Strange Love

The noise in the arena was deafening. Fifteen thousand voices chanted the names of their heroes whilst feet stomped and hands clapped. The atmosphere was electric, growing stronger as each second passed. All eyes were focused on the square ring in the centre of the arena.

Suddenly music blared through the speakers placed around the arena and, if possible, the sounds of the cheers grew even louder. The lights started to dim until only small spotlights were focused on the ring and the walkway leading to it.

Up in one of the private boxes that was being used for the live television broadcast, Mandy Watson placed her headset on her head and waited for her cue from the director.

"Welcome back to tonight's live broadcast of the West Coast wrestling tournament. I'm Mandy Watson and you're about to see tonight's headline bout between Jonny Redsox and the Black Phoenix for the heavyweight belt. As you know, Jonny Redsox issued a challenge to the Black Phoenix for his belt last month in Las Vegas and there has been a lot of talk between the two of them leading up to tonight's match. Let's hope that the action is as explosive as their recent encounters have been." She watched as the spotlights focused on the top of the walkway and a tall, musclar man wearing red trunks and a red cape appeared. By his side stood a tall, leggy blond wearing red leather trousers and a snug fitting red tshirt. Her hand rested on a jutting hip as she surveyed the audience before her and her man.

"Well, as you can no doubt tell, the challenger, Jonny Redsox and his partner Camille Devereaux have arrived and are making their way towards the ring. This is a big night for Jonny. He's been after this belt for a couple of years now and I know from previous interview that he's ready for tonight."

Mandy watched as the couple made their way down the walkway towards the ring. Camille's body language was clearly possessive towards the man walking by her side, warning all the female fans off her man. Together they did a lap of the ring, acknowledging the adoration of the fans in the arena.

Suddenly the music changed, becoming more darker and heavier. The atmosphere in the arena seemed to change along with it as the lights dimmed to almost full darkness. Only subtly placed sidelights offered any illumination in the darkened arena.

Mandy watched the drama unfolding below her, trying to ignore the butterflies forming in her stomach in anticipation of what was about to happen.

A loud explosion sounded throughout the arena as an image of red and black flames played against the screen at the top of the walkway. If possible, the chants and screams from the excited audience grew even louder as an even taller, more muscular man appeared at the head of the walkway. He wore black, figure hugging leggings and a black shirt that hung loosely on his broad frame. Around his narrow waist hung the belt that tonight's fight was all about.

A woman appeared next to him, dark where Camille had been light. Her slender frame was clothed in a leather jump suit that fitted like a second skin. Her long black hair was braided into several braids reaching down to the middle of her waist. Her skin was tanned, the fine features accentuated by the strong make up that she wore. Monique LaSalle was a very beautiful woman and she wanted all who saw her to know it.

Mandy watched as they walked down the walkway together, her fist clenching slightly as she saw Monique place a hand on Phoenix's rear as the women screamed around him. Sparks flashed in her grey eyes as she forced herself to ignore Monique and concentrate on the forthcoming action.

"Here comes the current champion, Black Phoenix, accompanied as ever by Monique LaSalle. Tonight will be Phoenix's fourth defence of the belt since he won it from Big Paulie. Oh, looks like Camille and Monique are squaring up to each other. Wonder if we'll have a bonus match tonight. Certainly would be interesting to see these two ladies get together. Both are very successful fighters in the women's league."

Down in the ring, Phoenix watched as Monique and Camille faced off at each other. Monique was doing a lot of gesturing as they argued, her face right up against Camille's who was trying not to appear overwhelmed by the slightly taller, more aggressive woman. Slowly he cast his eyes over the chanting crowd, feeling their excitement and bloodlust building as the start of the fight grew nearer. His eyes flicked up to the television booth and a slight smile tugged at his lips as he inclined his head slightly to Mandy before turning back to the action in the ring.

The two women pushed at each other before the referee for the fight pulled them apart and the compere announced he and Redsox to the waiting crowd. He did not look at Redsox, wouldn't until they were ready to start. That was when he would focus fully on his opponent and the fight for his belt.

The two women left the ring as the two combatants squared off against each other. Both men were evenly matched although Phoenix had a slight height and weight advantage over his younger opponent. Experience would count just as much as physical strength in this bout and Phoenix had plenty of that.

Mandy watched as the fight progressed. Whilst her body language appeared tense she kept her voice light and even for the listening audience. It was hard to do as both men took some heavy hits and gave as good as they received. The crowd cheered wildly for both of their heroes as the fight progressed. It was hard to decide who would win as they each seemed to gain the upper hand for a few seconds before the other man came back and took control.

Eventually experience became the deciding factor in the bout as Phoenix dodged a lethal forearm before countering with a stunning drop kick and flattened Redsox, knocking the breath from him. Taking advantage of his opponent's fall to the canvas, Phoenix scrambled over to him and pinned him for the requisite 1-2-3. The crowd went wild as the referee held up Phoenix's arm as winner of the fight.

"There's your winner, folks. The Black Phoenix retains his belt for a record fifth time. Who out there can beat this champion wrestler? Is there anyone out there? Who knows?"

Seeing the signal from her producer Mandy rapidly finished her broadcast just before the credits rolled on the television broadcast. "Great show, guys," she said to the crew as she packed her gear into her case and stacked it with the others for the crew to load into the truck later. "See you on Tuesday night." Smiling she left the booth and headed out on to the busy concourse full of departing fans heading home. Showing her pass to the security guard she went down into the staff car park and stood by the side of the black Jaguar that was parked there and waited.

Jake Sinclair zipped up the holdall and looked over towards the other man in the dressing room. "Good job, tonight, JD. You came pretty close to winning it."

"Yeah, but not close enough," JD replied. "Maybe next time."

"Maybe." Jake grinned and picked up his holdall, grimacing as his battered body protested. With a farewell wave he left the dressing room and headed to the exit. His aches and pains were forgotten as he spotted Mandy waiting for him. His tough guy act disappeared as he brushed a kiss over her lips before turning his attention to the sleeping bundle in her arms.

"Hi," she greeted as she unlocked the car. "Another win."

"Only just. Hopefully one more fight should give us enough cash for me to retire on and open the gym."

Mandy nodded and fastened the baby in the car before getting in beside Jake. She would be glad when he did retire from the ring. It was harder and harder watching him fight and patching his injuries up when they got home.