King paced the ring as his new opponent stepped in. He had faced many opponents before, but none as strange as this. His opponent was just a little girl. Ling had come to challenge King. It was the strangest match the luchadore could have ever imagined. Ling was just a child in comparison to him. It made him feel slightly guilty that he had to fight a woman. He was King, the world's greatest wrestler. Now a child came to mock his skills and abilities.

The bell rang and king charged at the girl. His plan was to grab her, pin her and no one would get hurt. This idea was flawed, since Ling was as a praying mantis. Every time he tried to grab her, Ling just flipped away. To say it was irritating was more then an understatement. Ling's continuous high and low kicks were devastating to King's defense. Not willing to go all out against a female child, he rolled away from Ling.

The barrages came over and over again. King was forced into a corner, but was unable to mount any defense. He could easily have drop kicked her, but he was afraid of breaking her neck. The luchadore was helpless as one of Ling's kicks finally knocked him out. The whole crowd was stunned by the event. The great and mighty King had been knocked out by a child. It was then that Ling did the unthinkable. She put her hands on the corners of King's mask and with a quick jerk, she unmasked King publicly. She didn't mean for anything bad to happen, she just wanted to know what King's face looked like. Hundreds of reporters took pictures of the unmasked and unconscious King. His honor and dignity were lost in just a few moments.

A hand grasped Ling's shoulder and she turned around to see the disappointed eyes of her grandfather. She thought her grandfather would be proud, but his eyes were filled with sadness. "Ling, what have you done?"

"Grandpa, why are you so mad. I won." Ling tried talking to her grandfather as they took a plain back home to China. She had never seen her grandfather so distraught in her life. The whole world saw her defeat King. Instead of praise, she was receiving reproach. Her grandfather looked as though he were about to cry.

"Ling, how could you remove his mask?" Wang said as if he could not believe the words were coming out of his mouth.

"I just wanted to see what his face looked like." Ling pouted, "Besides, aren't you happy I won. I beat the world's greatest wrestler in a wrestling match."

"I am proud you won, but Ling, when a luchadore looses his mask, he can never wrestle again. His mask is his pride and dignity. It is the tradition of the luchadores to proudly walk into the ring with their masks. The mask is a symbol of all they stand for. When you removed King's mask, you took away everything he had. He can never wrestle again." Wang's voice was almost yelling.

"I didn't know the mask meant so much to him. Can't he just put the mask on?" Ling asked.

"No, King took a vow the day he lost his mask would be the day he would stop wrestling. You can't change the past Ling." Wang lowered his head in shame.

Ling came to the door of the orphanage. Against her grandfather's wishes, she had come back to Mexico. The place was a small place and it had an aura of sadness all about it. There seemed to be very little life left in the area. She saw a child sitting in a rocking chair. The child was holding a news paper with the words "King Whooped by Little Girl," written in bold on the top page. Ling couldn't look the girl in the face.

She knocked gently on the door and waited, a deep sense of regret plagued her heart. A seven year old boy with freckles opened the door. His face was caked with dirt. With one stare Ling, he said, "What do you want?"

"I came here to see King." She asked politely.

"He's not here!" He yelled and began to slam the door, but luckily it was first caught by a large hand. It was the hand of King.

"That's enough Fernando, this young lady and I have much to discuss. Please go see the others." King said as he stepped into view. He bore a smile, but there was a hurt inside him that Ling could see. His eyelids drooped and his cheeks slacked, but the strength was not gone.

"Sorry about Fernando, he is a bit emotional for his age." King smiled.

"King I…I…" Ling wanted to say something to make things better, but the words were simply not there.

"Please, my name Tiago Gomez. I am no longer King. The King is dead." Tiago answered.

"I am so sorry. I didn't know I would cause so much trouble. I just wanted to see your face. I didn't know what the mask meant." Ling began to cry with such pain and anguish that Tiago could not help, but feel for her.

"Ling don't cry. You won the right to take my mask. It was my own fault for not taking you seriously. I did not see you as a fighter. I saw you as just another girl. I considered you weak simply because of your gender. It was my own fault for losing and I have no one else, but myself." Tiago coaxed Ling and her tears began to stop dripping.

"Mr. Gomez, maybe we can have another match. If you can beat me, maybe you can…" Ling tried to pull some scheme, but King stopped her mid sentence.

"Ling, stop. I told you, what is done, is done. It is good that you came to take responsibility, but there are things in this world that you can't take back. Yes, I must suffer. The orphanage will suffer, but there is some shred of light." King smiled warmly as he embraced the weeping girl.

"I don't understand." Ling answered.

"Many times in life we make mistakes. Some we can't take back. Tell me, what have you learned." Mr. Gomez asked.

"What do you mean?" Ling questioned.

"You know the answer in your heart, otherwise you would not be here." Mr. Gomez answered.

"I think that…" Ling bit her lip. "I think that I shouldn't always let my curiosity take control of me."

"Then it is not a total loss, you learned. Now you must move on. Go home to your grandfather. I am sure he misses you." Mr Gomez smiled.

"What will happen to you?" Ling murmured softly as she wiped off her tears.

"I can't wrestle anymore, but I will find a way to provide for myself." Tiago shrugged.

"This isn't fair. Things are not supposed to be this way." Ling denied herself.

"Life is not always happy Ling, but that makes it worth living. We take in everything and just hope we draw the better straw." King answered sadly.

"Are you mad at me?" Ling asked.

"No, I am not mad at anyone. Getting angry does not solve problems." Tiago answered with a wisdom Ling could not truly understand, but was beginning to understand. "Stop fretting yourself. Just go to you grandfather and remember what I said."

Ling walked away with her shoulders drooped, but before she left she turned one last time. On last tear stroked Ling's cheeks. "You may not have a mask, but your still a luchadore in my eyes, King. You will always be King to me."