A/N: Hey, guys! In the previous chapter, Little Mac defeated the World Champion, Mike Tyson. However, it looks like someone is staring at him. Who will be? Let's find out!

Chapter 22: Celebration and a terrible plot

(''Traverse In Trance- Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance OST'')

After his win against Mike Tyson, Little Mac invited his parents, Doc Louis, Donkey Kong and the other boxers, including Mike himself, to dinner at a luxury restaurant to celebrate the event, and they all dressed up elegantly for the for the occasion. Everyone was there except Mr. Sandman, which made him a little suspicious: although he has earned the respect of other boxers, including Aran Ryan, Super Macho Man and Mike Tyson, Mr. Sandman has been in a bad mood for weeks for the loss of the title of Champion against him. This affected the evening very little, however.

''Oh yeah, it feels good, tonight's victory.'' Mac said.

''You can say it for sure! By now, I understand there is a reason you are the WVBA Champion.'' Super Macho Man agreed.

''I share your thoughts.'' Mike agreed.

Glass Joe took a bottle of champagne and filled all the glasses. ''Un toast à Mac. (A toast to Mac.)'' he said.

''To Mac.'' they all said, while Piston Honda nodded.

"Cheers." Mac's dad then said, and they all reached out their glasses and made them touch each other, then started drinking champagne while they waited for the food they ordered.

Mac, his parents, Disco Kid and Mike had ordered a New York-style pizza, Doc a plate of mac'n'cheese(1) and barbecue ribs, Bear Hugger a salmon, Glass Joe a ratatouille and a quiche, Von Kaiser a Weiner Schnitzel cutlet, Don Flamenco a paella, Super Macho Man some buffalo wings, King Hippo a large quantity of tropical fruits, Soda Popinski some kasha porridge, Piston Honda some sushi, or rice in vinegar with mixed fish, Aran Ryan a beef stew and Donkey Kong pancakes with maple syrup and fruit, including bananas. However, Bald Bull is Islamic and according to the rule of impure foods, he avoids pork, shellfish, crabs and amphibians and must eat with his right hand, so he ordered pilau rice, while Great Tiger is Hindu, and according to the law, it would have been considered a sin to eat the meat of a killed animal, especially beef, since the bovine is considered sacred to them, so while eating meat in general is allowed according to the Hindus, the Hindu population generally prefers a vegetarian lifestyle. He chose to order some Biryani rice and tandoori chicken.

''Bon appétit! Allons dejeuner! (Enjoy your meal! Let's eat!)'' Joe shouted.

''Sometimes, I'm amazed at this mix of cultures in the United States. There are so many minorities here from all over the world that their culture has spread.'' Mac said, as he bit his pizza.

''Yeah. For more than a century now, people from Europe and around the world have moved here, and their culture coexists with ours. Our great grandparents, our ancestors came here to improve their living conditions, and today, this population is made up of the descendants of those who migrated here.'' replied Mom.

''I really should try these dishes, I've never tried many other than the American ones. Maybe I could do it next time.'' the boy said.

''Incluso ahora, si tu quieres. (Even now, if you would like to.)'' replied Don Flamenco.

''When you're done eating, we who aren't from America will leave you a small dose of our dishes so you can try them.'' said Great Tiger.

''You changed us for the better, and we deeply respect you for it.'' Bald Bull said.

''And not returning the favor doesn't seem fair to me, it would make us bad friends.''

''I warn you of one thing about King Hippo: he eats all day and sleeps after dark, and Mac has noticed that he expresses himself with burp-like sounds.'' Doc told everyone, warning them about King Hippo, who in fact emitted a noisy burp. Mac and his coach laughed.

''No offense, King Hippo, but it's not very polite to burp during the meal.'' Bear Hugger said.

Mac finished eating his pizza, so all the non-Americans took turns passing him their plates with a small dose of their food for him to taste, starting with Piston Honda. The young American enjoyed the flavor of the various fish in the dish, to the delight of the Japanese, and tried all the dishes outside of America. He enjoyed all the dishes, including the Asian ones, and felt as full as an egg. ''They are really good, especially European dishes! Thank you very much. Maybe in the future I will travel outside the United States.'' he said, satisfied.

''Nos somos feliz que te hayan gustado. (We're glad you liked them.)'' replied Don Flamenco.

Suddenly, the young American felt a lot of air heading towards his throat. ''Oh-oh. Sorry, I think I'm going to burp, I'm stuffed. I have to expel gas.'' he warned, closing his mouth, and King Hippo chuckled a little. No matter how much he tried, even drinking a glass of water, he couldn't stop the air from escaping, emitting a burp. It was less noisy than King Hippo's, but the fact that he had made it embarrassed him, as he was in front of everyone. ''Oops...'' he murmured.

(''Traverse In Trance-Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance OST-s'')

(''Staff Roll- Rayman 2 The Great Escape OST'')

Mac thought he would be thrown out of the restaurant because of the burp, but he was surprised by the reactions of the others: starting with Doc, everyone laughed at the unexpected event, so he laughed too. At that moment, he saw fireworks outside, and after the check was paid, he went out with the others to see them. ''What a wonderful evening! It's like the best day of my life!'' he exclaimed.

Suddenly, Donkey Kong saw a firework on the ground, put Mac and his coach on his back and climbed onto it, just before it ignited and went up into the sky. Startled, Doc grabbed the gorilla's armpits firmly to avoid falling and smashing his back, while Mac was elated. When the firework got high enough, Donkey Kong nodded at the two, so the two humans jumped and took a pose, and the firework exploded, taking the shape of the three in the same pose as before. They then began to descend, and so Mac and his trainer clung tightly to the gorilla to stay on his back until they hit the ground. Everyone was amazed, and Mac was immediately lifted and hurled up repeatedly.

''LONG LIVE THE CHAMPION!'' they all shouted. Once again, during the celebration, no one noticed that someone was watching secretly, and that someone didn't seem happy.

(''Staff Roll- Rayman 2 The Great Escape OST-s'')

Mac went to sleep earlier than usual, at 10 PM, and the next morning, at 7 AM, he decided to go out for a walk with Doc and Donkey Kong. The gorilla made ape noises.

''I don't understand what you said, DK.'' Doc was a little confused.

The boy remembered that Donkey Kong had given him a special translator so that he could understand his language and other foreign languages. ''He says that his clan, the Kongs, lives on his island.'' he explained.

''Donkey Kong has a family?'' asked the dark-skinned man.

Donkey Kong nodded and continued speaking in his language.

''Yes, he says the tie he wears is symbolic, and he has a nephew, Diddy, a spider monkey. He's currently still young and his parents have disappeared under unknown circumstances, and as he's his uncle, he's his closest relative, and therefore it's up to him to raise him. And then there's his grandfather, Cranky, who is now old and grouchy, and when he was still in his prime, he kidnapped a girl.(2)'' Mac explained.

''OK. Maybe we'll meet Diddy.'' Doc replied.

"Sounds interesting." Mac said. Suddenly, he heard laughter and saw six boys he recognized, all armed with a knife. ''YOU!'' he suddenly screamed.

Doc was surprised. ''Mac, do you know these guys?'' he asked.

''Yes! They are the bullies who stalked me at school and killed Mark last year! They killed my brother!'' the boy shouted, full of anger. He then turned to the other boys. ''What are you doing here?! You have already killed my little brother, what do you want from me?!''

''You have something that does not belong to you.'' replied the bullies.

''Wait a sec. Aren't you guys referring to the title of Champion?'' Mac asked, realizing that he was referring to his title.

''Exactly. A klutz like you can't be the Champion. Mr. Sandman was very unhappy that he lost twice against you, and sent us. Besides, who is that imbecile who trained you?''

The young boxer felt a little shocked, knowing he was right to suspect Mr. Sandman, but realized that those bullies were insulting his trainer. ''What?! Does Mr. Sandman want to usurp me? And for your information, the one you're calling an ''imbecile'' was Doc Louis, a boxing champion years ago!'' he exclaimed.

''You don't deserve to be here, and you made a big mistake becoming a boxer. I don't even understand why you have that big gorilla on your side! We will kill you like we killed your brother.'' said the leader of the group.

Hearing that insult, Donkey Kong was furious, and Mac prepared to fight. ''That will mean that I will have to knock you out!'' he shouted, and suddenly, it started to rain.

''Are you crazy?! They'll kill you!'' exclaimed Doc.

''That's the point! They don't want to kill you and Donkey Kong, Doc, it's me who they want! They will probably want to kill you guys after they get rid of me, but I won't let them!'' replied the young man.

(''Team Galactic Boss Cyrus Battle- Pokémon Diamond & Pearl OST'')

The bullies attacked first in an attempt to stab Mac with their knives, but he dodged their attacks with his speed, also being helped by Doc and Donkey Kong, who occasionally punched them. One of them pushed the young champion to the ground and grabbed him by the neck, pointing the knife to his throat, being stopped by a kick in the face by Doc.

''Cover me!'' Mac shouted, and his allies positioned themselves next to him. Donkey Kong, being stronger and more resilient, didn't have much trouble, but one of the guys pulled out a gun and was about to shoot him in the chest when someone jumped in front of him.

*BANG!*

Mac had jumped in front of the gorilla to protect him, getting shot himself, and fell to the ground, feeling a terrible pain in his right knee, which was bleeding.

''Nooooo!'' Doc yelled, horrified. He then turned to those who dared to shoot his protégé. ''That's it! You won't like it when I'm angry!'' he shouted angrily, starting to fight more aggressively.

On the ground, the young boxer remembered that Doc had never been so angry since, during training before the match against Glass Joe, he prevented him from eating his chocolate bar by making it fly away with a punch, making him so angry that he took off his red jacket and revealed a yellow jersey with a jaguar-spotted pattern that left him disgusted(3). After he stood up, another of the boys tried to hit him in the chest, forcing him to move sideways to avoid being hit there, but he was stabbed in the left arm, then in the right one, then kicked in the chest and suffocated again, as the bully tried to point the knife to his throat. He broke free by hitting him in the face with his knee, but he was then stabbed four more times, two in the stomach and two in the chest, forcing him to put a hand over his wounds to try to slow the bleeding, while a pool of blood formed at his feet. Two children, brother and sister, who were walking with their father, witnessed the scene in horror, and when their father noticed it too, they went into a nearby telephone booth and immediately called the police. Mac knocked out one of the thugs with a uppercut, but another one pushed him against the wall and pushed the knife into his left shoulder, creating a seventh slash that was deeper than the others, causing him to lose even more blood. Mac stunned him with an uppercut to the chest and an overhand to the face, while the others were defeated by Donkey Kong and Doc, who were unharmed.

''Let's get out of here, before they attack us again!'' exclaimed the coach. With torn clothes, seven lacerations and one injured leg, Mac could barely stand. He was ahead of his allies, but he heard a breath that alarmed him, realizing that the thugs had recovered and threw Doc to the ground to try to slit his throat. He pushed the one closest to his coach to the ground with his elbow and saw another one run towards them with his knife. ''Look out, Doc!'' he shouted, standing directly in front of him. Shortly thereafter, there was another terrible sound of blood splashing, causing the black man to gasp in horror, and Donkey Kong, equally horrified, saw the boy's knife from before sticking into Mac's back, creating an eighth, even deeper slash than the one on his shoulder. The bully pulled it back and the young champion let out a scream of pain.

''MAC!'' Doc screamed, very worried, and Mac harshly fell to the ground on his side, with a large pool of blood at his feet. Enraged, Donkey Kong pounded his chest and let out a gorilla roar, startling them and forcing them to flee, and then let out more angry noises which the coach translated as something like ''COWARDS! DON'T SHOW YOUR FACES HERE EVER AGAIN, YOU COWARDS!''.

Doc immediately ran over to Mac, took off his jacket and wrapped it around his body in a desperate attempt to slow his blood loss. ''Mac, please don't leave us like this, not after everything you've done so far...'' he murmured, with tears in his eyes.

''Take me... to the hospital...'' Mac said, in a weak voice, and coughing hard.

(''Team Galactic Boss Cyrus Battle- Pokémon Diamond & Pearl OST-s'')

''Donkey Kong, we need to get to the nearest hospital! I'm not fast enough to get there in time!'' Doc exclaimed, agitated. Donkey Kong motioned for him to get on his back and for Mac to grab his tie firmly and not let go. The gorilla started running as fast as he could to find a hospital, and the man was anxious. Those injuries could be fatal to Mac, and if not the wounds, the blood loss would be. ''Mac... don't die... just don't... die...'' he thought. When they finally got to the hospital, he got out of the gorilla and picked up Mac, whose vision was beginning to get blurred due to the loss of blood, reaching the reception as quickly as possible. ''It's an emergency!'' he shouted.

''Oh my god! What happened?'' asked a nurse.

''I'm the boxing coach of this boy, Mac. He's seventeen. We were going for a walk with a friend when due to the attack of a gang of bullies who killed his brother Mark last year, he was repeatedly stabbed and shot! We're fine, but Mac is badly injured and lost a lot of blood. Help him, quickly!'' cried Doc in a panic.

The nurse realized the condition of the injured young man. ''Bring a stretcher for this boy, now!'' she ordered, and together with other nurses, she immediately took him to the operating room.

A/N: Oh, noes! Those thugs who killed Mac's brother Mark were hired by Mr. Sandman to take him out, and now Mac lost conciousness due to his injuries! What will happen? Find out in the next chapters! See you soon!

(1): Maybe it doesn't seem like it, but it's a pun between Mac's name and the dish, mac'n'cheese. The dishes that everyone ordered come from the cuisine of their respective countries.

(2): If you didn't understand in my first fanfic, Cranky Kong was the Donkey Kong who kidnapped Pauline in Donkey Kong, in Donkey Kong 2, he is shown he has a son, DK Jr., and the current Donkey Kong is his grandson. This means that Cranky is DK I, Jr. is DK II and the Donkey Kong we know is DK III. Diddy is generally regarded as Donkey Kong's best friend, and according to some sources, including Donkey Kong 64, they are related as uncle and nephew, thus making Cranky Diddy's great-grandfather. Also, according to a couple of sources, the tie DK wears is a symbol of exceptional service for his clan.

(3): This is what happens if you hit Doc's chocolate bar in Doc Louis's Punch-Out! and stop him from eating it.