Ultimate Muscle Fan Fiction ❯ I Want You Bad ❯ Read the Signs! ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Ultimate Muscle and all characters herein belong to some other dude. Damn...

 

Recap: Kiki joined Eskara in admiring MARS :coughs: cheesy::coughs: Roxanne had a lover's tiff with Kid, and Dik Dik wants Eskara's blood...

 

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Chapter Five - Read the Signs!

 

Kiki smiled to herself as she saw Roxanne and Trixie wave at her from their position at the banks of the river. Kid Muscle was fighting Road Rage on the Achilles' Heel, and the turnout for the match was even smaller than the crowd that had gathered to watch Wally take on Hydrozoa.

 

But at least this time, Kiki's friends had not stood her up.

 

“Hey, you guys!” she greeted them cheerfully. “I got us burgers and cokes again!”

 

“You're the tops, Kiki!” Roxanne replied, giving her a thumbs-up as she helped herself to a burger and soda from Kiki's tray.

 

“So Kiki, what was up with you and Eskara last night?” Trixie said, taking a burger and soda from the tray.

 

Kiki made to answer her, when Terry interrupted her, grabbing up the final burger and coke from her tray.

 

“Gosh darn, you really are a givin' sorta gal, Kiki!” he said, tearing the cover from her burger and biting off half of it. “It's no wonder ol' Dik Dik loves ya so much!”

 

Kiki pouted at Terry as he walked over to Trixie's side, sitting down close to her, much to Trixie's delight.

 

“Come on, Kiki, I'll buy you another burger and coke,” Roxanne offered, standing up and brushing the grass from her skirt.

 

“That's okay, Roxanne, I'm not really hungry,” Kiki replied, smiling sweetly.

 

Roxanne smiled back, sitting down again a short distance from Trixie. Kiki sat next down next to her, suppressing a smile as she asked her next question.

 

“How's Kid?” she asked Roxanne. “Is he ready for his match?”

 

Roxanne rolled her eyes, but smiled nevertheless.

 

“Well, he's here, which is always something...” she groaned. “I suppose you heard that Dik Dik couldn't make it today?”

 

“Oh?” Kiki responded, turning her attention to the ring. “Why would it affect me if Dik Dik doesn't come here today?”

 

“Well, he does have a crush on you, Kiki!”

 

Kiki turned sharply back to Roxanne, glaring at her indignantly.

 

“But apparently you've got a crush on Eskara...” Roxanne muttered, before turning to face the ring.

 

“I don't have a crush on anyone!” Kiki defended herself. “And no-one has a crush on me! Especially not Dik Dik Van Dik!”

 

“I beg to differ, Kiki!” Roxanne replied, arching an eyebrow at her friend. “Dik Dik is like totally besotted with you. But on a side note, what were you doing with Eskara last night?”

 

“Nothing!” Kiki protested, turning her head away from Roxanne as she felt her cheeks begin to burn. “It was nothing.”

 

“You were wearing his jacket, and walking around outside out back with him, Kiki!” Roxanne pointed out. “That's not nothing!”

 

“It is,” Kiki lied. “I just... I got lost trying to find the toilets, and I ended up going out a fire exit, and I bumped into Eskara. The door shut behind me, and I got locked out, so he offered me his jacket because it was so cold, and walked me back round to the front door. That's all.”

 

“Okay...”

 

Kiki sighed silently in relief, waiting for her embarrassment to subside before turning back to face the wrestling ring, elevated high above them on the Achilles' Heel platform. She sensed Roxanne was watching her, and was not finished with the issue of what she had been doing with Eskara the night before; and she was not wrong.

 

“I'm surprised at you, Kiki, I never thought a great big tough guy like Eskara would have been your type,” Roxanne giggled.

 

Kiki groaned inwardly as she tried to think of a counter to Roxanne's challenge; but she was saved from the need as she spotted Kid Muscle and Meat approaching the ring.

 

“Oh my God, what is Kid doing?” she gasped.

 

“Huh?” Roxanne echoed, turning her head to look up at Kid and Meat.

 

“Oh my God!” Trixie squealed. “What does Kid Muscle think he's doing?”

 

“Sheesh, what is that darn awful smell?” Terry asked, pinching his nose with one hand and wafting at the air around him with the other.

 

“I'm just hazarding a guess here, but I'd say it's the 30 pound fish Kid has strapped to his back!” Trixie dryly replied.

 

“Oh, Kid!” Roxanne groaned, clamping a hand over her nose.

 

“What was he thinkin', carryin' that rotten fish down to the ring with him?” Terry asked.

 

“Wally's little sister gave it to him,” Roxanne explained to Terry and Kiki. “I guess he thought he was showing his support for Wally by taking it with him.”

 

“What a loser!” Trixie muttered.

 

Trixie and Terry began to laugh, but Roxanne could only hang her head in shame as the crowd began to throw litter at Kid, jeering at him for carrying a rotten fish carcass to the ring.

 

“I think it's sweet,” Kiki whispered, patting Roxanne's shoulder.

 

Roxanne smiled tightly at Kiki, nodding her head to acknowledge that she appreciated Kiki's support.

 

“Well, at least it can't get any more embarrassing,” Roxanne said.

 

“Um...” Kiki began, her face crumpling as she watched Kid over Roxanne's shoulder.

 

“It just got more embarrassing, didn't it?” Roxanne asked.

 

“Hell yeah!” Trixie replied, before bursting into another fit of laughter, grabbing onto Terry for support as she rocked back and forth with the force of her hysterics.

 

Roxanne turned in time to see Kid stumble towards the edge of the walkway, teetering precariously there as he tried to pull the giant fish off his head. Meat quickly leapt forwards and pulled Kid back out of harm's way; but the fish remained stuck fast on his head.

 

“Oh, man...” Roxanne groaned, burying her face into her hands.

 

Trixie and Terry continued to laugh loud and hard at Kid's misfortune, and even Kiki found herself having to bite her lip to stop herself from giggling at Kid as he stumbled around with a giant fish lodged on his head.

 

“What a goomba!”

 

Kiki froze at the sound of Eskara's voice behind her. She heard him sit down behind her and Roxanne, causing Terry to finally cease his laughter.

 

“Hey, what are you doin' here, Eskara?” Terry asked him.

 

“Same as you, cowboy,” Eskara flatly replied. “I'm watchin' Kid Muscle make a complete ass of himself in da ring.”

 

“Hey, back off!” Roxanne snapped, turning to look over her shoulder at Eskara. “No-one's seen you fight yet, for all we know, you could be the biggest ass here!”

 

“So den you admit Kid Muscle is an ass?” Eskara asked her, his amusement evident in his tone of voice.

 

“Shut-up, you freak!” Roxanne retorted, before turning back and biting into her burger.

 

“Don't you go worryin' yourself none, Roxanne,” Terry called over to Roxanne. “I'ma teach that big jerk some manners tomorrow!”

 

“You'd better!” Roxanne growled, looking up as Kid finally managed to free himself from the fish.

 

The match between Kid Muscle and Road Rage began, bringing silence to the group of Kid's friends watching him fight. Roxanne was devouring her burger with vicious chews, Terry and Trixie were whispering about something no-one else could hear, and Kiki was silently wondering what Eskara was doing behind her.

 

Kiki tried to keep her eyes facing forwards, tried to concentrate on Kid's match; but her attention kept wandering back to Eskara. As Kid was thrown against the ropes of the ring, Road Rage began to give a speech about how Kid would be forced to obey whatever signal Road Rage displayed on his face.

 

“That should be illegal!” Roxanne complained through a mouthful of burger. “Don't you agree?” she asked, turning to Kiki. “That must be illegal. Terry, tell them it's illegal!”

 

“Well now, I don't rightly know if that's illegal as such, Roxanne,” Terry said timidly, scratching at the back of his head awkwardly as he answered her.

 

“It has to be illegal!” Roxanne declared, standing up. “Hey Road Rage, quit cheating, you robotic loser!”

 

“Ah, shut-up, ya darn screechin' harpie!” Eskara called to Roxanne.

 

“What did you just call me?” Roxanne fumed, turning to face Eskara.

 

“I called you a darn screechin' harpie, now sit your ass down, you're blockin' my view of da match,” Eskara calmly replied.

 

Roxanne scrunched her fist shut around the remains of her burger and its paper wrapper, and then hurled it at Eskara's face with all her strength. Kiki and Trixie gasped as the grease-soaked paper projectile bounced off of Eskara's nose, pushing up the brim of his hat slightly and exposing more of his face.

 

“Roxanne, be careful!” Trixie warned, standing up at Terry's side.

 

“Stay back, Trixie,” Terry said, jumping up in front of her. “Now listen here, Eskara, your sort sure ain't welcome around here, I think you best be leavin' now.”

 

“Hey, I got as much right to be here as any of yous,” Eskara calmly replied.

 

“No you don't!” Roxanne screamed, starting towards him.

 

Terry and Kiki leapt forwards, throwing themselves between Roxanne and Eskara as Eskara stood up. Terry stopped directly in front of Roxanne, his arms held out at his sides, blocking her advance, and shielding her from Eskara. Kiki found herself wedged between Terry and Eskara, facing Eskara. Looking directly ahead of herself, the bottom of her chin was level with the top of Eskara's belt.

 

Breathing in slowly as she did so, Kiki raised her head until her eyes landed on Eskara's face, the features of which were shaded from her view as the sun was somewhere behind his head. But, even though his face was not clear to her, Kiki could clearly see that he had lost his hat.

 

“Get him away from me!” Roxanne screeched, reaching around and over Terry's shoulder with both arms as she tried to poke at Eskara.

 

“Kiki, why don't you take Eskara away from Roxanne,” Trixie suggested. “Since he seems to be your friend...”

 

Kiki blushed profusely, turning to look at Trixie. Trixie merely smirked back at her apparently relishing in the anguish she was causing poor Kiki.

 

“Never mind,” Eskara growled. “I can't stand to sit here listenin' to you pathetic losers anyways...”

 

Eskara turned on his heel and walked off, leaving the others watching him in confused silence.

 

“Gee, that sure was a lot easier'n I thought it was gonna be...” Terry muttered, scratching his head.

 

“We're missing the match, you guys,” Trixie pointed out, pointing up at the ring as she spoke.

 

“Kid!” Roxanne gasped.

 

The others turned back to watch as Road Rage spun his triangular head like a saw, and began to assault Kid Muscle. Roxanne began to complain about the rules again, and as Terry tried to calm her down, Trixie edged closer to his side, eying him over coyly. Kiki watched Eskara slowly leave until he was out of sight, having headed into the nearby refreshment and toilet booth. As she turned, disappointed, to the ring, she caught sight of something on the ground not far from her feet.

 

“His hat...” she said, bending down to retrieve the giant hat Eskara normally always wore. “Hey, you guys, Eskara left his...”

 

Kiki trailed off as she realised that no-one could hear her over Roxanne's shouting, and no-one even seemed to notice whether or not she was even still with the group. A smile tugged at Kiki's lips as an idea formulated in her mind. Gripping onto the hat, she ran after Eskara, without so much as one backward glance at her friends.

 

As Kiki entered the dull, cool shade of the booth, she slowed down, looking around herself for any sign of Eskara. He was so big, he should stand out in a crowd; but there were so few people in the booth, he did not even need the advantage of height to stand out.

 

“Eskara!” Kiki called out, as she spotted him heading down a corridor off the main floor.

 

She paused, waiting for him to turn back. When he continued on his way, she hurried after him, catching up with him as he placed one hand on a door leading off the corridor.

 

“Eskara, you forgot your-ah!”

 

Kiki yelped as Eskara grabbed her arm and dragged her through the doorway with him, swinging her around once they were inside the small room and then pressing her up against the wall. Kiki felt her breath catch in her throat as he closed in on her, narrowing the marginal gap between their bodies. She instinctively pressed her back hard against the wall, drawing in her stomach in an attempt to put at least some distance between them.

 

“Did you come here to cheer for Kid Muscle, Kiki?” he asked her.

 

Kiki exhaled sharply, feeling light-headed as she found that she had been holding her breath for longer than was comfortable. She glanced over Eskara's shoulder, her eyes doubling in size at what she saw. Looking around herself, Kiki found herself in a place she had never been before in her life, and had never expected to go.

 

“Did you just take me into the boy's toilets?” she squeaked, meeting Eskara's white eyes.

 

“Maybe,” he causally answered, shrugging his shoulders.

 

“But... Why?”

 

“I just thought maybe we could talk.”

 

“T-talk?”

 

“Sure. How long have you known Kid Muscle?”

 

“Well...”

 

Kiki knew she was visibly trembling, and she knew that it was mostly from fear; but something made her want to trust Eskara.

 

“I've know Kid since he first came to Earth,” she confessed.

 

“I see,” Eskara said slowly, nodding his head. “And you've been to all his matches since he got here?”

 

“Yeah. With Roxanne and Trixie.”

 

“Of course. So you saw Kid fight da DMP?”

 

“Yeah. He fought Dial Bolic, The Pumpinator and Checkmate.”

 

“You see anything else?”

 

“Um... I saw Terry fight Tyrannoclaw.”

 

“Okay...”

 

Eskara lowered his head, looking down at the ground for a moment, before slowly lifting his head to face Kiki once more.

 

“How's your arm?” he asked, pointing at the arm she had bashed on the fire exit door the night before.

 

“It's fine,” she lied, touching a hand to her elbow.

 

“Are you sure?” Eskara pressed, reaching a hand towards her arm.

 

“It's fine,” Kiki quickly said. “Here's your hat!”

 

Kiki quickly lifted up Eskara's hat, holding it by her face with both hands, half hiding herself behind it.

 

“Thanks, sweetheart,” Eskara said, taking the hat from her hands and pulling it back onto his bald head. “Dat was very thoughtful of you to take my hat to me like dat.”

 

“Oh, it was nothing!”

 

Kiki smiled, waving a hand dismissively in the air; but when Eskara remained silent, and stared blankly back at her, she began to suspect that he had perhaps meant something else.

 

“I know da real reason you came after me, Kiki,” he whispered, leaning closer to her.

 

“What?' Kiki yelped, pressing herself hard against the wall again.

 

“You know, dere are much easier ways to ask a guy out on a date...”

 

“I... Ah...”

 

Kiki fell silent as Eskara lightly dragged the fingertips of one hand down her cheek. Her breathing came in rapid, shallow breaths as he slowly trailed his fingers lower, all the time keeping his eyes fixed on hers. As his fingers moved down her neck, he pressed slightly harder, causing her to let out a cry of shock. Although Kiki felt trapped and powerless where she was, she could almost feel herself willing Eskara to move his hand lower; and to do it much faster than he was. The rush of butterflies she had felt before was now turning into a deep, throbbing, burning sensation.

 

But still Eskara moved slowly, his fingers tripping over the neckline of her sweater, before pressing against her shoulder. Kiki moved her eyes from Eskara's at last, whimpering softly as she watched his hand approach her breast.

 

“Do me a favour, yeah?” Eskara whispered.

 

Kiki looked up sharply, searching his eyes desperately as his hand hovered over her left breast. He shuffled even closer to her, moving his face around to her neck.

 

“Wear somethin' a bit sexier to my match tomorrow,” he whispered into her ear.

 

Eskara then stepped back from Kiki, lifting his hand from her, and tugged at the brim of his hat, nodding his head at her, before walking out of the toilets. Kiki, in her tender state of torn nerves, yelped as the door banged shut behind him, sliding to the ground, heaving in the air around her as she suddenly became light-headed.

 

Surely it was not natural to feel that way about any man, least of all a man who was trying to ruin the careers and lives of her friends?

 

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Next Chapter: Terry takes on Eskara, but who will Kiki be cheering for? And why's Terry so distracted? Chapter 6 - Whose Side are you on?