"Link! What are you doing?!" Tracy shrieked. "STOP!!"

She managed to yank Link back, but not before serious damage had been done. Blood gushed from IQ's nose, where he had been punched repeatedly. Gashes striped his face where his broken glasses had raked his cheeks. Too shocked to fight back, he hadn't been able to injure Link, but Tracy was scared enough to cry anyway.

"STOP ROLLING!" Edna yelled.

Unfortunately, too much of the dramatic footage, being live, had already aired, but the cameras were cut early enough not to show the horrific picture presented by IQ's suddenly grotesque face.

"LARKIN!" Corny couldn't help but cry out. "What was THAT?"

Link wiped the gathering sweat off his forehead. "He insulted my girl," he snarled, trying to hug Tracy.

She wrenched away, frightened.

"Your girl?" IQ spluttered. He began to laugh. "You're going with her?"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand," Link snapped. "I love her."

IQ began to laugh even harder.

Tracy burst out of the studio. Edna sighed, knowing she'd just go home, and decided to stay and try to clean up the mess. Link let out a shout of frustration, pushing through the crowds of concerned council members, trying to follow Tracy.

"Tracy!" he gasped, trying to catch up. "Please! Trace, I'm sorry. I just couldn't let him get away with that."

Tracy shook her head.

"Link, why can't people just accept me for who I am?" she wept.

"Trace," Link murmured into her hair as she cried into his chest, "you know that you're the only girl that I'll every really love, even if you don't look like some of the other girls on the show."

"What about Amber?" Tracy sniffled.

"Awww, Trace… you can find girls like her everywhere," Link sighed, frustrated with himself for even going with Amber at all. "But I know for a fact that there's only one you. And that's who I'm really in love with."

Tracy sniffled again. "Really?"

Link nodded.

"I don't deserve you," she said, crying harder.

"Tracy Turnblad, you're the most amazing girl I've ever met," Link told her, holding her at arms' length to wipe away the tears running down her face gently with his thumb.

With a deep breath, Tracy looked up at her beloved boyfriend with a small smile.

"Well, in that case, I have a reputation to uphold," she said. "Take me for a walk, Link. We're going for a short one. To your car. I'm going to give you the most amazing night of your life."