Intergalactic Fight Club: Don the Champion

by Colleen Hickey

  “And I’m guessing that Kaynon is his star attraction to both rings. That explains why he attacked Mannie. What I don’t understand is why it’s not toxic now?”

  “You mean “Why is it not toxic yet?” The effects of Waspite takes longer in some, depending on their biology. He’ll start weakening when he gets overstressed. Why such concern for him when he’s been nothing but a bully to you and your friend Mannie?”

  “I’m more concern with his ex-girlfriend Jody. Her father is my coach. Kaynon has been obsessed with her. He’s been making threats for me to stay away from her. I’m really worried about what he’ll do to her if he get infuriated with her.”

  “Keep a close eye on her if you have to. No telling what Kaynon’s state of mind is.”

  ***

  While they spoke, the bat-like being Athena is fighting gained the upper hand. He flew her up toward the ceiling and drops her, knocking her out called as the ref bot counts down.

  “8…9…10! Winner of this round: Myotis!” the Ref shouts.

  Athena is unable to get up on time, declaring her opponent Myotis winner of the second round. Myotis gleefully flies above the crowd as they cheer him on. Instead of being upset, Athena is relieved about losing.

  “Now I have enough time to do what I have to do,” she whispers to herself.

  Myotis flies down to her and tries to flirt.

  “Don’t feel bad about losing, my dear,” he says seductively, “One of us was bound to win. How about I take you to my hotel room and I can tend to your wounds?”

  “I don’t think so,” Athena rejected as he pushes him out of the way.

  “Can’t blame a guy for trying,” Myotis said sheepishly.

  ***

  Athena is walking backstage to get to her locker when she passes Jody. Jody takes a good look at her, and ponders on who she is. She walks up to and looks at her face for a few seconds.

  “Say Athena, where have I seen you before?” she asks her.

  “Y-you probably saw me in a previous fighting event,” she says.

  “No. I’ve seen you from somewhere else. I can’t put my finger on it.”

  “I just have that kind of face. I have to get some stuff out of my locker.”

  Athena leaves, leaving Jody to wonder about her.

  ***

  When Athena makes it to the women’s locker room, relieved she got away from Jody before she recognized her.

  “That was close,” she said while sighing in relief, “I can’t have Jody recognizing me. Now I can continue my search for the Waspite.”

  She opens her locker and gets out a keypad-override device and a spy camera.

  Chapter 12

  Thirty minutes later, Mannie’s fight is up next. He is going against an Arachnoid, a spider-like alien known for its stealth and craftiness. The MC appears in the middle of the ring to announce the next fight.

  “In our next round, we have another bug-on-bug competition. It will be our favorite rookie fighter, Mannie against the Webbed Terror of Arachnio, Webtro!”

  Mannie and Webtro walk to the center of the ring to face each other. They shake hands and went back to their respected corners. When the bell rings, they trot towards each other to fight. Mannie is about to punch him when Webtro spits out a web and uses it to swing away from Mannie. Then, he kicks him from behind, causing him to fall across the ring. Mannie gets up and stands ready to fight. Webtro unleashes multiple webbing all over the ceiling, and uses them as a zip line. He strikes and punches Mannie in different directions. Mannie is getting blind-sided by the spider. He looks at the web and gets an idea on how to beat him. He flexes his right arm and builds up a blade from his arm. Then, he jumps up and cuts the webbing, causing it to untangle, dropping Webtro to the ground. Mannie took the opportunity to pin him hard enough for Webtro to submit.

  “Winner of this round: Mannie!” the MC said as the crowd cheered for him.

  Mannie waves to the crowd when he sees Raven two rows from the front row. She’s been watching him fight and found it interesting. Mannie winks at her, letting her know he noticed her, but Raven gives poor Mannie the cold shoulder.

  “I’ll win her over somehow,” he ponders to himself.

  ***

  Mannie walks backstage and sees Jody and Don running toward him to congratulate him. Jody hugs him for his latest victory.

  “You were wonderful out there, Mannie!” Jody excitedly compliments.

  “Yeah. You showed that spider who’s higher up on the food chain,” Don says, “Now we have to stay here and watch how Kaynon fights.”

  “Right. I want to see how aggressive he’s been getting,” Jody says.

  ***

  In the Men’s Locker Room, Kaynon is brushing his tail to get ready for his next fight. After a few strokes, he gets Waspite out of his locker. He takes his water bottle, pours the Waspite in with the water, shakes it, and finally drinks it. The Waspite causes his muscles to get a little bigger as he winces in agony. He is finally ready to fight.

  ***

  Kaynon walks to the ring through backstage when he sees Jody with Don Kobra and Mannie. He walks toward her as he pushes the two out of the way to see her.

  “Ready to see me make it to the finals and make this my fourth year, Jody?” he flirts.

  “In your dreams,” Jody groans.

  “And now for our final round of the night…” the MC announces.

  “I’m on,” Kaynon says, “How about a kiss for good luck from you?”

  “How about just a simple good luck?” Jody cynically replies.

  Kaynon just growls as he goes to the ring. As he passes Don and Mannie, he glares at them.

  “One of you will be next,” he growls at them.

  Don glares back at them while Mannie, on the other hand shakes with fear.

  ***

  Kaynon walks to the ring and gets to his corner.

  “For our final round of the Quarter Finals, we have two old favorites: our reigning champion for the past three tournaments, Kaynon versus the Feline veteran Tegro!”

  The spotlight shines on Kaynon as he is about to fight a tiger humanoid. Jody and her friends watch from backstage to see how he fights.

  The bell rings and Kaynon jumps Tegro. He snarls at him as he digs his claws into Tegro’s arms. Tegro forces him off and punches Kaynon. Both fighter’s exchange blows as the trio watches.

  “Looks like Tegro may be too much for Kaynon…hopefully,” Mannie says.

  “Kaynon seems to be sweating a lot, even for the fight,” Jody says with concern.

  Don is concern as well. He wants to tell Jody what may be happening to Kaynon, but he does not want to hurt her.

  Back at the fight, Tegro manages to subdue and pin Kaynon.

  “Looks like your three-year winning streak ends this year,” Tegro chuckles arrogantly.

  Kaynon’s eyes suddenly turn red with rage and bumps Tegro off of him. Then, he charges at a terrified Tegro like a lion at its prey. Tegro dodges his grabs until Kaynon finally catches him. Kaynon slams Tegro to the ground and is about to maul him as Tegro struggles to block him while tapping out, signaling to the Ref he surrenders.

  “You’re not getting away that easily!” he says wrathfully.

  Kaynon slams him to the floor hard, throws him against the electric ropes and holds as Tegro gets electrocuted. Jody and the guys watch in horror.

  “Jody, you go and tell the infirmary!” Don tells her.

  Jody runs to the infirmary while Don and Mannie run over to stop Kaynon from hurting Tegro any further. They both jump into the ring. Don gets ahold of Kaynon from behind, holding his muzzle and struggles to pull him away from Tegro. When he does, Mannie wraps Tegro’s left arm around him as he takes him out of the ring and into the infirmary. Kaynon elbows Don, causing him to let go whilst wincing in pain.

  “You want to interfere with my fight?!” Kaynon roars as he grabs Don by the shirt.

  Kaynon throws Don to the ground and scratches him on his ches
t. Kaynon is about to bite him when he gets hit on the shoulder by a tranquilizer dart. Kaynon falls into deep sleep. Don is injured from the scratch. Jody rushes to him and lifts him up to take him to the infirmary as well. Kaynon slowly opens one eye and sees the two together, causing him to growl before he sleeps from the tranquilizer.

  Chapter 13

  In the Infirmary, Tegro and Don are being treated for their injuries. The Nursing Bots are putting iodine on Tegro’s cuts and bandaging him while Jody tends to the scratches herself. Jody brings some anti-biotic cream and a Q-tip and closes the curtain for Don’s bed.

  “Lucky for you, I have a sport nursing degree,” she says, “I just need you to take off your vest.”

  Don did as he is told and takes his vest off. Jody begins smearing the cream on the claw wound carefully.

  “I know that Kaynon is a sore loser, but it was like he could not control his mind out there,” Jody said.

  “I’m not so sure what’s wrong with him, Jody” Don lied, “but hopefully, the board will have him disqualified.”

  ***

  During that moment, Psikes is on his laptop, talking to the members of the Board that are taking bribes from him.

  “I hope the large sum of money I am sending you will be enough to Kaynon in the game,” Psikes says while wiring money electronically, “I will talk to you later.”

  Raven and Buzz report back to him.

  “Did you receive the information we sent you?” Raven said, referring to the data from the simulator.

  “I did,” Psikes said, “You two have done well. We will use the data to have him ready for his next opponent. Right now, we have bigger problems.”

  “What problems, Boss?” Buzz asks.

  “Don Kobra’s rescue of that fighter Tegro is heard all over the news feed and shared vids. He’s popularity is twice as Kaynon’s last year. Meanwhile, Kaynon’s popularity is dropping, and my buyers are starting to question my product.”

  “I take it you have to bribe the members to keep Kaynon in the fights,” Raven stated.

  “That last fight is costing me a fortune,” he growls angrily.

  “You’re the one who gave him that batch of Waspite to ensure his win,” Buzz says, “I’m more worried about what it’s doing to him physically. He had a little trouble defeating Tegro before his temper was lost.”

  “As long as he impresses my buyers, I don’t care about his health.”

  That statement causes concern Raven and Buzz, seeing that their boss sees his champion as expendable. However, they are not surprised.

  “You don’t really mean that promise you made about getting him back together with his ex, do you?” Raven interrogates Psikes.

  “No, but I must do what I can to keep Kaynon in the fights,” Psikes says coldly, “I have a lot of money riding up on that mutt.”

  “I just hope you’ll leave Jody out of this,” Raven states, “I don’t want to be responsible for an innocent girl like her getting hurt, or worse yet, killed like that lady cop years ago.”

  “Just do your part, Raven, and let me do mine. You and Buzz keep an eye on Don and Mannie’s training and keep me posted on any updates.”

  “Great. I’m stuck with the flirting mantis.”

  Buzz makes puckering noises to making fun of Mannie’s crush on her until she glares at him, causing him to smile sheepishly.

  ***

  Back at the Infirmary, Jody has already finished bandaging Don’s wounds.

  “Your scratches should heal by the next fight,” Jody said.

  “Thanks, Jody,” Don says, “Your dad’s right. You are very good with sports medicine.”

  Mannie comes in through the curtain while hanging his head because he has some bad news.

  “What’s wrong, Mannie?” Jody asks him.

  “Kaynon is not gonna be disqualified,” he gives the bad news.

  “WHAT?!” Jody and Don shout in unison.

  “The Members of the Board declared his behavior perfectly normal for his kind and allowed him to remain in the fights,” Mannie explains disheartened, “Something about their decision doesn’t feel right.”

  “We’ll talk about tonight when we’re alone,” Don whispers, not wanting Jody to hear.

  “Despite Kaynon’s unfair advantage with the Board, we better go and see who you two will fight next,” Jody suggests.

  ***

  In the ring, the last four fighters, Don, Mannie, the Bat-Alien, and Kaynon, are waiting anxiously as the computer on the big screen shows who each fighter will be up against.

  “Now that we are down to four, we shall match up on who will be fighting at the Semi-Finals in two weeks!” the MC announces.

  The screen switches fighters around until it matches the compatible fighters together. Don will be facing against the bat alien who defeated Athena. To Don, Jody, John, Raven, and Mannie’s horror, he is paired up with Kaynon, making Mannie shake like a leaf.

  “Hope you enjoy the next two weeks, Bug!” Kaynon gloats, “It will be your last!”

  “Not again!”

  ***

  That night after dinner, Don and Mannie are alone in their apartment. Mannie is pacing with worry over the thought of fighting Kaynon after what happened to Tegro.

  “This is bad!” he says in a panic tone, “I’m gonna get ripped to shreds out there!”

  “Relax, Mannie,” Don tries to calm him, “John says he will train you in the advanced levels of the simulator. Right now, I want to talk to you on what’s going on. I spoke with Lock Claws after our fight. He thinks that Kaynon may have a Waspite addiction.”

  “What?”

  “The notorious crime boss, Rex Psikes has been supplying the drug to Kaynon and using him to demonstrate how it works during the fight. He may be bribing members of the Board as well.”

  “That explains a lot, Don. His sudden aggression; his muscles getting bigger; and why he’s been sweating a lot. That means Psikes is practically running the fights if the Board is on his payroll.”

  “Jody can’t know about this. I don’t want her caught in the middle of this mess. Psikes is a very dangerous Dinoid.”

  “Jody and I know that about him too well.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ll have to ask Jody, if she ever wants to talk about it.”

  What Mannie said has left Don curious about Jody and her connection to Psikes.

  ***

  Meanwhile, Raven and Buzz are looking all over Jody’s apartment to find anything useful for Psikes while questioning their boss.

  “Raven, I am starting to question our boss’s state of mind,” Buzz states his concerns, “He cares more about his greed than Kaynon’s health. That Waspite could give him a heart attack at any moment.”

  “I know, but if we don’t do as he says, he’ll give us the same fate he gave to that lady cop who nosed around his drug trade ten years ago,” Raven reminded him, “Anyway, I want to know more about Jody.”

  “Something tells me you’re starting to like that girl.”

  “No one else but Mannie has ever been that nice to me.”

  They both went into her bedroom to find what they need. Buzz opens the closet and sees numerous dresses that are pretty but not very stylish.

  “This girl needs to enhance her wardrobe a little,” Buzz says while looking through the dresses.

  Raven is just looking around her bed when she sees the picture of her with her parents. She gasps when she took one look at her mother and recognized her.

  “Buzz, come look at this,” she tells him to come, “Recognize the woman in this picture?”

  Buzz is shocked as well.

  “That’s the lady cop Psikes killed years ago!” Buzz said in horror.

  “She must be Jody’s mother!”

  “Now I am feeling bad for the first time in my life.”

  They are both feeling remorseful and guilty when they hear the front door opening. They put everything back fast and run out of the room. Com
ing into John’s apartment are John and Mannie.

  “John! Mannie!” Raven said.

  “What are you two doing in here?” John inquires.

  “We wanted to check up on Don and thought this was his apartment,” Buzz lies.

  “What are you doing back?” Raven asks.

  “We’re just going over what Mannie’s training will be like before his match with Kaynon,” John explains.

  “Nervous, Mannie?” Buzz asks him.

  “He’s petrified,” John says.

  “Well then, we better get out and go home,” Raven says as they are about to leave.

  Buzz went out the door, but Mannie stops Raven for a moment.

  “Raven, I want to apologize for hitting on you the way I did,” he apologizes, “I just never have much practice with girls. This time, I want to ask you out. I’m not starting my training until the day after tomorrow, so maybe we can have a little dinner date tomorrow?”

  His dinner invite surprised Raven because not even Psikes took her on a date like that.

  “Wow! Nobody has ever asked me out on a real date before,” she says, “Mostly, they try to take me to their rooms. I usually leave them with broken noses.”

  “So is that a yes?”

  Raven thought about it for a moment, and since Mannie asked her out the way she wants to be asked out, so she decides to give him a chance.

  “Okay, Bug,” Raven responded.

  “Great! Meet me at the Manhattan Food District at 7! You won’t regret it.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  ***

  The next day, Jody decides to take Raven to the mall to help her get ready for her date with Mannie. She takes her to a fashion store called Fabulous Fabian’s.

  “You’re gonna love this store, Raven,” Jody said excitedly, “They are up to date in all the latest fashions.”

  “And your dad said I can shop with you?” Raven inquires.

  “He gave everyone the day off.”

  They went inside the store and start taking some clothes that are Raven’s size. After they collected enough, Raven goes into the fitting room to try them on. First