Ultimate Muscle Fan Fiction ❯ I Want You Bad ❯ The Power of Love ( Chapter 3 )

A/N: ::Smiles sheepishly:: Hi Jaeger fans! Got to love that boy Jaeger, eh? He's the tops! ::Ducks and winces in anticipation of imminent lynching:: Please understand when I say that what happens in this chapter is totally necessary for the development of this story. And please don't hate me!

 

Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Ultimate Muscle!

 

Recap: Meat caught the gang spying on Generation X, and Kiki's mind is still a million miles away; and Dik Dik wants to know where!

 

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Chapter 3 - The Power of Love

 

Kiki carefully walked along the front row of spectators, balancing her tray of burgers and sodas on her arms as she made her way to her seat. She had arrived a little earlier than Roxanne and Trixie, and so she had decided to go straight to the snack stand and then meet the girls at their ringside seats.

 

“Gosh, Kiki, Roxanne done told us you was a givin' sort o' gal, but one burger would have been just dandy, there was no need to go buyin' me two!”

 

Kiki froze at the last remaining empty seat in her section of the sold out stadium, looking down at the person sitting next to it in confused shock.

 

“Kiki, you don't look so happy to be seein' me, are you alright?” Terry asked, frowning up at her.

 

“Terry,” Kiki eventually managed.

 

“Yeah, that's ma name!” Terry laughed.

 

“Oh, I'm sorry, Terry,” Kiki recovered. “I thought this was my seat, I must have got the wrong row number. I bought these burgers and cokes for Roxanne, Trixie and me.”

 

“Sweetie, Roxanne and Trixie are at the Achilles' Heel with Kid Muscle, watchin' Wally take on that giant jellyfish!” Terry explained. “Kid wanted to watch Wally's match cause if he wins his first round match, he'll be fightin' the winner. And that's why I'm here. Once I've beaten that “Eskara” feller, I'll be takin' on the winner o' this here match-up.”

 

“But...”

 

Kiki looked down at her tray, which was growing increasingly heavy in her arms, then back at Terry.

 

“We always go the IWF matches together...” she finished quietly.

 

“Well, I reckon your friends wanted to come to this match, but it turns out Roxanne wanted to be with Kid,” Terry replied.

 

“What about Trixie?” Kiki moaned. “If Roxanne went to the Achilles' Heel with Kid Muscle, why didn't Trixie come here with me? Why did they leave me all on my own?”

 

“You're not on your own, sweetie!” Terry said brightly. “You've got me here! And Dik Dik's comin' up to fight soon! You like Dik Dik, right?”

 

Kiki sighed softly, sitting down next to Terry.

 

“I'm sorry Terry,” she apologised, handing him a burger. “I didn't mean that I didn't want to sit with you, I just thought it was weird that the girls went somewhere else without telling me.”

 

“Ah, don't worry yourself none,” Terry assured her, before biting into his burger.

 

Kiki smiled at him sweetly, lifting a soda from her tray.

 

“The main thing is, you're here to cheer Dik Dik on in his match,” Terry continued, through a mouthful of food. “And I see you even put on a nice short skirt for him.”

 

Kiki spat out the mouthful of soda she had been in process of drinking, turning to stare at Terry with wide, horrified eyes.

 

“What did you just say?” she gasped.

 

“Here he comes now, look!” Terry said, ignoring Kiki.

 

Kiki, with her mouth still hanging open in shock, turned towards the ring, watching as Dik Dik climbed up and through the ropes, waving a hand at the cheering fans. She watched him turn on the spot in the centre of the ring, waving at every side of the audience.

 

As he passed her section, he paused, and then turned back, grinning and winking directly at her.

 

“Oh my God!” Kiki mumbled to herself.

 

“Well now I knew you had a soft spot for ol' Van Dik, but don't ya think that's goin' just an itty bitty too far there?” Terry echoed, frowning at Kiki.

 

“What?” Kiki asked, turning to look at Terry again.

 

“You just said Dik Dik was your God!” Terry said, slyly pulling a second burger from the tray whilst Kiki was distracted.

 

“No I didn't!” Kiki wailed. “I said that... Oh... But...”

 

“Now now, Kiki, you don't gotta hide anythin' from me,” Terry assured her, winking knowingly at her. “We all know what's goin' on between you and Dik Dik!”

 

“But nothing's going on between me and Dik Dik!” Kiki protested.

 

“Oh I understand completely!” Terry replied, winking again and tapping a finger against the side of his nose.

 

“But...”

 

Kiki sighed in despair, silently deciding that she was fighting a losing battle. She turned back to the ring in time to see Jaeger step through the ropes, punching a fist into the air as he was introduced to the audience. The reaction he got was almost as vociferous as the cheer Dik Dik had received only moments ago.

 

Kiki grabbed up a paper napkin from her tray, wiping the soda she had spilt from her chin and her skirt, silently noting that the hemline of her skirt had ridden up quite considerably since she had sat down, no doubt leading to Terry's earlier comment. She tugged at it in frustration, before eventually moving the tray over her bare knees.

 

She noticed she only had one burger and two sodas left. From the corner of her eye, she saw Terry finishing the second burger, with the third soda in one hand. She smiled to herself, happy at least that her extra purchases would not go to waste. She looked at the tray for a moment longer, quietly wondering why she felt colder.

 

Kiki lifted her head, turning to look directly at Terry, to see if he had noticed the drop in temperature too. Terry ignored her gesture, remaining slouched in his seat, one hand clutching his soda by his leg, the other arm draped across the back of Kiki's seat.

 

Kiki looked up at the ring, looking first at Jaeger, than Dik Dik. Dik Dik winked at her again as their eyes met, and she quickly turned away, spotting a dark figure sitting down into a front row seat at the other side of the ring.

 

“Hey, that guy looks familiar!” Terry said, sitting forwards and pointing at the man Kiki was watching.

 

The bell rang for the start of the match, and Jaeger ran at Dik Dik; but Terry and Kiki were watching the mysterious stranger.

 

“Who do you think he is?” Kiki asked Terry. “He looks like the same man who was with Generation X at the gym!”

 

“I reckon it is the same man!” Terry agreed, glancing at Kiki to check that she was still distracted before stealing her third, and final, burger.

 

Kiki watched the mysterious man for a moment longer, before the odd cold feeling hit her again. She shivered involuntarily, her eyes moving unconsciously to the man seated next to the stranger. As she met his eyes, she found him looking directly at her, smiling slightly.

 

“Yep, I reckon it must be the same guy that was at the gym with Generation Ex, Kiki!” Terry added. “See he's sittin' with that Eskara feller, ma opponent in ma match tomorrow!”

 

“Eskara...” Kiki whispered, tilting her head slightly as she watched him.

 

Eskara continued to stare back at Kiki, his smile widening slightly as she said his name. He reached up one hand, and tugged at the brim of his large brown hat, in a polite greeting to her. Kiki unconsciously lifted one hand from her lap, waving back at him.

 

“That's right, Kiki, I'm going to win this one for you, baby!”

 

“Huh?” Kiki muttered, turning her head at the sound of a loud voice from inside the wrestling ring.

 

Dik Dik waved down at her, grinning widely as Jaeger bounced off the ropes, then charged towards him.

 

“Dik Dik, look out!” Kiki shouted at him, pointing at Jaeger.

 

“Fear not, my good lady!” Dik Dik called back to her.

 

Kiki held her breath as Jaeger closed in on Dik Dik; but Dik Dik effortlessly reached down, grabbed Jaeger's legs and threw the German Chojin over his shoulder.

 

“I have everything under control!” Dik Dik finished, giving Kiki a thumbs-up signal.

 

Kiki sat back in her seat, sighing in relief. Over the shouts of the crowd, the exuberant rantings of Doc Nakano and Mac Metaphor and the thumps and bumps inside the ring, Kiki could just make out a deep, dark laughter, floating through the air to her ears from the other side of the ring. Looking over, Kiki saw Eskara's shoulders twitching as he laughed openly at Dik Dik's exchange with her.

 

“Look at this!” Dik Dik said loudly, holding one hand up in the air. “How pathetic! It seems Jaeger can't fight without his silly little skull badge!”

 

“Hey, give zhat back!” Jaeger roared, stalking Dik Dik from the other side of the ring.

 

“Really, what does a grown man want with a girly little broche?” Dik Dik teased him.

 

“You don't understand, you stupid antelope!” Jaeger snapped.

 

“I'm a gazelle, you cretin!” Dik Dik growled, lowering his hand and closing a fist around Jaeger's skull badge.

 

“That broche is very important to me, it vas given to me by ze great Herr Broken Junior!” Jaeger fumed, waving a fist at Dik Dik.

 

“Broken Junior!” Terry announced, standing from his seat. “That's who that guy is!”

 

Dik Dik and Jaeger both briefly turned in the direction Terry was pointing, finding Broken Junior, sat silently by Eskara's side. Kiki briefly looked at the man they called Broken Junior, but she soon found her eyes wandering back to Eskara again. He sat forwards as though he was about to stand up, and Kiki suddenly felt a rush of butterflies in her chest.

 

Why was she reacting this way? Kiki had never felt such an unusual sensation in her life! It was almost as though she had been hoping Eskara was about to walk up to her; but why would she want him to come over to her? She had never even so much as spoken to the man, and, apart from the two other occasions she had briefly seen him, she knew nothing about him.

 

But she knew his name. Eskara. It was unusual and mysterious, and almost sounded like the sort of name an evil mafia boss would have.

 

And she knew the sound of his voice. That deep, rasping voice, laced with his rich, Italian-American accent. As she thought about his voice, Kiki suddenly felt the odd rush of butterflies race through her chest again.

 

She quickly clasped a hand to her chest, her eyes widening as she felt her heart pounding against the palm of her hand. What was wrong with her?

 

“Red Rain of Pain!” Jaeger yelled, swinging one arm up into the air.

 

Kiki looked up, gasping with the rest of the audience as she saw his hand glowing red as though it was on fire. A small, but lethally sharp, circular blade had burst out of the outer edge of Jaeger's hand. Jaeger chopped the blade at Dik Dik, who leapt back, narrowly avoiding the attack, his pupils shrinking as he sighted the blade winking at him through the red glow of Jaeger's charged attack. A chorus of “ooh”s rang throughout the stands as Jaeger swung his hand at Dik Dik a second time, again narrowly missing his chest.

 

“Dik Dik, be careful!” Kiki yelled.

 

Dik Dik glanced briefly at her, nodding his head to confirm that he had heard her warning. As Jaeger swung his hand at Dik Dik for a third time, the gazelle swiftly reached up with both hands, grabbing onto Jaeger's forearm, halting his assault in midair, the blade hovering a few inches above Dik Dik's nose. The warring Chojins remained in that position for a brief moment, both in shock that the Red Rain of Pain had actually been stopped.

 

Jaeger was the first to respond, roaring out in anger. He kneed Dik Dik in the gut, causing him to double over slightly; but he managed to hold onto Jaeger's arm, keeping the lethal blade away from himself. However Jaeger's attack was enough to rouse Dik Dik's fighting instincts, and he quickly spun around, pulling Jaeger's arm up and then knocking him back down onto the canvas.

 

Jaeger fell onto his back, and Dik Dik landed on top of him, still tightly holding onto his glowing arm. Dik Dik quickly jumped up to a crouched position, and then pushed himself up into the air, flying up high above the ring. The audience fell silent as they watched him ascend.

 

As he reached the apex of his climb, Dik Dik turned around so that he was facing the ground. He began to nosedive towards the mat where Jaeger lay, clenching a fist at his side as he fell. In the last few moments before he collided with Jaeger, Dik Dik swung his fist out, stabbing Jaeger in the gut with his deadly Antler Fist.

 

Jaeger groaned, then fell silent, his head dropping against the canvas, and the red glow from his hand extinguishing. Dik dik rolled over his shoulder, standing up straight. He paused for a moment, his own disbelief evident in his face. He slowly turned to look over his shoulder, staring at the limp form of Jaeger in the centre of the ring, bearing two circular bloodstains on his shirt where the horns of Dik Dik's Antler Fist had stabbed into him. As the bell rang, Dik Dik visibly jumped in shock, turning to look at the IWF official as he made his announcement.

 

“And the winner of this first round match is...” he said into the microphone. “Dik Dik Van Dik!”

 

The audience erupted in a cacophony of applause; but Dik Dik only cared what one audience member thought of his first victory in the IWF.

 

“Kiki...” he said softly, turning to where she stood, looking up at the ring.

 

Although she was not cheering and applauding like the other audience members, the look on Kiki's face was enough to satisfy Dik Dik. She had one hand clutched to her chest, her green eyes were wide and sparkling, and she was gently biting into her lower lip. She looked very pleased with what she saw; the expression on her face, her body language, her clothing; it was all too much for Dik Dik.

 

He walked over to the ropes, grabbing onto them. Terry leapt over the barrier to greet him, walking towards him with open arms of congratulations. Dik Dik stepped through the ropes and dropped to the floor below, bypassing Terry to walk directly up to Kiki, who was still staring up, the same dreamy expression on her face.

 

“Kiki, my darling,” he greeted her, reaching over the barrier to lift her over.

 

“Thanks, Dik Dik,” she said absent-mindedly, slipping from his grasp once she over the barrier, and walking up to the side of the ring.

 

Dik Dik stared blankly at her as she stood, transfixed, by the ring, twirling a strand of her deep green hair around one finger.

 

“Congratulations, Dik Dik!” Terry said, dropping a hand onto Dik Dik's shoulder.

 

“Hey, Van Dik!' a voice shouted from the ring.

 

Terry and Dik Dik looked up to see Eskara standing by the ropes, looking down at them as Broken Junior tended to Jaeger behind him.

 

“That's the guy you gotta beat if I don't get him first,” Terry whispered to Dik Dik.

 

But Dik Dik's mind was elsewhere. Looking down from where Eskara stood he saw Kiki gazing up at the Generation Ex member. All the time Dik Dik had thought Kiki had been looking at him, cheering for him, waving at him, she had in fact been watching Eskara.

 

“Trust me Terry,” Dik Dik growled darkly. “Whether or not you beat Eskara tomorrow, I'll be the one who tears him apart.”

 

Terry pulled his hand from Dik Dik's shoulder, frowning in surprise at his reaction.

 

“Hey, Kenyon, don't you go worryin' yourself,” Eskara called to Terry. “You won't have to fight your little friend dere, cause I'm gonna finish you off tomorrow. Den after I'm done wid you, I'm gonna end Van Dik's career.”

 

“Bring it on!” Dik Dik yelled back, waving his antler fist at Eskara. “I'll be the one ending your career, Eskara!”

 

“Ooh, I'm tremblin' in my boots!” Eskara laughed. “You're pathetic, Van Dik. And da day after tomorrow, I'm gonna prove your little victory here today was just a one off. You're goin' back to your losin' streak, loser!”

 

Dik Dik started towards the ring, but Terry quickly grabbed onto him, stopping his progress.

 

“Never mind about him now, we gotta get ourselves back to the Achilles' Heel, and see how Wally's getting' on against that Hydrozoa feller,” Terry said.

 

“Yes, you're right,” Dik Dik agreed, relaxing his taut muscles.

 

“Hey, Kiki, come on!” Terry called to Kiki. “Let's go catch up with Kid and the girls!”

 

Kiki ignored Terry, her eyes still fixed on Eskara, as he moved to the centre of the ring, and hoisted Jaeger up in his arms. She sighed dreamily as she watched him, but her reverie was abruptly interrupted as her cellphone began to ring. She quickly opened her bag and snatched it out.

 

“Hello?” she said.

 

“Kiki, it's Roxanne,” Roxanne answered her from the other end of the line. “Wally's match is over. Oh, Kiki, it was awful! Hydrozoa's just a monster! He totally overpowered Wally. Kid's run away, he's too scared to fight tomorrow after what he saw. Trixie and I were about to come over there to join you guys to watch Dik Dik's match. How's he getting on?”

 

“The match is over,” Kiki plainly answered.

 

“Oh God, these Generation Ex guys are just too good! I hope Terry and Kid do better tomorrow!”

 

“Dik Dik won.”

 

“What?”

 

“Dik Dik won. We'll come over to you, yeah?”

 

“Oh... Okay...”

 

Kiki hung up her phone and slipped it back into her bag, hurrying over to Terry and Dik Dik.

 

“Hey you guys, that was Roxanne!” she told them. “She said Wally lost to Hydrozoa, and he's in pretty bad shape. I think we should go over there.”

 

“Right on!” Terry agreed.

 

“I think I should see a doctor before I go anywhere,” Dik Dik advised them.

 

“Oh, right,” Kiki said, nodding her head. “Well, we'll catch you later, yeah?”

 

Kiki and Terry began to exit the arena, leaving Dik Dik behind to watch them in silent horror. Once they were out of sight, he turned to watch Eskara saunter towards the backstage area, with Jaeger in his arms and Broken Junior at his side.

 

“I'll get you for this, you bastard...” he grumbled.

 

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Next Chapter: Roxanne loses her temper with Kid Muscle (so what's new!) and Kiki does a little star-gazing with an aptly named Chojin warrior... Chapter 4 - Mars.