“Brother…” whispered KD.
“Brudda’..” whispered Saralax.
Both men lay on the ground. Completely exhausted, broken and bloodied up. A clash of egos had resulted in an even display of skill and strength. Two undefeated champions both on the precipice of their first ever defeats.
Shabz was vehemently whipping the floor, flustered and obscenely commanding his pet rat to rise. The Covenant of Cheese were all tensely squeezing the cheeseburgers in their hands like stress balls screaming for their rotund deity to rise. The tension around the ring was mounting, and each second felt like an eon for the crowd.
4…
“Big…Gobba…” muttered Saralax. His major bleeding originating from the cowardly and devious Casimiro’s stab wound. Still his will remained. His heart remained. But all that was left was fumes. The Golden Arches had opened their gates…and Saralax was stepping into their warm and heavenly embrace. The sweet scent of fresh cheeseburgers and Big mac’s. The smiling staff greeting him through the doors smelling of fresh grease. The golden crunchy French fries being tossed into an eagerly awaiting pouch, coated with the perfect quantity of salt. Saralax could see Ron now, a big gleaming smile on his face as he beckoned the hungry fellow into his chambers. The end was near…
5…
“Beast.?!” muttered KD, conscious again.
Something in that last blow had awoken something in him. The Shima-Bow Off The Top Rope had awakened his consciousness. His robotic, mechanized drone mind was thinking for itself. Feeling.
“Rich..?!”
His eyes were no longer a dead, mindless grey. He was now present. Lying on his back, he could hear the laughter of children echoing in his head. Hunting a giant cow. Hiding out from the acid rain. Where was the laughter coming from, where were the children?!
6…
The shadow of two children in a desolate wasteland – running, playing and carefree. Survival of the fittest leading them through the harshest of climates. A round spectacled boy and a fat scientist breaking them up.
“Beast..Brost?…Bro…ther…? muttered KD, his mind flooding with distant memories.
7…
“Sara…” whispered KD calmly to himself.
8…
Time was running out. Both fighters were struggling with all their might to get to their feet. While the audience looked on, screaming and roaring for one fighter to rise to their feet – the two men in the ring were facing an inner battle. Who wanted it more…Who
9…
…
…
10!
Saralax was on his feet, the instant before the last count was finished. “WAKE UP, BROTHER!” he Roared, loud enough to reach the heavens themselves.
Saralax had won!
The referees had called it, but something was wrong. Saralax was standing, but his eyes were closed. His chest still. He was not breathing. As a last act of defiance against Shabz, Saralax had won the fight before passing on into the afterlife. The living legend had died on his feet!
Shabz himself was now in the ring, whispering vehemently into the referees ears. The referee was a bought and paid for man Afterall. Shabz owned him. The referee came to the aided conclusion that given that Saralax had died in the ring, KD would progress by default as the victor.
KD was still sitting on the floor, gazing at his deceased rival. How was he still on his feet?! How had the unstoppable behemoth died standing and victorious, like a glorious round Buddha statue. His eyes were watery. A wild beast inside of him was thrashing uncontrollably, a human element he thought was long since erased. The distant laughter of two children was echoing in his mind. Memories of a childhood he had long forgotten. Tears began streaming down his cheeks that were beyond his control. Children’s voices were playing in the darkest and most distant recesses of his mind.
“I’m going to be a great fighter one day…the strongest in the world!” boasted the small child.
“I’m going to eat the biggest burger in the world one day!” replied the fatter child.
His head felt like it was going to explode. There was a voice there now. No, two voices. Neither belonged to Shabz. One was definitely Saralax or at least – what seemed like a younger Saralax. The other…he couldn’t discern it. He hadn’t heard it in so very long. But it was so familiar.
Was this…him? His voice? Was this his own thoughts?!
What was this emotion, thought KD to himself. A memory of a fat little brother sitting on his older brother until he cried. Chasing after one another in a shabby broken-down playground. Running a-muck in a desolate wasteland they both called home. Simple. Happy. Carefree.
Something was broken. His little brother had bested him yet again…and in doing so, brought him back into the world before bowing out for the very last time.
KD’s eyes slowly traced around the ring, until they landed on his would be “master”. It was all he could see now. His pathway now was clear. But right now he was weak and beaten. This was not yet the moment. Even in his current state, he could easily end the sharp-tongued, over-indulgent buffoon. But those that would stand in his way might get the better of him in his current state.
Vengeance would be sweet. But the present called for patience.
~
Darkness had now coated the surroundings and the arena was all but empty. The fight Referee was surveying the ring to make sure it was ready for the final bout. Saralax and KD had damaged it more than any fighter throughout history, and it took almost all afternoon to make it useable again.
A loud yawn echoed thunderously through the empty space and startled the referee as he was concluding his survey. Habaz had just awoken from a long drunken slumber in the audience section.
Habaz had missed the entirety of the last fight, and in fact, had passed out moments before the match had even started by downing almost an entire bottle of fine single malt whiskey by himself. Almost…He looked in disgust at the last few drops left in the bottle.
“Sess…” he whispered, ashamed at himself.
He emptied the last few drops into his thirsty mouth. His vision was still hazy and his coherence to speak, non-existent. He felt angry for no particular reason.
The referee who had abided Shabz instruction to disqualify Saralax and allowed KD to progress – stepped out of the ring. He began to walk to Habaz to check if he was alright or needed help back to his lodgings.
“Sir…would you like an-..” began the Referee, before Habaz stirred in an unprovoked rage. He threw a vicious right hook, and the referee crumpled in an instant – out cold. Karmic justice works in mysterious ways sometimes.
Habaz cursed, then passed out again on the same spot.
The two men lay peacefully on the ground that night, with neither awakening til the early hours of the afternoon the next day.