy's arms reach up there?" BearFrog said aloud in his natural tongue. Someone turned and looked at BearFrog face and then walked toward a Chinese soldier. The officer came up behind BearFrog and put his hand on BearFrog's shoulder. BearFrog's turned quickly.

" Excuse me, sir but I will need you to come with me. " the man said in Chinese, which BearFrog did not understand in the least.

"No hablo ingles, I mean uhh…" BearFrog said struggling to find the right words in Russian.

"American!" yelled the Chinese man in a way that BearFrog could clearly understand. He jumped off of the tower and landed ringside. They began shooting at BearFrog until a Russian politician of some sort shouted at them and apparently told them to stop shooting. However, the men did come to attack the alien.

Joe Chan was wondering why his opponent was standing there taking blows. Joe began throwing hard punches and yet the giant remained still. He began giving all he had and then suddenly, he felt a gigantic blow to the gut. One punch knocked him down in the first round. Joe lost.

"I don't want to hurt anyone, so please don't fight me." BearFrog told them calmly.

Even if they could understand, the response would have been the same. The group of soldiers attacked BearFrog with broadswords in hand. BearFrog easily dodged all of the blows and defeated all the guards by pushing on a pressure point in the back of their necks, which put all of them in a temporary coma.

" Our comrade won the fight, so we get control as agreed. " the Russian Premier said to the Chinese leader. The fat man grumbled at that but nodded.

" Wow, what skill. " commented one Chinese politician.

" Yes, Ivan fought amazingly. " the new leader cried happily.

" No, that intruder. His skill is amazing. "

The Premier looked out of the glass booth and saw the intruder. It was obviously a young American, but his skill was quite interesting. Not all Americans even knew about Ki and yet this one understood it. Well.

" Why don't we have a little fun? " the Premier suggested as he took out his cell phone. At ringside, Ivan's trainer took out his phone and understood the instructions. Just as BearFrog tried to leave, Ivan exited the ring and punched at BearFrog who jumped up and landed on Ivan's outstretched arm and then kicked Ivan in the face before jumping to the ground. But the kick seemed to do nothing.

" Well, you're pretty strong aren't you? " said BearFrog grinning. Ivan responded by throwing punches at BearFrog, who dodged them by jumping backwards. Then he was up against the wall. Ivan threw a punch and BearFrog jumped over Ivan, whose punch made a huge dent in the wall.

" Stop toying with him, Ivan! " yelled his trainer.

"Toying with m-oof!" cried Bearfrog as he felt a large hand punch him in the gut. BearFrog fell to the ground, coughing up blood. Ivan loomed over him. Just as he was about to finish him, BearFrog got up. He got on his feet, and looked at Ivan intensely. The politicians were shocked that he got up. Joe Chan, the Chinese champ couldn't even go that far against Ivan.

"Hammer Fist!!" yelled BearFrog as he jumped in the air and chopped Ivan hard on the skull with a clenched fist. No damage. Ivan then punched BearFrog in the head. BearFrog managed to stay up for about five punches before he fell to the ground and faded into darkness.

B Two Months Later… /B

"I can't figure out what the problem is." Rocky said as he paced back and forth. John began typing things on the computer and found that it did nothing. The screen remained a glowing blue. John did not want to admit it to Rocky, but the same thing had happened to his computer too and he had no idea how to fix it. His frustration was easily seen.

"Chill out man, okay? Why don't you take a break and read one of my magazines for a while."

"Sounds good. Anything new?"

"I didn't really look at the mail but I'm due for a new Sports Illustrated."

John gave a grunt as he got up from the couch and then suddenly gasped when he noticed he was sitting on a sleeping Chad.

"Chad! I'm sorry, I didn't see you! Are you okay?" cried John as Chad opened his eyes slightly.

"Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…"

While John was talking to Chad, Rocky shuffled through the mail and tossed John his new Sports Illustrated. On the cover was Ivan Drago. It was a close up of his head. He wasn't looking at the camera, which took the picture of him on his side. He seemed to be staring at nothing. The cover story was "Russians Invade U.S. Sports"

"What?! The Soviet Union is sending athletes into our sports?!" John said frantically as he turned to read the article.

"What's the big deal?"

"This is the first contact we've had with the new Soviet Union except for their declare of independence!"

Rocky still didn't understand what the big deal was and decided he might as well read and hope that clears things up for him. The article was called "Smash and Splash". The article explained that a Soviet was entering boxing. The article was about the boxer, Ivan Drago who was currently the champion in the Soviet Union and was referred to as "The World Heavyweight Amateur Champion". John pointed out to Rocky that Drago was married to a famous Olympic swimmer from the Soviet Union who was coming, but Rocky didn't seem to notice why that piece of information was important.

"Look! It says that they are landing today, with the Russian Premier!" John cried.

The article was correct. The plane landed in Los Angeles, California. Thus did the trio exit the plane, along with other Russians and Chinese men, and faced a media swarm once they entered the airport.

"How long are you here for?"

"Can I ask you a few questions?"

"When will your first fight be?"

The reporters were pushed back by security and the only response they got from the communists was from their leader who simply said "We talk later."

"Why is the Soviet Union entering professional sports?"

"We shall answer all questions at the conference!" the premier told the crowd as they walked.

At the same time in the same city, Apollo was in his pool, relaxing. He was playing fetch with his three golden retrievers and having a fun time. The television he had outside near the pool was on, and a commercial for catfish was on. It had quite a pleasant tune. After the commercial ended the real show was on.

"Today, Russia has told the world that they will be throwing their hat into the ring. The prize ring, that is." The reporter announced. Apollo turned his attention to the television.

"The announcement was made by Ludmilla Drago, she was the double gold medalist in swimming."

The screen switched and showed a beautiful blonde woman with short hair and big blue eyes. She was speaking. "Today the Soviet Union has officially entered professional boxing. My husband and great undefeated World Heavyweight Amateur Champion, Captain Ivan Drago," she said as the camera switched to large man wearing a soviet officer uniform. "Has come here with his trainers to compete as an international sportsman and an ambassador of good will."

"Has Drago ever faced off against a real professional?" asked one reporter.

"From being trained in Russia by great boxing coach Manuel Rega and now by Sergi Rimski, " she said as the camera switched to the trainers, who seemed to be in their late fifties or early sixties. "We can only hope that he is qualified to do so."

"Hope?"

"Well, I know he is but we don't want to sound too confident."

"If possible," the premier began, "We would like to have an exhibition bout with your famous champion, Rocky Pinnicle."

"What makes you think he can defeat Rocky Pinnicle?"

"There is nobody who can match his speed, endurance or his aggressiveness."

"You make it sound like he is indestructible."

"Yes, he is."

The screen switched back to the main room. "Well, can this behemoth who has already been nicknamed 'The Siberian Bull' wreak havoc upon the professional ranks? Only time will tell."

Apollo looked at the screen angrily and tossed the ball out of the pool. He hit the water as he swam towards the steps to exit.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"Hello?"

"John, do you think you could help me? Something's wrong with my computer. It's just a blank blue screen." Asked Jester on the phone.

"Rea-Hold on, I've got another call." Said John as he pushed the button. "Hello?"

"Hey, John I think my computer has a virus or something." Said Iblackedout.

"A virus! That's it!" yelled John. "I'll get back to you later!" he yelled to IBO and Jester and at the same time (he pushed the 3-way calling button so he wouldn't have to repeat his message. John ran up to his room and saw Boot lying on the ground.

"Boot?! Are you okay?!" John asked. John got no response and realized that this strange virus must have gotten Boot too. John was worried so he flipped on to the news and saw that his fears were confirmed.

"Every Computer in the United States and many other nations seems to be infected with some sort of virus. All the computer factories are shut down due to technical errors with the computers they use, and thus no computer can be used at this time." Said the reporter nervously.

John had to fix this problem fast, or this would cause mass hysteria. John quickly took out spare parts from his television, phone, microwave, radio and typewriter to make a new computer from scratch. He hooked it up to his smart board so he could have a screen to look at as he entered his text (nothing to make a mouse was available) to search the net. The virus seemed to be on the entire internet. Every site with English text was replaced by a swirling black vortex page. John decided he might as well hack into this page and see what he could find.

Code html x swf.file/ 834647/ fmx/ 86586/ 9092746759575663/ -vnrir-05nw/h4ckorzf113/ AOB/$8h

B Access Denied /B

"What the? That's my best hacking code! Maybe there is a firewall against it. I guess I'll try out my old one."

Code fhgnGR4g56748n$G :/hdnrtj4984n/jrhn483&46fvuy3#5/omega.htm

B Access Denied /B

"Gah. Whoever did this is good. I guess I have no choice." John said to himself. He had no choice but use a virus to destroy it. It was very risky, since his virus threatened to destroy the entire online world, but he had no choice but to send it out. He had to time this right and destroy his virus as soon as it destroys the current virus, or else his creation will surely destroy the entire internet in a matter of minutes.

Upload File: My Computer:My Documents: apocalypse.vrs

The file was put on the internet. It floated around the cyberspace looking for the biggest thing it could devour. It then saw the gigantic virus that was plaguing computer users all across the globe and decided to make that become its first meal.

John began to sweat profusely. His hands twitched on the near the keyboard as he waited for his virus to attack. Slowly his virus entered the demonic web page that held the virus. His virus appeared on the screen.

"Dadadadada! MMMMMBOB!" cried the 16-bit pixilated Bob as it thunder shocked the virus and then began to eat it.

"Tastes like squirrelie!"

Upload File: My Computer:My Documents: savior.avrs

The virus that caused blue screens was gone. Now a new virus remained. But it was soon defeated by the anti-virus which John made. A 16-bit pixilated Squirrel John made.

"Die Squirrelie!" yelled Bob as she did a thundershock to the squirrel. The anti-virus fell down and had swirly eyes, until Bob walked up to it and ate it. The Squirrel, however, was toxic to the virus. Bob turned purple and fell down and said "Blarg! I am dead!" and then depixelized.

John gave a sigh of relief and picked up his laptop. The screen had returned to normal.

"Where did that virus come from?" John said out loud. Boot replied with a bunch of blips and beeps (he had turned back on).

"You're right, it's best not to worry. After all, how could they make a virus better than that?"

John and Boot exited the house and walked over to the street sign that told people they were now on Neptune Circle. That was where everyone would meet up and talk about how their day was. Everyone was there.

"Man, looooong day." John said exhaustedly.

"What'd you do today?" asked Cat.

"I got rid of that virus that was messing with everyone's computers."

"I think the government put out that virus, to stop the spread of info about their corrupt organization." Maci told the group.

"I ate five gallons of icing." P.J. proudly announced.

"How is it that you stay alive?" Cat asked.

"Me and Bob killed 1000 squirrels." Shalashaska told them.

"I killed REAL squirrelies, you just played that game." Bob replied.

"I did a new episode of Cooking with James." James told the group.

"I slept all day…" Chad told everyone.

"I had time to re-read 'How to do everything with Flash MX'." Rocky said.

"I got a new pair of socks!" Clarance said excitedly.

RING! RING! RING!

Rocky opened up his cell phone and answered. "Hello? Oh, hey Apollo. What's up? What am I doing, I'm doing nothing. What are you doing? Come over? Okay. See ya in a few." Said Rocky as he hung up. "Apollo's coming over for dinner."

"We can eat at my place, since nobody's home tonight." James offered as he pointed to big black scary looking house, which had dark clouds above it. Suddenly a flash of lightning bolted to the ground and gave a gigantic sound as if the earth was in pain.

"Okay, I'll wait outside him." Rocky said as the group entered the house. A few minutes later Apollo appeared over the horizon and landed in front of Rocky.

"Hey mountain." Apollo said with a grin.

"Yo Apollo!" said Rocky as they did a handshake in which their hands met for a brief second and slip off of each other's smoothly.

"We're eating at James' tonight. Follow me." Said Rocky as the walked towards the house with Apollo following.

Shala was in the living room watching Buffy when John came in suddenly and changed the channel to the news.

"Hey!"

"You've seen every episode before so let me watch the news."

"Fine."

The screen showed a laboratory. The first thing the camera sees is a large pillar like device with 3 screens on it in a triangle formation. The top one and the one on the right show Ivan Drago in infa-red and the other one shows his vital status.

"My husband and I thank you for coming to our training quarter today," Ludmilla said as the camera shifted to her. "As you can see, it is highly advanced and we wish to show the American press a small portion the advancements our country's made in the technology of human performance."

"Deja vu, huh?" whispered one reporter to his colleague, who giggled quietly.

The camera the zoomed in on a demo screen of infa-red Drago punching some sort of punching machine. Then the screen focused on a monitor which seemed to be infa-red versions of human cells beating like heartbeats.

"What does all of this do to enhance performance?" one reporter asked Drago's trainer as the camera moved onto the trainer.

"Well-" he began before the premier put his hand on the coach's shoulder saying "If I may answer,"

"It makes a man, a better man. A great athlete is super athlete by harnessing all of his strength. Though most of the world is ignorant in body chemistry we wish to…educate your country." Said the premier as the camera slowly moved to right, moving past Ludmilla who was standing next to him until it got to a side view of Drago, who was wearing a white tanktop and tight white shorts. On the top was the soviet symbol depicted in the color red.

"There have been rumors of blood doping and wide distribution of anabolic steroids in the Soviet Union. Has Drago participated in any such experiments?" asked one reporter.

"No," said Ludmilla shaking her head smiling, "Ivan is naturally trained."

"Then how do you explain his freakish strength?"

"Like your Popeye: He ate his spinach every day." She replied jocundly. The crowd laughed.

"Shall we have a demonstration?" asked the premier.

"Please." Said the reporter.

"Thank you," replied the premier as the camera shifted to pay more attention to Drago. He stood facing the punching machine, which looked like a square piece of a red heavy-bag on a spring like the kind of boxing gloves the Joker would use against Batman.

"A normal heavyweight averages seven-hundred and fifty pounds of pressure per square inch." Said the premier as Drago stood ready to punch. He looked at the premier, who nodded and then punched the machine. Above the machine was a black rectangular screen which normally had words slowly moving across it like in Stock Markets, but it suddenly stopped to relay a message. Drago's punch was 3850 Psi.

"The result is quite obvious." Said the premier.

"What result is that?" asked the same reporter.

"Whatever he hits, he destroys."

"He didn't destroy me…" BearFrog said with a smirk. He could not see the television broadcast but could hear it. The guards had a television in the dungeon to keep themselves occupied while they watched BearFrog. BearFrog was strapped to table via diamond restraints that looked like ordinary metal restraints. But these were much harder to break out of. BearFrog had endured a month of torture as the communists performed experiments on him (he hated the anal probe the worst) and was getting sick and tired of going through all of it.

"Will you talk today?" asked the Russian general as he entered the room and turned off the television. The old general was in his sixties but had a gigantic body and was in amazing shape, yet his face showed that he was old even though he had quite a powerful look on his crew cut head.

"Tell me, where did you learn how to use your Ki?!" asked the general angrily.

"You know, I'm just getting sick of this. I saved up enough energy to get out of here, so I'm gonna leave now. Bye." Said BearFrog as he suddenly moved his arms up and allowed the restraints to break in half. He then ripped of the restraints on his ankles and kicked the general in the gut.

" Comrade Picard! " yelled one soldier before BearFrog knocked him into a wall with a punch. After knocking out the other guard BearFrog ran out of the high-tech torture chamber into the clean blue futuristic hallway.

Suddenly, the lights turned red and the alarms were activated.

" Comrades! 2 intruders have escaped! " yelled the voice.

"Two?" BearFrog said out loud and then noticed was running alongside him. "Turtle Man?! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Turtle Man replied with a shrug as they ran through the complex until they saw an open door and quickly entered. BearFrog pushed a button on wall and the door shut with a 'whoosh'. He gave a big sigh and then sat down on the floor.

"Dude, check it out! It's like Comp-USA, only better!" cried Turtle Man.

"Comp-USSR…" BearFrog muttered as he got up and looked around at the highly advanced room. The soviets must've been preparing a hostile take-over of the former republics for a while.

After dusting off his butt, BearFrog walked towards a computer with Turtle Man following. The text was in Russian yet BearFrog slowly translated the material. It was a menu that had links to a few files.

General Data Storage

Doc 1. Re-unification

Doc 2. H.D.P.

Doc 3. D.O.A.S.

"Interesting." BearFrog said.

"What? I can't read Russian. What does it say?" Turtle Man asked.

"It's some documents that the Soviet Union has kept. These documents probably explain some secret stuff, but not in detail that is too intense."

"You sure?"

"We won't know until we try."

BearFrog double clicked on the first document as the alarms went off (the soviets assumed they were long gone).

Username :

Password :

"What are you gonna do?" asked Turtle Man.

"Take a stab at it."

Username : Lenin

Password :

Access Granted

"What did you type in for a password?"

"Ivan Drago." BearFrog said with a smirk.

"Man I'm hungry." Turtle Man announced.

Elsewhere, a post dinner conversation was being held. The room was dark and gloomy with cobwebs on the wall. In the center of the room was a long black gothic table. Sitting there were the good folks who live on Neptune Circle and their guest from Las Angeles, Apollo Creed.

"He's trying to fight when he's an amateur. He's big and he's strong but he's clumsy. I know I can beat him." Apollo told the group.

"Why do you want to fight again?" Cat asked softly.

"Let's just say that it's something I believe in." Apollo replied.

"Hey, don't you think people are expecting Rocky to take out this bum first?" Maci asked.

"Yeah, he will. When it's for real. This is just an exhibition bout, kid's stuff." Said Apollo with a faint laugh.

"Why would you want to fight a big man like that? Why be at risk?" Clarance asked.

"I don't this chump coming over with all this hype. Trying to make us look bad." Apollo said.

"But we ARE bad." Maci replied. Apollo ignored the comment and continued.

"With Rock's help we can get great media coverage, make them look bad for a change." Apollo said. Rocky's smile grew suddenly at the comment.

"I think it's wrong." Taarin protested.

"No, it's never been more right." Apollo replied.

"You haven't fought for a long time Apollo." Taarin began as Apollo and Rocky winked at each other. "How much can you take? Either of you." she asked them.

"Taarin, we've fought tough enemies before and this guy is just some cocky foreigner." John said happily. "Heck, Clarance could probably take him."

The entire table roared with laughter except from Taarin and Cat, who kept their paranoid fears.

"Paranoid fears are what shall sustain the new government. If our people fear and hate foreigners, they cannot hate us." –Comrade Picard

BearFrog gave a sigh as he exited out of the report and entered the next one.

"What did it say?" asked Turtle Man.

"It pretty much told hold the Soviets entered every political office to make take-over easy and it also gave some ideas they had for government and took control over China since they needed money for their debt and Russia was going to give it to them, but they had to unite with their government. It's pretty much the same as the old soviet, except there is now no German Soviet republic and no Berlin wall but they've made up for it by making the Great Wall of China act like that."

"Why?"

"To keep people contained."

"Anything else?"

"Besides ending with an evil quote, no."

While BearFrog began reading the next document, Bob nestled in her soft bed and fell to sleep while Rocky and Apollo sat up watching a big fight that was known as "SuperFight 2".

"And that's the end of that round! This doesn't look good for Apollo Creed. Now for Round 5. Bam! What a block. Creed is blocking Rocky's punches. His arms seem to be glowing! Pinnicle's punches seem to be glowing too! Some of them are getting through Apollo's blocking. OOO! Rocky took a big blow to the head. Dang, Apollo's fist looked like it was on fire!"

"I feel like I'm getting punched just watching this." Rocky said.

"Mama Mia, what did you have in those gloves Mountain? Bricks?" asked Apollo.

"Hey Apollo, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah sure." Said Apollo who was focusing more on the fight than on Rocky's voice.

"Apollo, about this fight against the Russian. Do you think maybe…it isn't against him?"

"If it isn't against him then who is it against?" asked Apollo jocundly.

"I dunno. Maybe like you against you?"

"You know I really think you are getting brain damage."

"Apollo, you're a great fighter but you aren't what you used to be. You don't want to believe it but maybe the show is over."

"Man, I'm not old! I've always been a fighter. "

"Well, you haven't really had a big fight in a while. Maybe it's time to change."

"I don't want to change! We can't be born again, Mountain! I like who I am!"

"I like who you are too, but you can't do that stuff anymore Apollo." Replied Rocky pointing at the screen. "We've both weakened in peaceful times. We're changing. We're turning into regular people."

"Now that's where you're wrong, Mountain. You can't change what you really are. You and me, we don't even have a choice. You can't turn off and on like some radio. We have to be in the middle of the action cuz we're the warriors! If the warrior has no challenge then the warrior is better off dead. I'm asking you as a friend…stand by my side this one last time."

"You're a great talker Apollo. But when this is over…" Rocky said with a grin. Apollo laughed.

"Man, I feel sorry for that guy. " Rocky said as they gave each other five.

The human development program shall create new super soldiers that do not require guns to combat. Many types of steroids are being used and modified until a super drug is made. But first heredity must be best so we unite best athletes to create best children. Drago's family has history of warriors. To test this we must have our first super warrior fight the greatest fighter in the world. "

"I should've studied harder in Russian." BearFrog said to himself, getting annoyed with the Russian accented grammar.

"So what does this one mean?" asked Turtle-Man.

"It means that they are making Drago act as a prototype super soldier, and they want to fight Rocky to test the power of him to see if this program is even worth it and also humiliate our country. If Drago wins they'll perfect their super soldier formula and begin finding ways of making more of it cheaply." BearFrog replied. "Once they perfect one they'll begin mass-producing them."

Many things are mass- produced, such as magazines. Many magazines about the Red Star vs Old Glory, Drago vs Apollo. Everyone seemed to have nicknames for them. One magazine had "Superman vs Superhype". There were many interesting cover stories like "Las Vegas is the place for Apollo Creed's Gamble".

"Mr. Creed, why do you feel the need to fight Drago?" asked one reporter at the press conference.

"Let's just call it a sense of responsibility. I need to teach this newbie how to box!" Apollo replied happily.

"Don't you think he's a little in-experienced to be in the same ring?"

"Well, some folks just have to learn the haaard-way." Apollo told them, which got a laugh.

"Rocky, how do you think Apollo should fight Drago?"

"Well…" said Rocky, turning to look at Drago who was seated next to Apollo. "I think the first thing Apollo needs is a ladder." The crowd laughed.

"Drago! How does it feel to spar with the great former champion?"

"…"

Apollo looked at Drago and then the crowd and repeated the motion and followed it with "The man's tongue didn't come through customs!" which of course got a large hearty laugh from the reporters.

"My husband is very happy to have this opportunity. It's his dream." Ludmilla told the crowd.

"Dream?" one reporter asked.

"In our country Apollo Creed is well known and very respected. It will be a good victory."

"Wait a minute. Win?" Apollo asked. He looked up at Drago. "You don't really think you're gonna whip me, do ya?"

"We did not come here to lose." Ludmilla replied.

"You hold on, little lady, you hold on; Cuz lose and lose royally he's gonna do!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Well, I've been with the best and I've beat the best. I've retired more men than social security." Apollo replied with laughter in his voice.

"Excuse me," the premier started, "You are not very realistic, are you Mr. Creed?"

"Where did you come from, what're you talking about?"

"You can box, yes, but you have not fought or trained intensely for such a long time that it is impossible for you to win over Drago."

"Is that a fact?"

"Yes, and it could be a very painful one."

"You put that heavybag with eyeballs in the ring and you're gonna see the meaning of pain!" Apollo yelled as he pointed at Drago.

"Why do you insult us?" Ludmilla asked.

"Don't make me out to be the bad guy. I came here to talk about a friendly exhibition bout until comrade bigmouth started in!"

"It is you who is the aggressor, Mr. Creed!" yelled the premier. "I wish to say to the press, in all fairness, Drago should not even fight this man because he is a hasbin!"

"You get that big chump in the ring right now! Come on!" yelled Apollo as he got up and was held back by Rocky and Apollo's trainer, Tony. Drago pushed Apollo back, and Apollo was kept up from the crowd on his half of the table. "We'll finish this in the ring." Said Apollo as he headed to the right to make his leave.

"How did I do?" asked Apollo.

"A little loud for my taste." Replied Rocky.

"But good?"

"Oh, yes. Very good."

As they exited the building, Drago threw the life size cardboard picture of Apollo to the ground with no emotion in his face.

We must destroy our greatest enemy, The United States of America. To do so we must weaken them in every possible way. We shall give them false intelligence reports that will cause them to enter a war for the wrong reasons and therefore be unable to initiate pre-emptive strikes ever again. To cause mass hysteria we shall create several powerful computer viruses and put them onto the internet. We shall also cause large blackout that will take out more than 3 states. We shall make them think their economy is weak when it is strong. We shall corrupt their officials with bribes so that our interests can be met. We shall slowly sink that nation into the state of being a hell on earth.

" We found them! " yelled three Russian guards as they entered the room. BearFrog quickly punched all of them in the gut, knocking them out.

"We've stayed here too long. Come on, let's go Rap Master Turtle."

"Alright, let's boogey." Turtle Msn said as he and BearFrog both raised their right hands in the air and blasted a whole through the roof.

" We have no choice but to begin operation statue early. Those Americans must be destroyed. " the premier said on his cell phone.

" But the public will notice it quickly. " replied Comrade Picard, the musclebound gray haired crew-cut wearing former boxing superstar.

" I shall contact Rega and tell him to put out all of his viruses at once. The Americans will focus on that so much they will not notice a statue missing. They are so stupid they do not even realize how perfectly built it is, and why it will be such a powerful warrior when we bring it to life. "

After the conversation ended, the Russian Premier contacted Manuel Rega, the soviet's best virus maker. He told Rega to set loose his viruses and he did. John first noticed it while in an online game. The large man in green pants and a black shirt walked through the base holding his machine gun until he saw an explosion. He ran into the control room. One of them was a slim female with blonde hair, another was a large man with red hair, and the other two were average except one had green hair and the other one had a robotic eye and was bald.

Psykloak1: What happen?

Fargoth: Someone set up us the bomb

Pirogoeth: We are getting a signal.

Largo: I-I47?

Scotty: Main Screen turn on

Blip. The screen turned on to reveal…

Psykloak1: It's you.

Dingus: Hahaha, how are you gentlemen?

Dingus: All your base are belong to us.

Dingus: You are on the way to destruction.

Scotty: What you say?

Dingus: You have no chance to survive. Make your time. Hahaha.

Psykloak1: Y

Disconnected from server. Attempting to re-connect… Re-connection failed.

"GAH!" screamed John. Suddenly the phone rang. John answered.

"John, Dingus has hacked into the game! He can control our characters! He wants me to relay a message!"

"Go ahead." John said as he grabbed a notepad and a pen. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. Thanks Scotty."

John then went to which had been hacked and turned into a digital arena of sort. The page seemed to be nothing but a black background, green binary and a few words to click on. John clicked on Enter as was immediately sucked into his computer and on the webpage.

"I've been waiting." Dingus said with a smile.

"Tell me something, Dingus. You are not that skilled in hacking. How could you hack an online game and get past my firewall?"

"Why don't we make a wager? If you win, I'll tell you and take off all of the viruses and tell you where I got them. If I win you will be put in a html document and remain there forever."

"So this is it, huh? Some one doesn't want me around."

"Wow, that is so impressive Mr. Computer Genius."

"Well, shall we begin?"

"Let's."

Dingus lunged forward and punched John in the gut, who fell down hard. John's face was suddenly green and his face seemed to morphing as if he was made of pixels and they were rotating.

"I have the advantage, John, for I have viruses while you have nothing." Said Dingus with a smirk.

John replied by lunging a fist forward himself, only to miss and be kicked in the back by Dingus and landing hard of the invisible floor once again. Dingus then stomped on John, and that stomp made the invisible floor disappear. Well, for John at least. Dingus stood up high as John fell far down with only the numbers speeding by for eyes to see. Then Dingus jumped down as held his two arms fully extended above his head and gave John a hard blow to the back. After that John landed and was back on solid ground.

Although was the only place you could enter the digital arena, every other website in the world had a live view of the action and even the crappiest computers could see the fight.

"John!" yelled StevenGuy. Suddenly NiGhTmArE88288 also appeared.

"We've come to help, John!" cried NiGhTmArE88288.

"Bob's Best Friend will be here in a minute!" yelled GadoTheLion.

"No! I have to fight alone, otherwise Dingus won't tell me where he got the viruses!" yelled John.

"But John-" protested StevenGuy.

"Don't worry guys. I can handle him. Now leave." Said John as he pointed to a button that was labeled Exit. All three of them double tapped it and then vanished out of cyberspace and back to their homes.

"You have no chance to survive. Make your time. Hahaha." Dingus said maliciously. John smirked and then his face turned to that of a fight and charged with a loud battle cry. He threw a punch and Dingus dodged by sliding to left with his arms crossed. John attacked again and missed the annoying enemy. He was starting to feel sick from the infected virus and began losing pixels in random places, like parts of his hand would vanish.

"What's wrong, Johnny? Can't handle it? You cannot win, for I am the superior hackor!"

John threw a kick and missed. Dingus replied by saying "lol". Dingus was enjoying himself and John was in intense pain. Dingus then decided to have a little fun and hack John. He stuck his arm into John's chest where his heart would be, and his arm went straight through. No blood or anything, but intense pain for John as he felt his digital self become corrupt with more deadly data.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" screamed John. He finally got the strength to jump backwards from the attack and clutched his shirt in the area where Dingus' arm had been.

"Come now, Jonathan. This can't be your best." Said Dingus with a smirk. "Where are those amazing hacking skills I've heard so much about?"

"You want to see my true power? Fine." Said John as he crossed his arms and began spinning very fast. When the spinning stopped, a ninja stood before Dingus. "I am Xy63r N1nja!"

I:h:e:a:r:t:B:o:B , Zeldarulah and Bobs Best Friends all sat together in the Bob fanclub along with Triumph the Insult comic dog, in awe at the amazing transformation that was just made.

"PH34R M4I L33T H4XX0R P0W4!" cried Xy63r N1nja as he took out his sword.

"Bah, you cannot defeat me with such a pathetic weapon." Said Dingus as he took out a glowing red katana.

"YAAAA!!"

"Y4444!!"

The blades met each other in fury. They had blocked each other's attack. The same happened again and again. Then suddenly the l33t ninja jumped high into the air and seemingly stabbed the air. Suddenly the numbers were constantly changing. They began hitting Dingus, and it was painful. Dingus fell to the ground, defeated, after taking many blows from many tiny numbers.

"I 4m t3h h4ck1ng m4s74." Said the ninja as he twirled and turned back into John Psykloak. "A deal is a deal, Dingus."

"Fine," Dingus began, "A rival of the U.S. wanted me to stop you from getting on computers so that nobody could stop them. You're skills rival that of an entire nation's. In exchange for stopping you and putting the viruses on the net, I was supposed to be given the power I need to defeat Pinnicle."

"Which nation offered you this power and gave you your mission?"

"It was the-" Dingus began before a white arrow suddenly landed on him and a menu bar appeared. It slowly moved down to delete. Dingus ran to the exit and left with fear. John quickly followed the suit, not wanting to be deleted. The moment he exited, the hackers decided it would be safer just to shut down their operation. Thus did everything on the internet return back to the norm. Everyone was talking about the internet crisis, and nobody really seemed to notice that the statue of Rocky Pinnicle was missing.

Not even Rocky himself noticed, because he, Bob and Tony were busy training with the former champion. Apollo was greatly admired on the internet for facing the big Russian. He was fighting with the odds against him. That is what motivated Apollo during his training. His determination was stronger than ever.

"ARRGH!" screamed Apollo as he switched arms. How Rocky managed to do such an exercise was a mystery to him. Switching arms while doing one-armed sit-ups…madness. Yet, it was insane training that allows one to take on the toughest opponents. And Apollo knew Drago was tough.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Apollo hit the sandbag extremely fast and extremely powerfully. He punched and punched until his attack cut through the bag and a new was needed. Apollo began following the training that Rocky did when he trained for Apollo including drinking egg yolk and punching raw meat. Apollo was getting stronger than he ever was before.

There were some problems Apollo had, though. He could not seem to move around as fast or as smoothly as he used to, which was his reason for winning most of his matches. Also, when sparring, he seemed to damage much more easily than before. Apollo said that he made up for it with his increased strength and his better knowledge of fighting, and focused on improving those aspects more. He did improve slightly in the areas he was doing bad in, but not a great increase.

Apollo also spent a week at an army base and did training alongside the soldiers. He himself was a soldier. He was fighting the Soviet Union just as these men might be in a few short months. They all knew this and greatly encouraged Apollo themselves. Apollo then went to New York and began training on the streets there. Then one day he decided to test himself if he was truly ready. He ran. He ran so fast that he was running on the water that surrounded the island. He ran and then he began to climb the gigantic green woman.

His arms hurt, his muscles snapped. He kept on climbing, and climbing, and climbing until he reached the nose. He slowly forced his arms to move upward, and promised himself not to use any Ki. His arms seemed to bleed inside but he kept going. He slowly climbed to the top of the torch and threw his hands in the air and screamed with victory.

"Damn it's bloody cold. I'm all out of ki so I can't build a fire or fly out here." BearFrog said out loud as he rubbed his hands together.

"I didn't know you were British." Turtle Man said as he rubbed to sticks together. It was snowing ferociously outside, but luckily they had found a cave.

"I'm not, I just tend to use their way of speaking often."

"Ah…" said Turtle Man as he failed to start a fire.

Let's move our focus across the world in Las Vegas. In front of the Grand Hotel, there was a gigantic yellow glowing sign that had Apollo Creed vs Ivan Drago written on it and underneath the names were the names of the countries, U.S.A. and U.S.S.R.

"Welcome one and all to the city of lights, Las Vegas and to one of the most unusual events in years." Said an announcer. The two giant cardboard pictures of the fighters looked at each other in front of a fountain outside the Grand Hotel, which was gleaming with lights inside and out. "East meets West. Age versus Youth in a good will exhibition match between the former champion Apollo Creed and the mountain of muscle from the Soviet Union, Ivan Drago."

In the building, Apollo was in his dressing room. He had received many fruit baskets and flowers from people telling him to kick the commie's butt. He was not going to let them down. He also had a picture of Drago on the mirror. He was in his yellow shorts with red trim (the same gear he would be in the fight they were about to have) however this one had black marker on him. Devils horns and smoke snorting out of his nose, glasses and even a tail. And in the corner of the picture the words "Creed was here".

"Chill out dude. You have to get your gear on. There, now you look like a mummy."

"I feel like a mummy. I feel great, like I could eat nails." Said Apollo as he hit his fist while looking in the mirror.

"I never tried those things. Bob has, though."

"Wha?"

"Snails. You know, I've seen them around the garden and stuff bu-"

"Not snails, mountain, NAILS. Na-Na-Na-Nails."

"Oh yeah…Apollo try to de me a favor. When you go up there try not to over-do it, okay? Don't wear yourself out."

"Wear myself out, yeah. Like I'm going to do that. You're making me sound like I'm an old man when I'm in the best shape of my life." Said Apollo with a smirk as he stretched in front of the mirror.

"Yeah but if it was me I wouldn't mind postponing a couple of weeks…We don't know anything about this guy, Apollo."

"Postpone? Alright let's say I postpone, then what? Some other guy will come and take out this chump and where will I be left?"

"Apollo this is just an Exhibition fight. This doesn't mean anything."

"What do you mean this doesn't mean anything?! This is us versus them man! Look, you may not know now what I'm talking about, but you will when it's over. Believe me…you will when it's over!"

While Apollo was in his bright dressing room, Drago stood in ring. It was a dark room which was fairly empty, except for that of the ring, himself and a few other Russians. The premier's voice echoed as he spoke Russian very fast and the only word any English speaking person would understand was the last word he spoke…

"Ivan!" yelled the premier as he pounded his fists together.

Drago looked to his left to see the leader of his nation standing next to his wife. He stared at them until they began walking up the concrete ramp to head into the main area, where their seats were located. The room where the show was to take place was beautiful. The walls were bright red, but not too bright, and the people were seated at elegant tables, including Rocky's girlfriend and Apollo's wife, who he had just recently married and had given birth to twins. She had lost the weight from pregnancy and was now in good shape.

Ludmilla and the premier decided to walk over to Apollo's wife and have a little pre-match chat.

"Good luck. I hope after we can be friends." Ludmilla said.

"I hope so." Said Apollo's wife with a bit of suspicion in her voice.

"Of course. They're sportsmen, not soldiers." Ludmilla replied as she extended a hand. Apollo's wife became a little more at ease with the statement and smiled as they shook hands. After Ludmilla and the premier told her to enjoy the match they sat down in their seats, surround be miniature flag waving Americans.

Suddenly the ceiling opened up above Drago as he stood in the center of the ring. The light gleamed and made his already bright yellow coat brighter. He looked up at the light and music began to play as the ring was moved up by a mechanical device. Drago was too busy looking up to notice the circle of stars on the blue ring under him. Suddenly Drago heard a man give a scream. He didn't give it much notice as he was too busy looking at all of the other stuff. He was amazed with all the bright lights and costumed dancing people and the gigantic American flag behind him. The fake planes that were flying above were truly amazing. If he was an American, however, he'd be more amazed of the man who screamed. The man who screamed was standing in front of the ring with a microphone in his hand. He was the Godfather of Soul…James Brown.

"Superhighways! Coast to coast! Easy takin' , anywhere!

On the transcontinental overload, just slide behind the wheel.

How does it feel?" sang James Brown.

"When there's no destination-" sand the backup singers.

"That's too far! And somewhere on the way

you might find out who you are! Ow!" sang the godfather.

BOOM! Smoke came of from the nose of the gigantic statue of an bull head, which was placed behind the ring. On top of it was somebody dressed in a red white and blue top hat, wearing similar trunks, boots, gloves and vest.

"Living in America!"

"Eye to eye - station to station!"

It was Apollo Creed, doing a 'I Want You' sort of this at Drago, though it was a little more difficult to get since he had gloves on.

"Living in America! Hand in hand - across the nation!"

"Living in America!"

"Got to have a celebration! Rock my soul!"

Apollo got down from the bull and began to dance a little outside the ring as the song played.

"Smokestack - fatback - many miles of railroad track.

All-night radio keep on runnin' through your rock'n' roll soul.

All-night diners keep you awake

on a black coffee and a hard roll!"

"You might have to walk a fine line!

You might take a hard line!"

"But everybody's workin'…overtime!"

"Living in America!"

"Eye to eye - station to station...."

Apollo had gotten into the ring by the time that lyric was sang, and he once again did the 'I Want You' thing to Drago.

"I live in America - I live in America - wait a minute -

You may not be lookin' for the promised land,

But you might find it anyway!

Under one of those old familiar names like;

New Orleans!"

"New Orleans!" the crowd replied.

"Detroit City!"

"Detroit City!"

"Dallas!"

"Dallas!"

"Pittsburgh P. A.!"

"Pittsburgh P. A.!"

"New York City!"

"New York City!"

"Kansas City!"

"Kansas City!"

"Atlanta!"

"Atlanta!"

"Chicago and L. A.!"

"Living in America! Hit me! - Living in America - Living in America.

I live in America - staying alive - we'll make the prime.

I live in America - hey

I know what it means.

Living in America - hit me - eye to eye - station to station.

Living in America - so nice - would you better stop?

Living in America - I feel good!"

The crowd cheered fiercely as James Brown bowed and a cape was put on him. A hopping Apollo stood next to Rocky Pinnicle and Tony Duke was Ivan Drago stood stiff next to Manuel Rega (trainer and l33t hacker/virus maker) and Sergi Rimski. Flag waved powerfully as Apollo was given a high five by James Brown who then headed to his seat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen if you're just joining us now we're about to witness one of the most interesting events in boxing for years. For the first time ever, East meets West in professional boxing." Said one commenter.

"Thanks for getting me here, Mountain." Apollo said as his hat and vest were removed.

"No, we're even." Replied Rocky.

"God I feel born again…"

"Ladies and Gentlemen," the ring announcer began, "I would like to announce the presence of a true fighting champion who defines the word courage…Rocky Pinnicle!"

"Excuse me for one second, would ya?" Rocky asked Apollo. Apollo extended an arm forward as Rocky went to the center of the ring and waved to the crowd.

"Tonight's special event features two great athletes! In the blue corner, weighing 221 pounds, former Heavyweight Champion of the World, the King of Sting, the Master of Disaster, the Count of Mounte Fisto, the-"

"Think you got enough nicknames?" Rocky asked Apollo.

"Patience, Mountain. Almost done." Replied Apollo with a smirk.

The crowd cheered intensely as Apollo raised his arms in the air and spun around a bit.

"In the blue corner, weighing an even 261 pounds, the undefeated World Amateur Champion from the Soviet Union, the Siberian bull, Ivan Drago!"

The crowd reaction was the exact opposite of Apollo's. The crowd booed as they waved their American flags and the visiting soviets felt uneasy in their seats. The two fighters moved the middle of the ring and listened to the rules.

"Shake hands and let's have a good fight." Said the ref.

"Alright, it's time to go to school." Apollo said with a smirk as he winked at his teammates in the corner. Drago remained to have a blank expression on his face. "What, do you need an interpreter? Put your hands up!" yelled Apollo as he lifted up Drago's hands and hit them. They did not move.

"You will lose." Drago said quietly. He then smacked Apollo's hands, which fell quickly.

"The bad blood between these two can be felt all over this arena." Said one commenter.

"I just can't get over the size of this Russian." Said the other as Drago's robe was removed and underneath it was his yellow shorts with a red soviet symbol on it.

"It's showtime! It's showtime! It's showtime!" Apollo yelled at the crowd.

"Excuse me. Are you forgetting something?" asked Rocky as he held up the mouthpiece. Apollo gave a faint laugh as it was put into his mouth.

"Be back in a minute, alright?" Apollo asked jocundly as the bell rang.

The two fighters moved to the center of the ring. Apollo began circling around Drago and threw a light left. Drago moved forward as Apollo circled him and threw another quick left. Apollo then gave out two quick lefts and Drago walked backwards after getting hit. Apollo then moved forward but tripped. He managed to catch himself before he fell and then went back to moving on the Russian.

"This is bizarre. Creed is over the hill, and the Russian hasn't done anything yet." Said one commenter.

Creed gave a strong left to the Russian and then a one-two combo. After that the Russian began moving forward and the yank began to retreat. He quickly moved forward and attacked Drago before moving backwards again. Apollo continued to attack but Drago began blocking Apollo's punches.

" Now Drago! " yelled Sergi Rimski in Russian.

Drago gave a powerful right hand to Apollo which knocked him backwards against the ropes. Drago began beating on the man viciously but solidly.

"Tie him up!" yelled Rocky.

Apollo did as he was told and embraced the Russian in a hug like position but was spun around and thrown into the far corner. Drago then continued began on Creed. The bell then rang, but Drago gave Apollo five extra punches for the road.

Both sides of trainers went into the ring. Rocky carried Apollo away as Tony Duke yelled at the Russians.

"What the hell are you guys doing?! This is supposed to be an exhibition bout!"

Apollo blood began dripping on Rocky's white shirt. Rocky looked at Apollo's deformed face as he set him down on a seat in his corner.

"Champ, I've got to call the fight! You can't do any more out there!"

"N-No…" Apollo said faintly.

"He's killing ya! I've got to stop this fight."

"Rocky…as a friend…promise me you won't stop this fight…"

"The Soviet's strength is incredible!" yelled one commenter.

"You don't stop this fight…no matter what…" said Apollo as he got up. His mouthpiece was put in. "No matter what…"

Apollo turned to his wife, who face had gotten pale and her eyes bulging. He raised his arm slightly and gave a faint smile and then turned to face the Russian again. The bell had rung.

Apollo began dancing a bit as he moved. He threw some punches at Drago, but all of them missed. None of them made contact with Ivan Drago's face. Then Drago countered with a right to the head. The blow caused blood and sweat to fly. Apollo tried to counter but missed. Then Drago continued attacking. Apollo was slowly being destroyed by the soviet soldier. Rocky ran and picked up the towel and looked into the ring.

"NO!" yelled Apollo.

Drago became more and more ruthless with his blows. He picked the places where the former champ would feel the most pain. He tortured him in the ring which was now red white and blue because of Apollo's blood dripping onto to it.

"Stop the fight!" pleaded Apollo's wife from the crowd. Rocky listened and almost threw the towel until he heard Apollo yell "NO!" again. He grabbed the towel back before it slipped from his hands.

Apollo's slaughter was continued. Ivan Drago would not let up on his attack. Apollo kept standing though. Even though it seemed like each blow would be his last he refused to give up. He was not going to give up…He was not going to lose…no matter what…

"Throw the damn towel!" yelled Tony.

"NO!" yelled Apollo.

Rocky threw the towel in the ring one second to late. Drago gave his final punch of the match. The most powerful blow Apollo had ever felt had hit him. Drago moved backwards as he let Apollo's body fall to the ground. Rocky and Tony rang into the ring as Apollo's entire body twitched once. Soon many members of the press entered the ring and surround Apollo and Drago who was now draped in a Soviet flag.

"Somebody get a doctor!" Rocky yelled frantically.

"Is he dead?" asked one reporter.

"Get back! Give him some air!" yelled Rocky. "You're gonna be okay champ. Just hold on…hold on…"

Apollo's wife tried to get through but the mass of the media would not allow her to see her husband alive again. She did get to hear the voice of the man who killed him, however, since he was being interviewed.

"I cannot be defeated…I defeat all man…" Drago said to the crowd.

"Creed is motionless! This is absolute pandemonium." Said one commenter.

"Soon…I defeat real champion…"

"What started out as a joke has turned into a disaster!" yelled one of the commenters.

"If he dies, he dies…"

Rocky looked at Apollo's head in his hands and then realized that his friend was dead. Dead. Gone. He was gone forever and never coming back. Then Rocky's gaze shifted. He looked into the big blue eyes of Ivan Drago…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a bright and sunny day at the graveyard. Apollo's grave was covered in flowers, and his family and friends surrounded it. Rocky wore a dark suit with black sunglasses and yet somehow still felt cold under the heat of the sun.

"There's a lot I could say about this man. I don't know if it matters now…I guess what matters is what he lived for…and what he died for. We always did everything the way you wanted it," Rocky said as a tear began to stream down his cheek, "I didn't understand that but…now I understand…we'll never forget you Apollo…"

Rocky then grabbed his title belt gently and placed it on the grave. Rocky had given the belt to Apollo, a real champion. "You're the best," Rocky said as he slowly walked away from the grave with the others as the gold icon on the belt gleamed in the bright sun…

"Rocky, has a champion ever given up the title before?" asked one reporter at the press conference.

"I don't know…" Rocky replied faintly.

There was going to be a lot of questions. Why didn't the boxing commission sanction the fight? Where was the fight going to be held? Does this mean war with the Soviets?

"With Rocky's known punching power, do you still think this is going to be an easy fight?" asked a reporter.

"Yes of course. It is a matter of science. This man has neither the size nor the genetics to win. Drago is the most perfect human being ever created." Replied the premier.

"There's been no mention of this yet, but how much are you making for the fight?" asked one reporter.

"No money." Replied Rocky.

"Has the fight date been set yet?"

"December 25th."

"Why Christmas?"

"That's what I was told."

"Where is the match taking place?"

"Moscow."

"Are you nuts?!" asked Maci who was sitting next to Rocky.

"Why did you agree to this?" Cat asked.

"We fight in Soviet Union only! Tell them why, Ludmilla." The premier demanded.

"I fear for my husband's life. We receive threats of violence everywhere we go. You call him a killer but he is a professional sportsmen. You have this belief that you are so very good and we are so very bad. You have this belief that you are better than us."

"It is all just lies and propaganda used to support this violent and antagonistic government!" yelled the premier.

"Whoa! Violent? We don't keep our people behind a wall with machine guns!" yelled Maci.

"Who are you?" asked the premier.

"I'm an average American citizen, that's who!" yelled Maci, which got a laugh from the crowd.

"We've had enough! We go!" yelled the premier as he got up from his seat and began to leave.

While the crowd of reporters followed them and Rocky, Taarin was being followed by a media swarm. All of them were asking questions about Rocky and her going to Russia, which she had no idea about. She ran into her house and eventually the reporters left. Hours later in that same driveway, a DeLorean parked itself in the driveway. Out if it came Rocky who went inside his girlfriend's house to find her waiting for him.

"Rocky?"

"Yeah?"

"You alright?"

"Alright."

"Why'd you do it?"

"I just gotta do what I gotta do."

"You don't have to do anything."

"No Taarin, I do. And…I have to leave too…"

"So…where are you going?"

"They said they were going to let me train in Russia. I just want to go to a place where I won't think about anything but him."

"Rocky…give it some time. A lot of people deal with hurt."

"A lot of people don't have a choice but I do."

"So…you're willing to throw away everything? Before there were reasons I could understand but I can't understand this. Even if you win what have you won? Apollo's still gone…Why can't you change you're thinking? Everybody else does!"

"Because I'm a fighter! We can't change what we are."

"Yes we can…"

"No we can't change anything! We can only go with what we are."

"Have you read the papers?! You've seen how strong he is! It's suicide! You can't win!"

Suddenly it felt like Rocky's heart exploded. He looked at Taarin weakly and tried to talk.

"Taarin…Taarin always tells the truth. Maybe I can't win. Maybe all I can do is take everything he's got. But to beat me, he's going to have to kill me. And to kill me, he has to have the heart to stand and fight me. And to do that, he has to be willing to die himself." Rocky said as he slowly walked out the door.

Rocky then entered his car and began to drive out in the streets. Although he was driving, his eyes could not see the road. He drove with his subconscious because his conscious mind saw Drago in fighting stance. His hair was down and he looked more raw and natural. More powerful than before. He was surround be darkness and he seemed to disappear in flashes like lightning bolts and re-appear just as quick. He came closer with each flash.

We're not indestructible,
baby better get that straight
I think it's unbelievable
how you give into the hands of fate

Drago gave Apollo a punishing blow against the ropes. The fight was beginning to replay in Rocky's mind. He wiped away a tear as it continued.

Some things are worth fighting for

some feelings never die

Rocky looked out the window. It was dark and damp to everybody else but he saw a bright and sunny beach. Apollo and him were racing. This time Rocky won and they celebrated with a victory hug.

I'm not askin' for another chance
I just wanna know why

A scrambled montage of the fight and memories of Apollo began going through Rocky's mind.

There's no easy way out

There's no shortcut home
There's no easy way out

Giving in can't be wrong

Suddenly his thoughts began wander. He stopped thinking about Apollo and the fight and began thinking about good memories with his friends and Taarin.

I don't wanna pasify you
I don't wanna drag you down
but I'm feelin like a prisoner
like a stranger in a no named town

I see all the angry faces
afraid that could be you and me
talkin about what might have been
I'm thinkin about what I used to be

Rocky thought about the fight between Taarin and him and tried to ignore those images in his head. He had to focus on Apollo and Drago. He could not get distracted. His mind began to play a jumble of memories, now just about Taarin and the fight.

There's no easy way out

There's no shortcut home
There's no easy way out

Giving in can't be wrong

The memories of Drago almost diminished entirely and the memories became of the good times with his friends. He remembered the time he sold Dinosaur capsules as drugs to get money for the site. He remembered when he cut off his hand to do his art homework. He remembered when John dressed up as Xy63r N1nja and had a hostile takeover.

Baby,baby we can shed this skin
we can know how we feel inside
instead of goin' down and endless road
not knowin if we're dead or alive

But Some things are worth Fighting for
Some feelings never die
I'm not askin for another chance
I just wanna know why

Rocky used all of his will-power to end all of the happy thoughts. He now was focused on the blow that killed Apollo. As Apollo fell in his mind, he fell. He fell alongside Apollo as if they were one. Part of him died with Apollo. All tears he might have had in him turned to stone. He was going to be strong. The flashing Drago appeared in his mind again. His mind was now focused on the task at hand.

There's no easy way out

There's no shortcut home
There's no easy way out

Giving in , giving in can't be wrong no
There's no easy way out

There's no shortcut home

There's no easy , no easy, no easy way out

There's no easy way out

There's no shortcut home
There's no easy way out

Giving in , giving in can't be wrong no
There's no easy way out

There's no shortcut home

There's no easy , no easy, no easy way out

There's no easy way out

There's no shortcut home
There's no easy way out…

"There's no easy way out of this mess…" BearFrog said angrily as he rubbed his hands together.

"Well, at least we have a fire." Turtle Man said happily. BearFrog looked down at the tiny spark Turtle Man called a fire. Suddenly, the wind blew it out.

"GAH!! How can it possibly get worse?!" yelled BearFrog.

"Hello boys." Said Comrade Picard (using a megaphone), who was standing outside in the middle of a blizzard with about five hundred soldiers.

"D'oh!" yelled Turtle Man and BearFrog at the same time. The two cold Americans exited the caves and stared at the miniature army. Then gave weak glances at each other and then BearFrog ripped off his shirt and put a belt of bullets over his chest. He then picked up a nearby machine gun which they had found out of in the cold.

Turtle Man began to scream loudly. His eyes bulged as he scream and the earth beneath him shook. All of the soldiers felt this force and some of them walked backwards slightly and then ran. Without even looking, Comrade Picard shot all of them with his handgun.

Turtle Man's muscles grew. His shirt was destroyed by the ki surrounding him (though his pants were fine). Suddenly his left arm became very big. He reached into it and pulled out a huge sword. The transformation was not done yet. His hair grew longer and his face suddenly had blue makeup on it.

"Let's get em." Said Turtle Man with an Irish accent.

" Attack! " yelled Comrade Picard. The soldiers obeyed and ran towards BearFrog and Turtle Man in the cold snow.

"Freedom!" yelled Turtle Man.

Bullets were flying as BearFrog shot his gun. No soldiers were killed by BearFrog, but some of their guns were disabled, including Picard's. Turtle Man, however, just began hacking and slashing through the soldiers while BearFrog did his mercy shooting.

" Cease Fire! " yelled Picard. He approached BearFrog and Turtle Man who have stopped attacking. "You are quite impressive, American. What is your name?"

"BearFrog."

"Ah, an alias. How nice. I am Comrade Picard."

"Comrade Picard…Hey! Aren't you that Russian former boxing champion?" asked Turtle Man.

"Yes, I am. Now I am a commanding officer in the new Soviet Union. I would like to know where you got your abilities."

"Rocky taught every customer who bought a Bob shirt how to control ki energy and-" Turtle Man began before BearFrog hit Turtle Man in the back of his neck and knocked him out.

"So where did Mr. Pinnicle learn how to use ki?"

BearFrog turned around, ignoring the question. He walked over to outside the cave and picked up his yellow jacket. He dusted off the snow and put it on as he walked back toward Picard and picked up Turtle Man.

"I'm not telling you anything. I have enough ki to fly to Japan and I'm leaving so if you'll excuse me…" said BearFrog as he tried to walk around, but the Soviet stepped in front of him.

"I shall let you pass if you can defeat me in combat."

"Well, a fight sounds like fun," said BearFrog as he made a fire using ki and placed TM next to it, "Alright, bring it."

The Russian began to power up like they did previously. His muscles bulged and his shirt ripped off in the process, showing a surprisingly powerful figure.

"Oh ."

POW! BearFrog took a punch right to the kisser. He spun around before hit the ground. Picard tried to lift up BearFrog by his legs, but BearFrog kicked Picard in the gut to counter. Kick! Block! Punch! Block! Each move they tried on each other the other blocked. Some soldiers took out their guns but the captain told them to stand down. The two entered a grapple, with neither budging and inch. Then BearFrog got a smart idea. He kicked Picard in the place where families are made. Picard jumped back in pain, and BearFrog then began his assault on Picard. All of his blows damaging, all of them full of ki. With one final kick, Picard was launched back twenty feet into the snow.

"Impressive…"said Picard as he pushed himself up. "But let us see how you face our new secret weapon… Come out Rocky Statue!"

A small gray box that a soldier was holding was set on the ground. Suddenly it began to grow, with a form shaping as it grew. Then the look-alike of Rocky Pinnicle stood before everyone. It slowly walked towards BearFrog. BearFrog grinned and charged toward it. BAM! A powerful punch to the head! The statue had attacked BearFrog so fast he didn't even see it. He shook off his headache and gave a very powerful punch to the statue's chest, The statue simply stood motionless, as did BearFrog. They stood in that position. BearFrog began to walk back in fear and then faced another punch, this time to the gut.

"Gah…what am I gonna do?" BearFrog asked himself as he fell next to TM. Suddenly he heard something that nobody else seemed to notice. He gave a wide grin and then got up smirking. He put Turtle Man over his shoulder's and then gave a finger gesture to all of the Russians.

ZOOM! A plane appeared overhead. BearFrog flew up to it as fast as he could and punched a hole in the plane. He arrived in the cargo area and gave a sigh of relief as he flew away from his Russian rivals. Now they could get some warmth and relax as they flew…

" They got away! Now how are we supposed to find out how they gained ki knowledge! "

"Ahem!" said a voice.

" You! " yelled Picard.

"Yes, me. I was the private hacker you hired." Said Dingus with a smirk.

"Yes…we destroyed your computer, Mr. Dinguson."

"Yes, but I myself have ki knowledge because I stalked Rocky and learned from him teaching others. We have a long standing rivalry between us. As does my friend here…" said Dingus as he extended an arm. Behind him was a stranger in a cloak. He threw it off to reveal Kermit The Frog! The statue walked towards them but Picard put his arm in front of the statue, who stopped.

"Mr. Picard, contact your premier. I think we can work to reach both of our goals…"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ZOOM! The plane was about to land. The place was surrounded with soldiers, staring at the plane without any emotion at all.

Two worlds collide
Rival nations
It's a primitive clash
Venting years of frustrations.

Bravely we hope
Against all hope
There is so much at stake
Seems our freedom's up
Against the ropes…

Does the crowd understand?
Is it East versus West
Or man against man
Can any nation stand alone?

Two Russian eagerly await the Americans to exit the plane. They sit still in a car, as another Russian waits outside of it. He is wearing a suit similar to that a detective would wear in old movies, complete with hat but he had a funny mustache to go with the look. In front of him was another car which looked just like the one he was leaning on. The plane door opened and the door, which had steps on it touched the ground. Bob stepped out, fully covered with winter clothing.

In the burning Heart
Just about to burst
There's a quest for answers
An unquenchable thirst
In the darkest night
Rising like a spire
In the burning heart
The unmistakable fire

"What an awful flight over here. So this is Russia? Don't look so tough, eh Rock?" said Bob as she stepped off the plane.

Tony Duke then stepped out of the plane and looked up to see the Soviet flag waving. The flag seemed so…evil…so…powerful… It gave him chills, which made the freezing cold Siberia much more cold. The others exited and felt the same chills, though not on the level Tony felt them. Then Rocky exited. He looked around the fort and saw that all the soldiers were looking at him. He got off the plane and the two cars approached. The mustached man exited the car and approached Rocky.

"Mr. Pinnicle, Drasvitiah. We take you to quarters now. Please enter car." Said the man with a powerful Russian accent.

"Hey when does the sun come up? This is bad for my sinuses." Said John.

"The weather changes from hour to hour. Get used to it. Get in car now, we have very long trip."

"Are we all going to fit?" asked Cat as they walked towards the cars.

"If we don't Bob gets to go because the other people are more stupid than Bob…stupid."

BearFrog (who had been sleeping) just woke up. He thought he heard Bob's voice. He jumped out of the plane with TM and saw them entering the cars. BearFrog decided he would fly above them as they traveled so he could see what was going on because he didn't want to risk causing a scene. He was, however, cold. So was TM (presumably) so BearFrog "borrowed" a few uniforms from soldiers who were suddenly "tied up".

In the warriors code
There's no surrender
Though his body says stop
His spirit cries - never!

Deep in our soul
A quiet ember
Know it's you against you
It's the paradox
That drives us on

The cars arrived in a snowy village in which the snow was three feet high. The cars stopped in front of an old house that had a man standing on the porch with a block of wood. He lived in the house and "volunteered" to have the Americans stay there as guests. BearFrog decided to land behind the house and he then snuck up to the side so he could hear what they were saying.

It's a battle of wills
In the heat of attack
It's the passion that kills
The victory is yours alone

In the burning Heart
Just about to burst
There's a quest for answers
An unquenchable thirst
In the darkest night
Rising like a spire
In the burning heart
The unmistakable fire

Everyone got out of the cars except for the two Russian men who were in the cars earlier.

"Like you request, yes?" asked the mustached man.

"You requested this dump?" asked Bob.

"Yeah." Replied Rocky.

"Why? Are you planning to grow some reindeer?"

"I just want to get away from everything."

"Then why'd you bring us along?"

"Moral support during the match."

"The equipment you requested is in there." Said the mustached man as he pointed to an ice covered barn.

"Who are they?" Rocky asked as he pointed at the two Russians in the car.

"They are official chaperones. They go where you go."

"This is below human standard. Not even the U.S. is this bad." Maci commented.

"You gotta complain Rocky! There's no internet here! We'll crack out here!" John said in a panicked voice.

"You mean YOU'LL crack out here." Said James with his arms folded.

"Shaaaaa…"

"Does he ever have any other dialogue in a BearFrog fanfic?" asked Cat.

"You have everything I have been instructed to provide. Das Vidanyah." Said the mustached man as he entered the car and then drove off.

"Well, ready to do some sparring?" asked John.

"I don't think I need it anymore, John." Replied Rocky.

"No sparring, no t.v., no squirrelies to kill…what a depressing vacation." Said Bob as she hoped on top of the snow and began to walk around when suddenly it caved in under her and she screamed "WOOOAAHH!"

Boot was kind enough to pick up Bob and then hold the cat in his arms as they followed the others into the house.

"What am I gonna do? Somebody has to watch the forums! The place won't last if I'm not there for a long period of time!"

" Don't worry, " Boot began, " I left somebody in charge who is very similar to you. "

"Phew! That's a relief! Thanks Boot! I hope whoever you got can last while I make a laptop. I can't believe I forgot it again!" said John as he walked off.

"So…who'd you get?" asked Cat.

" John's clone. "

Elsewhere in America, John's clone is typing on the forums using John's account.

"htat is stupid you is banned now1"

Elsewhere in the same country, I:h:e:a:r:t:b:o:b is wondering why he just got banned from NC forums.

Now let's turn our attention back to Russia. It is now nighttime. BearFrog and Turtle Man are hiding in a closet, waiting for a chance to talk to Rocky or somebody alone. Bob slept soundly by the fireplace while Cat listened to an Alvin & The Chipmunks C.D. Chad was sleeping, John was making a laptop out of wood, Boot was resting, James was eating a live pig, P.J. was roasting marshmallows by the fire, and Maci was watching Tony play chess with their Russian host.

"Check-mate my friend." Tony said. The Russian knocked over the white king and then Tony headed upstairs where Rocky was unpacking. He was setting up photos in the mirror like he had at home, surrounded by pictures of good times with his friends. One photo, however, was of an enemy. He put up a black and white newspaper clipping of Ivan Drago up on the mirror.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

"Hey champ. Can I come up?" asked Tony.

"Yeah sure." Replied Rocky.

Tony walked up the stairs and entered the room.

"How are you doing?" asked Tony.

"Pretty good."

"Some kind of weather we're having up here, huh?"

"Yeah, it's pretty rough."

"To prep for what you gotta do it's good. Toughen you up." Said Tony with a smile. His tone changed suddenly. "I know you're going to have to do almost everything alone up here, but you know I'll be with you."

"Yeah, I know."

"Apollo was like my son…I raised him. And when he died…part of me died…"

"Apollo's dead?!" BearFrog thought to himself as he waited in the closet for the best moment to exit.

"But now…you're the one…You're the one that's gonna keep his spirit alive…You're the one that's gonna make sure he didn't die for nothin'. Now you're going to have to go through hell. Worse than any nightmare you ever dreamed…but in the end…I know you'll be the last one standing."

"Thanks Tony." Said Rocky as they gave each other a hug. "I'll try…"

Tony left the hug. "You know what you've got to do. Do It. Do It…"

Tony then went downstairs. Rocky was unpacking his clothes when BearFrog fell out of the closet, in the Russian uniform covered by his yellow jacket.

"Hey Rocky. What's up?" BearFrog asked.

"Why are you in a Siberian house closet wearing Russian uniforms with Turtle Man?" asked Rocky.

"You know that's a good question. It's a long story and-"

"Hey Rocky, we're out of marshmallows and…hey BearFrog. What's up?" asked P.J.

"We-"

"Hey guys!" yelled P.J. "BearFrog and Turtle Man are here!"

Suddenly everybody arrived upstairs, including the Russian man.

"You are friends with Soviet soldiers?" asked the Russian.

"Uhh…yeah. Hey, could you please leave the room. We need to talk to them." Said John.

"Sure." Said the Russian man as he headed downstairs and closed the door. He then put his head next to it.

"In the U.S.S.R., they encourage people to spy on their neighbor and I doubt they would discourage spying on Americans." John told the group.

"Just like America." Maci commented.

"So what have you two been up to?" asked Cat.

"That's what I asked them when I found them in the closet." Rocky told the group.

"Hey, isn't that illegal?"

"No, MARRIAGE is illegal and that's in the U.S. I'm not sure about the Soviet's policy on the issue but they're too busy killing their own citizens." John told the group.

"Just like America." Maci chimed in.

"Hey, at least we're doing something about it unlike the Soviets! Show some patriotism Maci!"

"I do have American pride, just not in the current America."

"At least Bush is trying to improve the nation!"

"I really hope he loses in the election. I think it's tonight, right?"

"Yes it is and I hope he wins. That way he'll save the lives of all the unborn babies."

"Yes, and kill the innocent people on death row and put our country into utter turmoil."

"Whoa, guys! Easy on the politics! We don't want BearFrog to start his sarcastic political humor." Said Bob.

"Shaaaaa…." Said Chad.

"I agree. And get better dialogue." Said Cat.

"Oh man, I hate that." Said P.J.

"Too evil for me." Said James.

"Alright! BearFrog, give us the 411 on what's going on here." Rocky ordered BearFrog.

"Well, it all started when I took a trip to China…"

While BearFrog told his comrades about his adventures, the enemies of Rocky were sitting down with the premier, who had a gigantic glass window behind him. On the other side was an indoor track where Ivan was running laps.

"Why would I let you attack Rocky Pinnicle? He will be fighting in an important match against Ivan." The premier told them.

"Mr. Kotoff, you want to learn if the legends are true, yes? Rocky Pinnicle is the key. If we figure out how he learned to use his ki..nehahaha…ki…key…get it? Nyahahaha…Anyway, we just want to kill Rocky. We can get the info out of him and then dress up stoney here to look like Rocky." Said Kermit as he pointed at the statue.

"He has a good point sir. We did steal it for situations like that and this could make the fight much easier." Picard told his premier.

"Yes, but you should keep Drago training because failure is very possible, especially with all of his friends around." Dingus commented.

"You will not fail, but we shall push Drago to the limit because the statue might attack and his strength increases every day. But do not worry, the Soviet Union will make sure that you do not fail. Gentlemen, follow me." Said the premier as he got up.

" Sir! " yelled one soviet soldier as he entered the room. " We found the Americans! They are with Pinnicle and his comrades! "

" Even more reason to attack them! We have to kill them before our secrets are let out! They have probably told the Pinnicle team so we must get them! " yelled Picard angrily, who wanted to kill BearFrog.

" Yes, I agree! To the labs! " yelled Kotoff, Ruler of The Soviet Union.

Now it is time to once again shift our focus elsewhere. We return to the upper room of the Siberian home in which BearFrog was telling the story.

"So you dressed up like Rambo and Braveheart?" asked John.

"Yes we did, Johnny." Said BearFrog in a voice imitating the colonel from Rambo. "It really made sense at the time but I later realized that it was Siberia and very, very cold. That's why we took the uniforms after we got off the plane and also to try to look less suspicious."

"That would be a good plan had you not had the yellow jacket on over the uniform." Maci said.

"Dude…Aside from my Bob shirt, which is very comfortable and sold at a great price, it is the only piece of awesomely cool clothing I own!"

"Why not buy more Bob shirts?" suggested Bob.

"Hey, that's a great idea. In fact, I think I'll get some other great an inexpensive Neptune Circle merchandise too!" said BearFrog as he turned and winked at nobody.

"Guys, this is all very interesting but I have to get up early and train so…" Rocky began.

"Alright, we got it. You have to train so you can kick some commie butt!" BearFrog yelled excitedly.

"BearFrog, kindly shut up." Bob said to BearFrog.

BearFrog did. He realized that Rocky had to do this alone, without joy. He had to go through the most difficult training of his life for his most difficult fight. The group went downstairs and got themselves settled in and gave a brief excuse to the Russian man (very brief as BearFrog knew little of the language) and they all went to sleep (except for Turtle Man who was still knocked out).

The group left Rocky alone in the room to gather his thoughts once more and to prepare for training. He looked down at the newspaper clipping intensely for a long time before finally going to bed. He got up with the sun the next day…

It was a cold morning in Siberia, as most Siberian mornings are, but this morning was calm and cool. There was no wind, simply the utter silence of nature. Rocky got up right away, in his mountain training gear and looked out to see his Russian chaperones.

Rocky walked across the snow yard and began jogging in the street with the Russians following behind by car. As he ran the neighbors watched him: an old man and his wife, a young child and his mother, and their spy of a host who reported the incident involving BearFrog to the government. Rocky, however, was just there to train. He ran along the street, almost causing a carriage to crash, but jogged swiftly enough to avoid an accident. The two Russians spied on Rocky with their binoculars to see what this "special training" would be.

Machines everywhere were monitoring Ivan Drago's performance. He was on a machine that simulated climbing, and it was quite similar to a treadmill. This, however, was much more intense. He had to climb with his arms too, or nothing would happen. He had been doing this exercise for hours and was getting quite sweaty. As he did that, Rocky was running up the slopes of steep, snowy hills. He too had been running for hours, but had not the convenience of a warm room.

Rocky ran across the small and freezing cold creek, and some of the painful water splashed onto his legs. But he kept on running, as did Drago. In their training headquarters there was an area where Drago would run laps on a mat-like setting. As he wore the tight white suit, he punched the speed bag when he passed each time, marking a new lap. Rocky didn't punch the air at the end of a lap, he just simply kept running up the stream (in it still, I might add). He wanted to reach the end of the stream and see what was there.

Ivan moved his thick legs up and down and up and down in rhythmic fashion, as he did with moving his arms from in to out. It was a need training style that the scientists concluded would produce highly impressive results. Taking the advice of the scientists, Kotoff forced Drago to take this intense training as his lovely wife watched.

Whilst Drago did that, Rocky was busy helping the man in the carriage, who had gotten stuck later. Rocky helped him get the carriage out of the snow and then continued on with his training of running in the freezing cold.

Speed is important. That was surely known in the room with red lighting as Ivan was spinning the wheel with the poles extending out of it. Ivan turned this instrument as opposed to the speed-bag Rocky was using because this instrument could measure his speed, and also increase other muscle areas that speed-bag training does not usually result in.

Bam!

Rocky smashed the speed-bag flat with a furious final punch before moving onto his next part of training: Every-day life. In Siberia, it's cold all the time. Rocky went outside during a snow storm to chop wood for his friends inside the cabin. It was hard moving the saw back and forth on the large log with the strong winds, but he did it. He did it with the Russians watching.

Russians were watching Ivan too. Slowly the large barbells he was lifting got larger. More weight was added on. As was true with Rocky as he threw logs into the wheel-barrow. The logs were getting harder and harder to move, as was the same for Drago lifting the weights.

Clarance sat on the sled in the freezing cold snow-storm as Rocky got down on his hands and knees and tried moving the sled forward, giving it all he had. Drago did a similar exercise, only he was pulling nothing. He was just moving his arms and legs back and forth on a machine that did the same exercise. Both men struggled to push forward, but they did. They did not stop.

Rocky was doing pull-ups in the barn. Now with his jacket off and white muscle-shirt on, he pulled himself up the hanging log that was on a fairly loose piece of rope. It rotated slowly as Rocky did this exercise and made it all the more difficult. Tony, John and BearFrog watched in awe as Rocky kept up his training. After that, at nightfall, he went outside (in his full winter clothing) and punched at the air and then picked up and large log and put it behind his shoulders. He then began to walk in the deep snow, carrying his cross.

Bam! Drago smashed his sparring partner with a punch! Chink! Rocky hit the axe against the tree to chop down wood! Bam! Chink! Bam! Chink! Bam! Chink! Tiiiiimmbeerr!! Both the tree and the sparring partner fell to the ground, accepting defeat. After that, Rocky went back to his jogging.

When he got back to the cabin a surprise awaited him. Taarin.

"I couldn't stay away anymore…I missed you." Said Taarin softly.

"I missed you." Replied Rocky.

"I'm with you, no matter what."

"No matter what."

"No matter what…"

Rocky and Taarin gave one-another a heart-felt kiss in the freezing cold, and thus did their lips stick together for quite some time (though not due to the cold.)

Bang! This was just what Rocky needed. His beard had become messy, his body stronger. But his heart…his heart had weakened. And Taarin healed it. Back in the shed he was training again, this time with jump ropes. He began to swing so fast you wouldn't see his feet even touch the ground. Then after a steady pace of that he finished up with a speedy series of jumps that made dust fly straight out of the holes in the barn and straight into the neighboring houses.

Silence in the darkness creeps into your soul

Envy moves the light of self control

The gate that holds you captive has the door

Burnin' with determination to even up the score

Sit ups had apparently gotten boring, so Rocky did something called "air ups". John would hold Rocky's feet down from the balcony in the barn, and Rocky would do sit ups, and punch the air at the top of them. Drago pushed himself up and down inside a machine that simulated the same workout, but Rocky's extent was just plain crazy.

The results were showing as Rocky chopped wood with John. Each wood block was cut with incredible precision and power. Before it was normal wood chopping, but now it seemed as if some powerful force was destroying a castle wall.

Drago then began to ease up on training while Rocky tied up a bunch of large Rocky's in a net and then lifted them using pulleys by turning his back and pulling. The pain was almost nigh impossible to endure, and his back ached, yet his iron will would not be broken. His heart was raging deep within his soul, and it was on fire…

Heart's on fire, strong desire, rages deep within

Heart's on fire, fever's risin', high

The moment of truth draws near

More new training for Rocky was done. He would lie on a table and then lift up his entire body like sit-ups, but always keep his arms on the sides of the table in that same bent position.

"Come on, Rocky. No pain." Said Tony.

3580psi

That's what the monitor said after Drago hit the punching machine.

4700psi

6000psi

Bam!

Another punch from Drago and the machine broke down, shocking the audience watching.

Time will not allow you to stay still, no

Silence breaks the heart and bends the will

Defense is guilty passions out of control

Rules and regulations have no meaning any more

Drago received his daily shot of yellow liquid. In the tube, a combination of Ki science and anabolic steroids. His strength was almost doubled each time he took one of those shots, and it was soon thought that if he were to get any stronger, the world would be unable to handle such a behemoth.

Heart's on fire, strong desire, rages deep within

Heart's on fire, fever's risin', high

The moment of truth is here

Rocky was in his room, looking at all the photographs. Then the photograph of Drago caught his eye, and he grabbed and crushed it in one motion. He then tossed the paper into the garbage and went outside to go back to training.

Heart's on fire, strong desire, rages deep within

Fever's risin', energizin', right up to till end

All of his friends were in the large wooden wheel-barrel type device. Rocky then grabbed the ends that a hose would normally grab and began lifting up the heavy thing very slowly. At this point Rocky was extremely buffed up, more muscular than he had ever been before in his life.

Drago was lifting the heaviest weight he had ever lifted in his life. He pushed with all his might as the crowd watched with anticipation.

Both of them raised their weights into the air.

But Drago dropped his almost instantly.

"DRAGO!!" Rocky yelled as he kept his comrades in air/

Heart's on fire

Strong desire

Rages deep within

Fever's risin'

Energizin'

Right up till the end

Heart's on fire

Strong desire…

Raging in till the end…

Rocky was back to running and Drago was on a treadmill. Rocky began to run extremely fast up and loose his Russian guards while the trainers in Drago's camp pushed a button that slowly made the treadmill stepper, life a cliff. Both struggled to keep moving, to go the distance. But Drago feel. Rocky kept on running up the mountain, up to it's pinnacle. He climbed and grabbed until he reached the peak and screamed out his opponent's name.

"DRAGOOOO!!! DRAGOOOO!! DRAGOOOO!!" yelled Rocky with his arms extended.

It was the night before the fight. The sun was beginning to set over this part of Russia, and Rocky's group had to catch their flight to Moscow. They were all packed and ready to go. Rocky had even shaved and got his regular appearance back. But before they could leave, their host stopped them.

"Mr. Pinnicle, wait! I have something for you!" he said with a thick Russian accent. Rocky looked puzzled as he was handed a small orange orb. "It is my most prized possession, and I give it to you: for good luck."

"Gee, thanks. But really, you didn't have to give me this…" began Rocky.

"No, I had to atone. I had spied on you and reported you to the government, and you are in fact and kind and great man. Please, forgive me."

"Hey, no harm no fo-"

BLAM!!

The cabin blew up.

The large group turned in front of them quickly after the explosion (and falling face first into the snow), and saw Kermit standing in front of them. Only Kermit was different. He had huge muscles and was gigantic, like a wrestler, but bigger. Still, he had the guns in his arms. And next to him was Dingus, wearing a Soviet soldier outfit.

"Kermit!!" yelled Rocky in anger.

"Hi-ho, hi-ho!" yelled the frog.

"It's time for you to die, Rocky Pinnicle!" yelled Dingus angrily.

"I've got a flight to catch," he replied calmly.

"Sorry, but your flight has been CANCELLED!!" yelled Kermit as he and Dingus charged towards Rocky. Closing his eyes calmly, Rocky jumped up in the air in the right time and moved his body the right way (it was very quick and none of us saw), and when he landed, he stood in the wind like a stationary stone. Soon after, Kermit and Dingus, who had stopped moving completely, fell to the ground.

"Bravo, Comrade Pinnicle," said Picard as he clapped his hands, walking towards Rocky.

"And just who are you?" said Rocky, who was facing the other way.

"He's Comrade Picard of the Soviet Army. He's pretty tough Rocky!" yelled Turtle-Man.

"So are you here to escort me to the airport?" asked Rocky.

"Far from it." Said Picard as he suddenly appeared right in front of Rocky and threw a punch at his face. Rocky did not move, because the punch did not hit his face. Picard simply held his fist in front of Rocky's face.

"Impressive," Picard laughed. The general threw off his vest to reveal the powerful figure underneath it and got into fighting stance. "Now, Mr. Pinnicle, prepare to me-"

Bam! Boom! Pow! Boom!

Rocky unleashed a quick series of powerful blows on Picard, who stumbled backward in pain, clutching his gut. Blood coughed out of his mouth in surprise. It blew his mind that anyone was this much more powerful than him.

"He….heh….Very impressive. But let me ask you this Rocky: Can you beat yourself?" asked Picard.

"What are you talking about?"

"Heh…Come out: Rocky Statue!!"

Out of the snow a figure jump into the air and landed solidly in front of Rocky. It was that statue in Boston, but somehow it had come to life and was staring down at Rocky.

"Now…Attack!!!" yelled Picard.

The statue obeyed and threw an incredibly fast punch at Rocky, which he ducked under and countered with an uppercut. The statue felt no pain and simply turned it's head back down to face Rocky and quickly gave him a punch to head.

Rocky zoomed backwards at the attack but stopped himself in mid-air and then charged back forward towards the statue. When he got there, however, he couldn't see the statue anywhere.

"He's in the snow!!" yelled Bob.

Rocky moved his eyes around shiftily as sweat fell from his brow. He would have to rely on all of his sense other than Ki to detect this monster. Suddenly, a tiny sound was heard in the snow. Rocky quickly turned and kicked the statue that was standing behind him, but to no avail. The beast still unleashed and overhead smash to Rocky's head.

After pulling himself from the ground, he got an idea.

"Fire Starter!" yelled Rocky as he threw two small energy boomerangs from his hands. They hit the powerful state, but did not explode. Part of them were inside the statue while the other part was still hanging outside in the air.

"Good, it works." Rokcy said to himself.

"What are you doing stupid?! Throw bigger ones!!" yelled Bob.

While dodging the statue's attacks Rocky threw more and more Fire Starters at it until eventually the statue's entire body was covered in them. He smirked as he saw the glowing monster head towards him and then he raised a ki filled hand up the air. Then all of the Fire Starters got bigger…and bigger. Soon you couldn't even see the staue, though he was still attacking.

"I think that oughta do it." Said Rocky as he clenched his fist.

BOOM!!

The giant explosion made the night sky as bright as daylight. All of the people there closed their eyes but Turtle-Man, who had brought along sunglasses. After the light and dust cleared, a clear winner was shown. Rocky stood over the remains of the statue and looked at Picard intently. Picard then ran away like a little girl.

"Well, let's get going. We'll be late for our flight," Rocky said to his friends.

"And your fight." Said P.J.

"Hello everyone, merry Christmas. We're in Moscow in the Soviet Union in which we will see probably the most watched sporting event in all of history. The Mountain Peak, Rocky Pinnicle, facing off against Ivan Drago, whose nickname has changed since that tragedy in Las Vegas to 'Death from Above'. " said the American commentator.

Backstage, Rocky was getting the tape wrapped around his hands. The other were looking at the two Soviet guards watching them through a glass window, but Rocky's mind was elsewhere. He punched his gloves together and they made sounds more powerful than the crowd that was chanting his opponent's name…

While Maci walked around back and forth (cloaked in an American flag), Rocky began to pray in his little corner of the room. This day, this most sacred of days, would be the day he fought the most evil of evils. Two thousand and four years ago a little baby was born, and that little baby changed human history forever. Rocky wasn't here to change history. He was just there to prevail. He was just there to topple the evils of the world and show that good guys can still win. He was there to help finish Apollo's dream of beating ithem/i once and for all.

"Rocky, I know you and I have had some bad times in the past…" began Turtle-Man as he, Rocky, Bob, Maci and Tony walked out of the locker room. "But you've always been there for me when I needed help, even when I was acting all stupid and crazy. And, I don't usually express feelings too well, but…If I could jump out of my skin and be anybody I wanted to, it'd be you…" he said with tears in his eyes.

"Thanks, TM." Said Rocky as he hugged Turtle-Man.

"Now knock this guy's teeth out!" yelled Turtle-Man as he headed for the seating area, followed by two guards,

Rocky and company moved towards the steel-gate door and it was opened for them by a Soviet guard standing by. As they entered the arena, Rocky's white robe gleamed in the light. His friends looked up to see all of the booing Russians who were proudly waving their U.S.S.R. flags.

"Man, listen to this crowd! We knew he wouldn't be popular, but this is based on pure hatred!" yelled one commentator as Rocky walked towards the ring. Nicoli Kotoff smiled as he watched Pinnicle get booed by so many people: a crowd reaction he was not used to.

"But man, this guys is rock solid! The booing crowd does not seem to bother him one bit." Said the commentator as Rocky looked up at where all the government officials were sitting. He then turned his head back towards the ring. "He's a picture of concentration. The champ has a look tonight that could burn through lead.

Rocky entered the ring and looked out to see the entrance of the Russian National Champion. The lights dimmed and Drago jogged towards the ring, following the two men carrying torches. The smoke had spread and the man entered the ring and went to his corner, which had an entire empire backing it. All the time he was out there Drago and Rocky stared at one another until Drago looked toward Kotoff and nodded, who then did the same.

"I would like to point out that this is a non-sanctioned match. It is not for the title. The American Boxing Commission has not sanctioned this fight. This is not for the title," Said one British commentator.

Both men removed their robes. Both of them wearing trunks that represented their nation, but one of the trunks had a story. One of them belonged to one of the greatest fighters of all time, who could never fight again. One of them had sweat and blood in them. One of them did not.

As Drago removed his robe he got a standing ovation. Then, after both robes were removed, music started playing. The entire crowd turned to salute the Soviet flag as the Soviet nation anthem played. A gigantic flag-like backdrop was raised from the back and on the flag was none other than Ivan Drago and the hammer and sickle. That symbol used to represent a government that was for the people. Now it was as tainted as a swastika.

After the music stopped the lighting in the room became brighter once again. Rocky and Drago remained the same. They had been staring at each other ever since Drago entered the ring. The bad blood could be cut with a knife.

"Ladies and Gentman! "yelled the announcer, who was in the center of ring. He began speaking in Russian, introducing Rocky. The crowd jeered.

"Never in my life have I seen such a hostile crowd," Said the British man.

Then he introduced Drago. The crowd cheered.

Rocky and Drago met one another in the center of the ring. They looked deep into each other's eyes, totally ignoring everything the Russian ref was saying. They just looked at each other for the longest time, with Drago towering over Rocky. Drago was the only one of them to speak up there.

"I must break you."

Smash! Drago hit Rocky's gloves down forcefully. After his little show of his new power, Drago headed to his corner, as did Rocky.

"Hey Rocky, remember what I said about wanting to be you?" asked Turtle-Man.

"Yeah?"

"Forget it."

Rocky turned to face Drago, who was in his corner and replied "Thanks, TM."

Rocky then knelt back down in his corner to pray again while Drago danced a bit in his corner. After praying Rocky got some advice from Tony.

"Take it to him, Rock! Be a rock fighter! Be a rock fighter! No pain!" yelled Tony.

"No pain." Replied Rocky.

"No pain!!"

"No pain!!"

"Alright, go do it!!" yelled Tony.

Ding! Ding!

Rocky and Drago met each other in the center of the ring, but Drago had much longer arms and got the first punch. Bam! A right to the head. Drago slowly moved Rocky into his own corner with one-two combos to the chest and head, occasionally taking the time to do an extra punch in one of the two areas. Rocky was taking some serious punishment from Drago until he grabbed the ropes and swung around them just like Rey Mysterio and landed right behind Drago.

In the center of the ring Drago once again was giving Rocky long blows to the head. Rocky tried to get in to punch Drago, but he couldn't get past his long reaching arms. Then, quickly and masterfully, Rocky charged Drago and shoved him up against the ropes. Bam! Bam! Bam! Rocky pounded away at Drago's mid-section.

Zoom! Drago pushed Rocky into the center of the ring and smiled widely, showing Rocky his black mouth-guard. Rocky ran back against the ropes and continued pounding at Drago's mid-section but then the swooped around and it was Drago who was pounding away at Rocky's head. They began to move around the ring as they fought, giving Rocky more opportunity. He tried for a leaping punch with his right, but he missed and got another hard blow from Drago.

Drago grabbed Rocky and held him up by the neck and began to pound away at his head. The crowd cheered as he tossed Rocky to the ground hard, causing a cut to appear in the corner of Rocky's head. The ref began to count. Rocky had already fallen to the ground in Round 1.

Rocky managed to shake it off and get up quickly. Drago was waiting near him and then went back to smashing Rocky's body with his Soviet super punches. He was beating up Rocky in Rocky's corner, with his friends getting a close up view of their friend's battle.

Ding! Ding!

The round had ended, but Rocky held onto Drago and charge him forward. Drago stopped them in the middle of the ring and shoved Rocky back into his own corner like a rag-doll. It had not been a great start.

"Things aren't looking so good for Rocky Pinnicle. Not only is fighting a seemingly invincibly opponent, he is also fighting a very hostile crowd and the Soviet government officials looking on," said one America commentator.

"This is all the Democratic party's fault!" yelled the other American commentator, who happened to be Rush Limbaugh. "If they hadn't supported of great president more then the Soviet Union wouldn't have risen again! Them and there talk of 'equal rights' and 'helping the homeless' and 'caring about other people'…Now we have to watch our good home boys get beat up by those damn ruskies!"

"Should you really be saying that in the Soviet Union?" asked his colleague.

"Ha! What are those stupid ruskies going to do-"

Zap!

A Soviet soldier zapped Rush with a tazer and dragged him out of the arena, into prison.

"Alright, what's happening out there?" asked Tony as he took a cotton ball and bobbed it against Rocky's bloody head.

"He's winning…I see three of him out there…" replied Rocky.

"Hit the one in the middle," Suggested Bob.

"Right! Hit the one in the middle," repeated Tony.

" You're not doing as you are told! The American is small and weak…weak. " said Drago's trainer as Drago took a drink of water.

"No pain!!" yelled Tony.

"No pain!" yelled Rocky.

"Take his heart!!"

"Take his heart!!"

"No pain!!"

"No pain!!"

Ding Ding! Round 2 began. Rocky and Drago moved toward the center of the ring, and once again Drago's long punches hit Rocky. But this time, Rocky ducked under some of them. He was also circling Drago and managed to stay in the center of the ring.

"Rocky Pinnicle has taken Drago's best punches so far! He's cut and he's bleeding but he's on his feet!"

Rocky made a leaping punch but missed, and then felt Drago give him a powerful blow to the head. Bam! Another leaping punch, but this one made contact.

Drago grabbed Rocky and threw him to the ground hard. Rocky quickly got up and got Drago in the gut once before Drago unleashed a one-two combo on his head and he fell again. He quickly got up again, only to take more one-twos from Drago.

"He's getting killed out there!" yelled Maci.

Bam! Bam! Bam! More pain was found in Rocky's body every second he was out there. Drago's blows were incredibly painful. Rocky was now up against his corner, taking blows from Drago. The two swung around, but only for Drago to punch Rocky in the gut and sending him to the opposite corner.

But Rocky was ready. He landed on the side of the corner and then pushed himself forward, charging for Drago at a high speed. Filling his punch with ki, he unleashed a furious blow to Drago's head, giving him a deep cut.

"The Russians cut! And it's a bad cut!!" yelled one commentator.

Now it was Rocky coming after Drago. Rocky was punishing Drago for his sins as Drago retreated backwards. Drago was now feeling true pain. Bam! A powerful punch by Rocky sent Drago into a nearby corner, greatly injuring his back. Rocky pounded away at the stalled Drago, but Drago threw enough punches to get out of the corner and back into the center of the ring.

Back in the center of the ring, Rocky once again charged like a bull and shoved Drago against the ropes, and then began beating on the larger man. He would not stop unleashing powerful blows to Drago's head. Even when the bell rang and the ref pulled at him he would not stop.

Drago grabbed Rocky by the throat and punched him in the head. Rocky, in turn, picked up Drago and threw him to the ground with Rocky on top of him. Rocky punched at the laying Drago and had to be pulled off by the ref and his team-mates.

"It's a gutter war! No holds barred in Moscow!! Rocky may be on the receiving end so far, but he's here to fight! This is shaping up to be a personal war and right now it's anybody's boxing match!!"

"You're doing good Rocko. I couldn't have done better myself." Said Bob.

"Thanks, Bobbie." Replied Rocky as he sat down on his stool.

" How can you do this? He's nothing! Soft! " yelled Drago's trainer.

"You got him hurt bad. No he's worried. You cut him! You hurt him! See?! He's not a machine! He's a man!" yelled Tony.

" He is not human…he's like a piece of iron. " Drago said as he got up.

"You want it more than he does! No pain!!"

"No pain!!"

"No pain!!"

"No pain!!"

"No pain!!"

"Okay, take it to him!!"

Ding!

Round 3 began with Drago taking charge, but Rocky was blocking the blows well. He was circling his arms like a man rowing a kayak, blocking all blows Drago was giving him. Bam Bam! Rocky took two punches to his head. Bam Bam! Drago took two punches to his head. Rocky went for a ki filled punch but Drago blocked it with a small energy blast that dazzled the audience. Rocky didn't stop though. He gave Drago a powerful key filled uppercut to the jaw, and the bell rang as Drago stumbled backwards slightly. In his corner Drago smacked away his helper who was only trying to give him some water.

Round 4 was Drago's round. He was pounding on Rocky that entire round, never letting up at one moment. Rocky got a few hits in, but Drago was the dominating force. The punches were all glowing with power, and some of the glowing power was left on Rocky's cheeks as he stumbled into his corner. Ivan raised his arm in victory for that round as the happy Russian politicians looked on.

Round 5: Drago tried to punch Rocky, but Rocky managed to duck under and tie up Drago in bear-hold. They spun around in circles before the ref finally broke them up. Drago then continued his dominance he had in the third round and pummeled Rocky. Rocky didn't weaken though, he just kept on fighting. He tied up Drago in another spinning circle again, but this time when the ref separated them Drago's punch was so hard that it sent Rocky to the ground. He got up quickly as Drago stood in disbelief.

Ding Ding!!

The round had ended and both fighters went back into their corners. Tony patted Rocky on the back as he got on the stool.

Ding Ding!

Round 6: Drago got out from his corner in fury, wanting to crush this small American once and for all. It didn't work out so well. In his rage his attacks were more flailed around more and Rocky easily dodged them. Then Rocky began to beat up the Russian with all of his might, backing the Russian into a corner and beating him with every his arms had in them.

Ding Ding!

Drago went back to his corner, defeated in that round, and was determined to do better next time around. Round 7 was his chance. He got Rocky into a corner and began unleashing an army of blows upon him, but Rocky fought back and eventually brought the fight back into the center of the ring. Bam! A leaping blow damages Drago! Bam! A punch from Drago sends Rocky into a corner! Rocky quickly recovered from that and went back to trading punches with Drago. Rocky then gained the advantage late in the round and gave Drago more punches than a machine gun could have given him bullets in the same amount of time. Drago coughed up blood as his government watched, looking a little bit less than pleased.

Round 8 was an interesting round for the fight. In this round Drago and Rocky decided to use some ki techniques. Drago began with a large energy blast similar to the Kamehameha wave, and Rocky countered with the Kamehameha wave. It was unclear if this was allowed or not in boxing, but the officials did nothing to stop it, they just stood out of the way. After the blast both faded (they exploded in the middle) Rocky and Drago did both did an interesting and strange technique. Both of them made duplicates of themselves out of ki energy, and the two warriors fought each other in the center of the ring. The glowing red-white and blue Rocky fought the yellow and red Ivan Drago. Suddenly another Rocky and Drago energy creation was made by both sides. Soon there were ten on each side, battling for supremacy. Then, all of the Drago fists met with all of the Rocky fists in a huge explosion as the bell rang. Both fighters got in their corners to prepare for the next round.

Round 9: Drago, by this time, was fuming with rage. Drago quickly got Rocky into a corner but got pushed back by Rocky, who then yelled for him to come and attack. Drago moved forward only to get punched in the head by Rocky. Rocky brought the fight back into the center of the ring by attacking Drago to make him move there. Then Drago started attacking Rocky by punching him in the head, but Rocky kept moving forward, trying to get Drago into a corner. He did, and once he got there he gave much slower punches, but they were the most powerful ones he had thrown all night. Then, with one powerful fist, he pounded Drago in the head and that resulted in Drago's sweat flying away as if there had been an explosion on his skin.

Round 10 was fought entirely in one corner. Rocky had been backed into a corner by Drago, who had the advantage at that time. But soon Rocky fought back while still in the corner, and he ended up pummeling Drago for a while. Then it was Drago who pummeled Rocky, and so on and so on. Rocky tried to move forward at one point, but Drago threw him into the corner. Rocky fell to the ground hard but quickly got up. His sheer determination was starting to win over some of the crowd, and there were a few scattered cheers for Rocky Pinnicle. When Rock fell to the ground in that round, Drago looked at him with a look of anger and hatred. When he began to get up, Drago looked at him with a sympathetic and somewhat of an understanding look. Ding Ding! The Round ended before any more punches could be thrown!

Round 11 was another interesting round. When dodging one of Drago's punches, Rocky flew into the air. Drago got up in the air too, and soon both were near the ceiling and fighting their duel up there. At one point in their aerial battle Rocky grabbed Drago and threw him towards the ground. Drago stopped himself halfway down and charged back upwards only to be met by a Kamehameha wave. The wave was pushing Drago down, but he punched it back at Rocky, who was then hit by the blast and fell all the way down to the floor of the ring. Rocky was hurt, but he got up just as quickly and the two continued their fight on the ground.

Ding Ding!

The round ended and both fighters went back into their corners. Drago was standing tall as a blast of water came out from his water bottle and went into his mouth. He swished it around angrily as he looked at Rocky, sitting on his stool, in intense pain. He spit out the water into the bucket and made an angry scowl at Rocky.

"Come on!" Rocky yelled, extending his arm.

"Daa!!" replied Drago, in anger.

Round 12: Rocky began strong, punching away at Drago's mid-section. Drago then punched Rocky in a furious manner, and his opponent fell to the ground. Rocky quickly got up from this and got a lot of cheers from the audience, which now seemed to be cheering for him more than their own Drago. By this point both fighters were groggy and their blows were getting slow. As they moved across the ring they exchanged weaker and slower blows. At one point they just stopped in the center and took turns hitting the other fighter's head, each blow causing sweat and blood to fly off of their bodies. Then the bell rang to end the round.

"No pain!!" yelled Tony. Rocky just nodded at that.

" He is weak!! Weak!! " yelled Drago's trainer. He just nodded.

Then, before the bell had rung, Rocky got up from his stool, as did Drago. They stood up tall, ready to fight.

Round 13 was an unlucky round (at first) for Rocky. Drago began to dominate once again and greatly injure Rocky. It seemed as if Rocky might lose the fight in this round. Drago was seemingly unbeatable. But then the crowd cheered for Rocky. They cheered with incredibly might, and Rocky got up. He then went back to fighting Drago. He was fighting for them, for him, for America and for Apollo. Bam! Bam! Rocky was now the one taking charge. Then it was Drago, then Rocky, then Drago. Then they began to block each other's blows with other elbows and fists. The round ended slowly as the two struggled to lift their arms to throw more punches. They were incredibly sluggish at this point. There was no strategy: just strength. The strongest one would be the survivor.

Round 14 was pure hell for both fighters. Every punch used up large amounts of ki, every blow damaged them more than the last. They were using everything they had in this round. Every little bit of energy they had stored in them was being used, and more blood was shed in this round because of it. By the end of the round, there was no ki left in either of them. It was just another back and forth exchange of blows between them, incredibly slow and painful blows. It was just as painful to throw the punch as to receive, yet both kept on fighting with all their might. Even when the bell rang they kept the exchange of punches going and were eventually pulled apart by their teams. As they were being pulled apart, Kotoff left his seat and headed towards the ring.

Those 14 rounds had been 42 minutes of pain and struggle for each fighter, and the resting minutes in between were even more painful because they did not have the fight to distract from the pain. Rocky had won over the Soviet crowd, who were now all chanting for him.

"It's amazing! The champ's determination has actually won what was once an extremely hostile crowd! This is incredible!!"

Kotoff came up to Rimski and held him by the collar.

" You trained this fool! He is a disgrace!! " yelled Kotoff as he threw back Drago's lead trainer. Kotoff then turned towards Drago and spoke to him: " Listen to them…Our people cheer for iHIM!/i…You idiot! "

Kotoff pushed Drago's head as he said, " Win! "

Drago looked at Kotoff with angry eyes. This man had ruled over his life, had forced him to kill, had forced him to become the bad guy. Drago stood up and raised Kotoff by the neck into the air. Drago's wife yelled for him to drop him, which he did. Drago then began to speak to the crowd.

" I fight to win!! For me!! For me!! " Drago yelled to the crowd.

"What round is it?" Rocky asked faintly.

"15. One more round. There's no stopping this now. This is our round," replied Tony. "We're not stopping now. Don't stop! All your spirit! All your love! Everything you've got! To win you gotta punch and punch till you can't punch no more! This is your whole life here!! Do it now!! Now!!"

Ding ding!

Rocky and Drago met in the center of the ring. Drago raised his gloves to his stomach, as did Rocky. Drago gently pushed Rocky's gloves and spoke to him softly saying, "To the end…"

Rocky looked at him, slightly surprised by this show of emotion. The two circled each other as Rocky came to the realization that Drago had no choice but to kill Apollo. If he didn't kill him: he'd be killed. He was nothing but a pawn, a slave to a brutal system that he used to have faith in. And now Rocky was fighting a man who had realized his sinful mistakes on the very same day that his savior…the man who came to save them all from sin was born. Rocky felt a bit of guilt on his part for partaking in brutal warfare on this holy day of days.

Drago punched Rocky in the head. Then another punch from Drago.

"Come on!" Drago said in a muffled voice, inviting Rocky with his arm to attack.

Did he want to lose? Did he want Rocky to knock him out and make this evil empire fall?

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Three powerful punches from Drago. Maybe not. Or maybe Drago wanted Rocky to win, but having to use everything in him to do so.

"Come on!! What are you waiting for?" yelled Tony.

"Come on!!" yelled Drago, inviting Rocky forward with hi arm.

Drago punched Rocky, and then got the same invitation from Rocky he had been getting. Drago accepted it and threw a punch at Rocky. He dodged it by moving his head to the side. Then another punch was dodged the same way. After Rocky dodged four punches Rocky yelled "Come on!! Fight!!"

Bam! Drago punched Rocky and invited him to come and attack. Rocky didn't, and thus did Drago begin to be the one throwing all the punches. Then Rocky made a leaping punch at Drago's head, and it created a loud thud on impact. Another powerful leaping punch! And another! Drago was in the lower right hand corner of the ring, and Rocky began punching him strongly. They moved to the end of the ropes for a bit, but then Rocky punched Drago back into the corner.

Drago then unleashed a powerful blow to Rocky's head, sending him stuttering back a few feet. Then in the center of the ring they once again began that famous exchange of punches. Bam! Drago made a powerful punch! Bam! Rocky made a powerful punch! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Then Drago suddenly got three punches in. But Rocky made up for it by giving Drago punches the body as opposed to the head. He slowly but surely began pounding Drago's gut with his right arm. Then he began punching Drago's head, first with his left and then his right. Then Drago began punching at Rocky and they re-entered the center of the ring.

Bam! Bam! Rocky was the only one of them getting blows in. He was pounding away with the last of his strength.

"You're gonna do it!!" yelled Taarin from the crowd.

Bam! Drago spun around slightly before falling to the ground hard. Rocky had made the giant Russian fall for the first time in the long match. Rocky ran towards him but the ref pushed him back. He ran towards him again yelling "Come on! Come on!!" but the ref pushed him back again and began the count.

" 1…2… "

" Get up, Ivan!! " yelled Ludmilla.

" 3…4…5…6… "

Drago struggled to get up, clinging onto the ropes for support. He slowly managed to raise himself off the ground.

" 7…8…9…10!! "

Drago fell through the ropes at that sound and Rocky raised both his arms in victory as he shut his eyes tight. The entire ring began to fill with people.

"10!! Rocky Pinnicle has done it!! This is absolute pandemonium and the crowd loves it!!"

The crowd was proudly chanting Rocky's name as the crowd in the ring lifted him up. Maci draped him with his American flag and Rocky waved to the people. Drago had only the ref to help get him up after the painful match. As Drago got back into a standing position, Rocky was lowered to the ground. A microphone was put in front of his face.

"Thank…thank you," Rocky said, out of breath. Bearfrog, holding the mic quickly put the mic up to his mouth and translated the words for the people.

"I came here tonight, and I didn't know what to expect…" said Rocky. BearFrog than translated it into Russian for the crowd. "I've seen a lot of people hating me…I didn't know how…to feel about that…so I guess…I didn't really like you much either…"

BearFrog said a much shorter phrase since he didn't know how to translate everything Rocky said. He just hoped the people got the jist of it.

"During this…fight…I've seen a lot of changing…the way you felt about me…and the way I felt about you…" Rocky said, BearFrog cutting in between each break to translate.

"In here…there were two men…killing each other…but…I guess…that's better…than twenty million…"

Kotoff had returned to the others after being tossed down by Drago and was sitting with an angry scowl on his face while his fellow members of the Soviet government were listening intently to Rocky.

"All I'm trying to say is…If I can change…And you can change…Anybody can change!!"

The crowd cheered wildly at this. There was an explosion of applause from the crowd. Every government official seated in the balcony gave Rocky a slow standing ovation. Except for Kotoff. He was still sitting when the other members looked at him angrily, and he then got up and applauded.

"I just want to say one thing, to my girlfriend out in the crowd…Taarin! I love you!!" yelled Rocky. BearFrog translated. "And Merry Christmas to all of you!!"

" And Merry Christmas to all of you!! "

Taarin met Rocky in the center of the ring and they gave each other a loving hug.

"Oh Rocky, I love you!!" she said before she kissed him.

"Will you marry me?" he asked.

"What?"

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes!! Oh, yes!!" she yelled as she hugged her future husband. BearFrog was kind enough to translate for both of them, even using Taarin's dramatic feminine tones when speaking. It made him giggle on the side.

Silence in the darkness creeps into your soul

Envy moves the light of self control

The gate that holds you captive has the door

Burnin' with determination to even up the score

Heart's on fire, strong desire, rages deep within

Heart's on fire, fever's risin', high

The moment of truth draws near

Time will not allow you to stay still, no

Silence breaks the heart and bends the will

Defense is guilty passions out of control

Rules and regulations have no meaning any more

Heart's on fire, strong desire, rages deep within

Heart's on fire, fever's risin', high

The moment of truth is here

Heart's on fire, strong desire, rages deep within

Fever's risin', energizin', right up to till end

Heart's on fire

Strong desire

Rages deep within

Fever's risin'

Energizin'

Right up till the end

Ooooh

Heart's on fire

Strong desire

Raging till the end…

Epilogue:

Kotoff's comrades in government overthrew him and his evil regime. Together they restored things back to the way they were after the Cold War, only this time they were working to turn China, Cuba and North Korea into Democratic Non-Communist Nations. Relations has been going well and it seems that world peace is getting closer and closer by the day. Who knows, it may even reach that point someday…

But, if evil should ever rear its ugly head again, another hero shall step up and rise to the call. His heart will be burning with the fires of a thousand suns and he won't stop fighting. He'll be there right up till the end…His strong desire raging until the end of the battle. For even if this hero loses, he will not lose without a fight.

And as for the hero of our story, he and Taarin were happily married in a beautiful cathedral inside of the great city of Boston. That, to him, was an even bigger victory than his match against Ivan Drago.