Here's the chapter you've all been waiting for! King vs. Marduk!
Chapter 23: Blood and Sweat
"K.O.!" the announcer yelled as Kim Seung Mina hit the ground. She had just been beaten by her own boyfriend, Jaime Parker. As soon as she hit the ground, Jaime ran over to her to make sure she was okay. Lifting her up into his arms, she began to speak.
"You…held back." Jaime looked into her brown almond eyes and replied, "No matter how much I want this, I could never go all-out on you. I love you more than anybody in this world." After carrying her out of the ring, Jaime nodded to King who was watching from the sidelines.
'Marduk…you are going down this night…' King thought to himself as he did Armor King's traditional arm-swing stretch, entering the ring. "For Peter, I have to do my best. And for Armor King, I have to defeat Marduk."
That's when he heard it. The monstrous growl of the man named Marduk. All cocky and full of pride, he jumped over the ropes and walked up to King, smiling as he did so.
"Well look who we have here, the boy's father and the dead guy's son. Stuck in the middle, you're life is meaningless now. With any luck, Peter won't make it through that unfortunate beating. By the way…anyone ever find out who did it? HAHAHA!" Marduk said as he stared into King's green eyes. King could feel his anger boiling up inside of him and he wasn't going to take it much longer.
"Ohhh Marduk, wait to the ref gives the cue…you are going to die…" he replied, causing Marduk to stop laughing. Hitting his head and walking forward, Marduk yelled out to King.
"I'll break ya face!" he said as he dropped into his stance. King smiled inwardly as he too took a defensive position. The referee came forward and raised his arm in the air. Time seemed to speed up for King as he saw the referee's arm go down.
"Fight!" he yelled.
King was the first to move. Throwing his elbow forward, he was pleased by the sound Marduk made once it connected with his abdomen. Next, King thrust his knee into his stomach, using his traditional 'Rwaar!' sound. Marduk tried to block, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid King's straight-punch to the face. Allowing Marduk some time to recover, King jumped around in his stance, backing away at the same time.
"You damn fool!" Marduk yelled as he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Charging forward, he threw one of his heavy fists towards King's face. Expecting this, King blocked and retaliated with a kick to the shin. Using this moment of temporary weakness, Marduk kicked him in the stomach and punched his face using both fists.
"Argh!" King yelled as he rolled backwards across the floor. While it did hurt, King was way too determined to let the pain get the better of him. He was going to fight and he was going to fight until he couldn't do it anymore.
Rising to his feet, he dodged a roundhouse kick and thrust his fist into Marduk's groin area. Jumping backwards, Marduk yelled out in pain as he clutched his area.
"You ass! That hurt!" With that, he jumped forward, tackling King to the ground. Straddling him in between his muscular legs, Marduk raised his fists, ready to pound on King's face. King raised his hands before his face, trying to provide some form of protection for himself. Marduk laughed as he began to toy around with King, faking him out and then slamming his fists into his face.
King could barely take the pain any longer, but he was determined to win. Using all of his might, King pushed Marduk off to the side and jumped up to his feet. Grabbing Marduk, he fell back to the ground and used his famous Rolling Death Cradle attack. Marduk yelled out in pain as the two rolled across the floor. King's weight smashed against Marduk as he banged his head on the floor.
Jumping off of him, King stood up and moved around in his stance, waiting for Marduk to rise again. Marduk could barely see straight. That attack had really done him some damage, but he was far too masculine to admit it. Getting tired of waiting, King kicked him in the ribs, sending him rolling away.
Marduk began to feel overwhelmed. He could feel the odds shifting over to King's favor. 'I should have prepared harder for this!' he thought as he struggled to stand up. Finally reaching his goal of standing tall, Marduk made the next move.
"RAAAAHHHHH!" He yelled as he charged yet again at King. Seeing this coming, King sidestepped the tackle and launched a Disgraceful Kick to his backside. Marduk fell face first into the floor, groaning in pain as he did so.
"I WILL avenge my mentor!" King yelled as he performed a Moonsault Body Press. Landing on Marduk, he then moved into a painful armbar. Marduk yelled in a mixture of rage and pain. It was then that he realized that he was going to lose.
"C'mon King! Enough's enough! I didn't even mean any of what I did!" Marduk yelled, pleading to have his arm spared. Becoming enraged with Marduk's words, King strained even harder on his arm, causing him to yell out in agony. The arm bar threatened to break Marduk's arm. Feeling a stroke of mercy, King let go and instead jumped on top of Marduk.
"This one's for Peter." King said before he punched him in the face.
"And this is for Armor King, the innocent man that you KILLED!" That said, King began to beat him senseless. The referee ran up to him and tried desperately to pull him away. King just pushed the man away and continued to pummel Marduk into unconsciousness. Just then, a thought struck him.
'Peter must be watching…I…I can't kill this man in front of him…' he thought. Looking around, he saw the audience. Many of them looked petrified. King felt his guilt begin to kick in.
'I can't commit this crime…not in front of all these people…'
"Be grateful Marduk. These people just spared you some time." With that, King got off of him and threw his arms up in victory. He had done it, he had avenge Armor King's death.
Grabbing the microphone from the referee, King began to make an announcement.
"Hello all. I thank you for supporting me in my time of need. I have accomplished my goal. This is to announce that I, King, will be forfeiting the tournament."