Summary: A wrestler of epic legends soon finds his way to the ring.
"So is there a special reason why this place is called Beach Creek?" Tad heard his girlfriend ask as she walked beside their new friends Star, Marco, and Quartz, on the boardwalk of 'Beach Creek.' He in all honesty loved it when it was just him and his Kelly alone together, but it didn't hurt to have new friends he guessed, even if Quartz gave him a funny feeling he didn't know what to describe yet.
"Look, the founder came onto a beach, walked ten steps, then he fell into a creak. Is that an acceptable reason?" The resident earthling explained.
"No, no it really isn't. Name it after one or the other, don't do both!" Star shouted, frustrated.
"I like it, it has charm." Quartz shrugged. "It makes it sound like a water park."
"Trust me Quartz, the name isn't as exciting as you trying to make it sound." Star rolled her eyes. "I mean, everything here at Funland is actually pretty cool, but I'm banned from all the rides."
"Yeah, because you tried to make giant cups of tea in the tea cup ride and almost cooked everyone alive." Marco rolled his eyes. "And there's plenty of fun stuff to do at Beach Creak. We have the Budwick Public Library, Kofi Pizza, The fry stand, the big donut…I don't recommend that last one though."
"Oh, and don't forget that unground wrestling thing that happens every week." Star commented. "Men in silly costumes going around, punching each other for hours for a belt. Now that's what I call a sport."
"THERE'S WRESTLING HERE!?" Tad's girl grabbed Star by the shoulder and shook her all over the place. "Why didn't you say that in the first place!?" The one thing that excited Kelly more than fighting herself was watching other people fight for the entertainment of others.
"It's nothing too fancy, just a bunch of middle aged men dancing around a stage pretending to hit each other for a couple of hours." Marco explained with a bored expression. "Except for this one guy, the Purple Puma. Every night he has a fight, and completely creams the competition."
"So no matter the dimension people love violence." Quartz sighed. "Why would they want to punch each other up to begin with?"
"It's not real, it's pretend. It's like a TV show with superheroes, or a play." Oh shit, Marco shouldn't have said that.
"....What did you just say?" Tad could feel Kelly slowly break on the inside.
"It's not…" Luckily Star was able to read the room and punched the idiot in the gut.
"Don't be silly, Marco, of course it's real! Do you know how many people come out of that ring with bruises and broken bones, RIGHT?" Star sent a few more punches into Marco's stomach to reiterate her point. "What he was trying to say, Quartz, is that wrestling is a special, kind of fighting, where everyone knows and agrees to anything that happens on stage, and there's never any hard feelings."
"Exactly, I'm not exactly a fan of fighting, but even I get a little excited watching it live." Tad stood from Kelly's hair. "Everyone wears a costume and comes up with a backstory, and it's all good."
"Oh, maybe you can try and be that one guy you wrote about in your diary." Star spoke up. "Richy Kitty."
"Tiger Millionaire." Quartz corrected. "And I came up with that when I was ten…"
"You wrote an entry about him three months ago…" Star held open a book that was quickly snatched with a blush.
"You wrote about a rich superhero?" Kelly snorted, snapping out of the depressing 'in denial' stare she was entering. "In a diary?"
"Just a story I came up with one day that I couldn't get out of my head." Quartz waved off a blush before getting all dramatic. "A rich feline industrialist from Jungle Island! Once the son of the wealthy Tiger family, he clawed out his own destiny and made his fortune digging through the coconut mines!"
"Dude, that's like the perfect wrestling persona, you gotta do it now! I'd love to see that all on stage!" Kelly squealed.
"I um." The boy blushed in a way that made Tad feel uncomfortable. "I don't even know if it's okay to enter, or if I can ham it up enough."
"It's an underground wrestling tournament, they pretty much allow anyone to enter as long as you promise not to sue." Marco recovered from all the gut punches.
"And you're practically made out of ham, bro, because that's what makes you great!" Star squeezed her brother's face. "You'll do amazing."
"And don't worry about not knowing what to do, I'll be your coach." Kelly offered. "Just follow my lead and you'll have complete KO's every match."
Okay, this was starting to bug him even more than it should. "Hey now, don't pressure the guy. If he's cool with not fighting, then let's just let that.."
"If everyone thinks I can do it, who am I to say no? It'll probably be fun to try it out anyways." Curse you peer pressure! You've broken yet another soul!
========================================================================
"Master Ludo sir." Ludo twitched.
"What is it, Bearicorn?" He asked the minion.
"It's just … you've been staring at the pictures of Star and hoodie guy for the past hour, I was gonna ask if you were okay?"
"No, no I am not okay. I've been far from okay for the last decade or so, and I'll never be okay again until I have that blasted wand!" He berated his minion for asking what should've been obvious. "It's bad enough we can't stop a single teenager, but two?! And that hooded brat doesn't even have magic either! He's not even a Mewman! How is he so tough!?"
"Buck bah!" Chicken head squawked.
"I don't care that he calls it Karate, I don't care about him at all! He shouldn't even be that tough!" It wasn't like this was Star Butterfly's brother, who had magic for some reason. "And where the hell is Bullfrog? He was supposed to report in half an hour ago!?"
As if on cue the man came flying through the window. "Sorry I'm late, scissors have been buggy." Couldn't something go right!? "Reporting sir. Star Butterfly and hooded kid known as 'Marco Diaz' have been seen with Quartz Butterfly and walking green bush."
"Quartz Butterfly is on earth now, huh…that brat hasn't been around his sister for the past few months." Quite a relief actually, his face had time to recover from all those exploding bubbles. "Anything in particular to note?"
"They plan on entering Quartz Butterfly in 'wrestling match', where masked strangers fight each other to bloody pulp.
"Wait, wasn't he the 'pacifist' kid that keeps trying to talk to us?" Boo fly asked with a raised … he didn't have eyebrows what were they?
"Yes, if it wasn't for those bubbles, he wouldn't be a threat at all, so very helpless." Beard Horn commented.
"Helpless indeed…That's it!" Ludo jumped from his chair. "The best way to get to Star Butterfly is to get to her brother first! We'll enter that wrestling tournament in disguise and kidnap him while everyone else is thinking it's all a part of the act!" Flawless!
"Sir Ludo." Buff Frog interrupted. "The tournament is open, but it will not allow too many of us to enter. Only one, maybe two can take place inside of the ring."
"Well you're entering." Ludo stated. "Let's be honest, there's a reason we call you Buff Frog." It was the one iota of praise he'd give the monster aside from his loyalty. "Okay, as for number two..eenie meenie…you, Lobster Claws, looks like you're getting the chance to prove yourself useful for once."
"I won't let ya down boss!" The minion snapped their claws in the air … cutting a rope as a chandelier fell onto the floor.
"...Don't blow it, you overgrown dinner menu option." It was times like this where he wondered why he hasn't fired any of these morons yet.
========================================================================
Lars tapped his foot, unable to hear it over the roaring audience. This place was way too loud. The only reason he joined was because he promised to do one of Sadie's things if she could get him in at the club. Except … she said nothing about the goth freak joining them.
"Why are you even here? I thought you were more into that freaky hodu-Vodo stuff." Lars asked. He half expected Ronaldo or Diaz to be hanging around Janna.
"Eh, met a friend a while back, she's into beating up oversized sweaty men without restraint." The school's second weirdest girl replied with a shrug.
"Yeah, I've noticed. Could you tell Amethyst to not raid the dumpster for expired donuts? That magic girl Star just started doing it, and we're the ones that have to explain it to the manager." Sadie tiredly asked.
"When did our town suddenly get an infestation of weirdos everywhere?" Lar's rolled his eyes.
"I think it was a recent thing … has something to do with that new girl and Marco." Of course that guy would hang out with a freak. First a spineless noodle, now a wannabe kung fu action star, just make up what kind of nobody you want to be already!
"Ladies and Gentlemen, be prepared for the first match of the night!" The announcer shouted. "We'll be starting the night off with a couple of fresh victims…I mean challengers, new to the world of Beech Creek Underground wrestling! In this corner, we have the Lochness Blogster!" From one corner, Lar's was greeted by the hilarious sight of Ronaldo in a cheap dino mask and a dress. Well that was one plus to his night already.
"If you are weird, I shall put you on social media for all to see!" The dweeb shouted loud for the world to hear. "So show me, and feel shame!!"
"Well I know he's not going to be anyone's fan favorite anytime soon." It was like the announcer was reading his mind. "And in the next corner, he's quite the newcomer indeed! " There was a cloaked figure standing on top of the ring's pulls, who suddenly tossed it off and flipped into the air. "From the far off depths of Jungle Island, give it up for Tiger Millionaire!"
In walked a man with more swag than Lars had in his entire body, a smirk on his face. "Such a simple opponent … you're worth less thanthan my very briefcase!" The crowd ate it up, going wild. "I shan't waste a dime on my victory." And he was giving sick burns!
"That's right, Tiger, get into his head!" A green headed girl in a couch outfit said from the front of the audience. "The ring is a battle on two fronts! Strike first and strike hard!"
"Prove it then! My victory shall be posted for all the internet to see! Your failure will live on forever in the murky depths of the internet!" Rhonaldo called out as the bell rang. "AGGGH!" The nerd charged in with a punch…that Tiger dodged with his eyes closed.
"Wow, that's really bad form. Looks like you didn't invest as much time training as you did blogging." Tiger grinned as he used his briefcase to block another punch. "It just doesn't make much cents for you to be fighting me with how bad you are at it."
"Haha, cents!" Normally puns would be a crime against humanity, but Tiger was so cool, he just made it work.
"Wow, he's actually enjoying this." He could hear Sadie mutter.
"So much for having a stance on 'anti dork' and all it stands for." Jana smirked.
"Well he's fighting Ronaldo … so that's already a win in his book." Very true, tonight was shaping up to be amazing.
"WOOHOO! GO TIGER! Show why you're the true king of the jungle!" A blonde girl with a horned headband shouted. "Finish him! Finish that overgrown guppy and fry him on a rack!
"It's time to close the case." Tiger Millionaire grabbed Ronaldo mid charge, using his weight to flip the boy out of the ring. "I rule the ring, in the wild and in the concrete jungle!" The embodiment of sheer coolness grabbed the dollar sign tie he was wearing and tossed it into the crowd.
"IT'S MINE!" He shouted, pushing a dozen or so people out of his way to grab it. There was no way he was going to let this go.
"Hey, I saw it first!" Someone else said, grabbing the tie the same time he did and pulled. No way was he going to let that happen! "You'll have to pry it from my cold dead…Lars?"
"Marco?" The two stared at each other. Awkward silence soon entered the room along with the cheering crowd.
"Oh, are you friends with the guy that works at the donut shop?" The horned girl asked.
"Wha-no, we're not friends." He let go of the tie, no matter how much he wanted to hold onto it. "I'm not friends with some nerd like him."
"Yeah, friends would mean I'd get along with that jerk, and that has no chance of ever happening, no matter what corner of the universe we're in." Marco scoffed. "Come on, let's go back to watching Tiger before I forget I'm actually having fun."
The nerd walked away with the weido he hung out with, leaving Lars feeling confused and weird on the inside. "It's been like five years, you know." Sadie reminded him. "Don't you think you could just forgive and forget?"
"Sadie, please don't ruin this moment … can we just shove this conversation for later?" Let him enjoy the show before he remembered just how much reality really sucked.
========================================================================
Quartz didn't think he'd be having fun in a fighting event, but he was wrong, this was great! Whenever they were about to punch they stopped as long as it looked like they were gonna get punched, and the opponents were just as fun to play with as he felt acting. And all his friends were cheering him on with a whole crowd!
And it wasn't like he had to worry about getting hurt either. Dad, Mom, and Star have been teaching him how to fight since he was little, and just because he didn't seek out fights like Star and Dad didn't mean he couldn't be good at it. He just had to remember these were all humans, which meant he would use only his muscles and no magic. Which was good since his magic kept blowing things up.
He couldn't see why his mom was so against hanging out on earth, it was the best! Especially seeing his friend's smile, Kelly in particular looking the most invested in the fight. It was nice to see her advice come in handy. There was no way he could lose!
"Tiger Millionaire may be a new rookie with a hot streak, but lets remember he's not the only cat in the jungle." Oh, someone else with an animal theme, cool! "It's a returning champion, the purple menace that savagely destroys all her opponents!" Hopefully that was just the announcer exaggerating. " We have an audience section specifically for her hospitalized victims!"
"Hehe…" Quartz started to sweat, before looking down at his friends. "Guys, I may have gotten in over my head with this!"
"Don't you quit on me now, champ! Not when we've made it this far!" Kelly grabbed him by the face and slapped him. "You may be a Tiger Millionaire, but you're also a Quartz Universe Butterfly! You've been in tougher pickles than this! You got it completely under control."
"Yeah, and if this chick is actually able to hurt you, you can just blow them up like the monsters we fight." Star suggested.
"Here she comes now!" From the hallway came a purple looking cat woman with lots of hair on their head and chest. "A powerhouse like no other!" … They entered while hauling four buses tied to their waist. "It's the Purple Puma!"
The booing the crowd suddenly had for her did bring minor comfort, a little confirmation that he was the 'good guy', in this situation, but that didn't matter if she would crush his skull before he could even blink. "Marco, you said before no one has ever beaten her?"
"Nope. She usually ends the fight with one punch if she's not bored." That wasn't helping!
"So you're the new cat that the ring dragged in?" The oversized purple figure loomed over him, and he had a distinct feeling that she wasn't wearing a costume at all. "A tiny little kitty entering the lion's den."
"Are you folks ready for a slaughter!?" The announcer shouted.
"In the justice of me being a rookie … can I ask for you to take it easy?" He asked/pleaded.
"You can kick her butt then sell it to her, Tiger Millionaire!"
"The crowd says I shouldn't if they think you have a chance." Who knew his downfall would be the applause of a grateful audience.
"And….BEGIN!" The bell rang and the Purple Puma immediately brought her hands down. Quartz had the good sense to roll out of the way as the Puma's fists created a small creator into the ground. "And just like that, Tiger Millionaire has lasted longer than any of Purple Puma's previous challengers!" Oh really?! Way to make him feel special!
"I get that this is a really fun show/game that everyone loves to see, and I totally get the appeal!" Quartz narrowly avoided ducking under the pounce of the puma. "But does this really have to end with me going to the hospital?"
"No, but I doubt you'd like being in a grave instead." He couldn't tell if she was genuinely being nice or not. "Now either hold still or throw a counter!"
Quartz needed to do something, he doubted she was going to get tired. Maybe a punch on the jaw would do it, right? He swung … and instantly regretted it. "Ow." It felt like punching a rock.
"Huh..actually felt a tingle that time." All that for a tingle!? "You're actually stronger than most humans."
"I'm not hum…" The Puma grabbed him by the arm and threw him overhead, slamming him on the ground. "Why is this the moment I suddenly feel fear for my life?"
"Get up Tiger! Blast her in the face!" Star shouted, grabbing onto the ropes of the ring. "Get in her face and blast her to the moon!" Star, you were really not helping him! Someone, anyone, please get him out of here!
"We'll be taking you, small Mewman prince." A familiar accented voice interrupted his thoughts and Quartz felt himself being hoisted by large claws, the crowd gasping.
"Oh, hey Buff Frog." He waved to the amphibian when he caught sight of him. "Let me guess, Ludo scheme?"
"Yeah, and I'm helping!" Lobster Claws said with a jovial smile. "Don't worry, we'll probably let you go when your sister gives up the wand."
"It seems that other wrestlers can't wait to take on the new champion, and now this has become a battle royal!" He couldn't tell if it was a good thing people can't read the room, it means that mom will never find out about this after all. These two were probably here to kidnap him, but they also saved him from the fight, so this was confusing enough as it is.
"Hey, drop the cat." The Purple Puma walked up to the monsters. "This fight was mono-e-mono! You don't stop a good fight as it's happening!"
"This does not concern you, purple earth creature. Flee from this fight while you still can." Buff Frog warned the lady. The Puma responded by giving the green monster a headbutt straight into his gut. She then grabbed Quartz and jumped back.
"So, I take it we wanna make this a tag team match then!?" The crowd ate up Star's shout, thankfully saving him from having to fight the Puma.
"I've always fought best with a partner anyways." He smirked at the tall lady and prepared his fighting stance. "Two feline fighters fighting for justice against the forces of evil!"
========================================================================
So she was dragged into a tag team match with another cat against a frog and lobster … sure, not the weirdest wednesday she's ever had. It still beats listening to Pearl squawking all the time, or arguing with Ruby, or getting frozen solid by Sapphire everytime they tried to get her out of her room. "Okay real talk, what's the beef with these guys?" She whispered as the duo circled them.
"Their boss has been trying to steal my family's most precious heirloom for years. They just kind of blindly follow everything he says." The kid whispered back to her. "Seriously Buff Frog, why are you even working for Ludo? You're so smart and talented."
"Ludo has big castle I can sleep in instead of cave. Once we succeed, I can have time to properly start and raise family." The man looked at a photo in his pocket. "Then my little tadpoles will grow up in a nice warm ho-" The monster was punched in the face.
"Why does everyone hit first and never question?" Tiger Millionaire rhetorically asked.
"Because it's the only way to get anything done, duh." She rolled her eyes and moved on to the Lobster man. "You take care of frog legs over there, I'm going to help myself to some roasted lobster tonight." She half joked about that. She ate whatever sea life was near the shore and the fish were too afraid to get near the beach now.
"I'll have you know I'm one mean leand fighting claw machine!" The walking dinner plate said as he charged, snapping those giant claws near her head. "If you were standing still, you'd be much easier to destroy!"
"And why would I ever want that?" The lobster man's swings were so slow that it was barely worth the effort to dodge any attacks, plus having all those extra legs just made it easier to trip him up. "How are we doing over there, short stack?"
"Pretty well, this is routine for me by this point." She had to admit, the kid was a pretty good fighter. Mainly focused on defense stances, but he knew how to toss a frogman over his head like it was nobody's business. "So how do you want to end this? I'm the newbie when it comes to wrestling after all." He sent her a smirk, one she returned in full.
"How about we show the audience a good old pile driver!?" She grabbed the lobster man and threw him on top of the frog man from his spot.
"On the count of three, we jump." The two of them sent a knowing nod towards each other and ran to the opposite sides of the stage. "One…"
"Two.." She crouched, for once actually feeling excited about finishing a fight instead of just the instant satisfaction of beating down her frustrations on random humans without consequence.
"THREE!" The two jumped high in the air and met in the middle right above their opponents, their elbows meeting as the two of them dropped directly on top of them. " Purple Millionaire MISSILE!"
"AAAGHHHHH!!" The two bozos screamed before they landed hard enough to create a boom of rubble and crack the ground. After about ten seconds, the losers were still on the ground, while Tiger Millionaire and the Purple Puma stood tall and victorious!
"I can't believe it folks, but here it is right before our eyes! For once, we're actually cheering for the Purple Puma's victory! Give it up for the undefeated duo of feline fighters everywhere! The Puma and Tiger Millionaire!"
"I love you Tiger Millionaire!!" Who knew Lars was a wrestling fan?
"Yeah, you da man, Tiger Millionaire!" Some blonde chick with hearts on her face shouted. "You see that everyone?! That little champion is my little brother!" A supportive family, huh? That must feel nice.
"I can't believe it…wrestling is real, and it was so intense!" Some dude with a hoodie squealed.
"I taught him everything he knows!" A green headed girl shouted from the sidelines. "This is just the beginning though! We ain't going to stop training till we make you go pro! We'll light the world of wrestling on fire and stand atop of it!"
"I have an announcement!" The boy shouted. "From this day I have seen the darkness in wrestling, almost equaling that of my father. I vowed to make my own destiny, but I can't do it like this … so for now, until I can bring peace to this great sport just like the coconut mines, I must retire."
She had no idea what coconuts had to do with anything, but she had to laugh out loud when the crowd that was just cheering them suddenly completely one eighties itself from completely pissed to desperately in denial. "NO! TIGER! YOU'RE JUST STARTING OUT! DON'T LEAVE US, DON'T LEAVE ME!" Sheesh, Lars was getting a little looney over this.
"Best thing you can do for a crowd is leave them wanting more." Tiger explained himself before walking off. "Well it was fun teaming up with you, Purple Puma. We should do it again sometime. Take care."
"You too, Tiger, you too." She watched him disappear into the crowd as she made her way out of the back door, shifting back to her original form. "Weird little guy." Gave her the oddest sense of Dejavu though.
"I don't know, he seemed kind of cute." One of the few human friends she had, Jana, said out loud, waiting to meet her in the alley.
"Oh really, didn't know you had a thing for guys covered in face paint." She teased the girl.
"What can I say … I can tell something weird is going on and it's pushing some buttons." The girl always seemed to give out some kind of warning signal, which was probably why they got along so well.