The Sibirian Express - COMPLETE

Chapter 24

The day had finally come but I could never imagined that my first Christmas with Ivan would be in Russia and on the same day that two of the most important people to me would step into the ring against each other.

The hall is overwhelming. It's hard to imaine that in just a few hours this huge building will be filled to capacity. 

"Are you nervous?" I ask Ivan as he has his hands bandaged. At the moment we are still alone and I plan to leave as soon as Nikolai and Ludmilla show up. There's been tension between Ivan, Nikolai and Ludmilla ever since I showed up and of course I realize that it's because of me.

"Net."

"I am a little." I admit sheepishly. The tension is slowly becoming too much and I would like the fight to finally be over. 

Just as Ivan is about to say something, the door opens and Nikolai and Ludmilla enter. They both shoot me a look as I kiss Ivan goodbye on the cheek. 

I first have to find my way around the hall, which isn't easy without Ivan because most people either don't speak english or simply don't want tp understand me, but after wandering around for a while, I finally find Rocky's changing room.

"Hey, Champ."

"Lex! Nice to see you again" and with that Rocky pulls me into his armms and hugs me. I immediately notice how much more musclle mass he has managed to gain. Duke really has done his job. 

"Lexi, I've missed you so much!" Adrian hugs me next, but when I look up from her shoulder, I notice Pauli looking between me and Rocky. Not in disgust this time, though but I can't really interpret the look. 

"Are you nervous?"

"You know me." He winks at me. Oh yes, I can still remember the fights when Mickey was still around and the thought of that actually makes me slightly smile. 

As we slowly start to make our way to the ramp, Pauli pulls Rocky slightly aside. "I know you're busy right now, but I just wanted to tell you some things I never told you."

I keep my distance but still close enough to hear the conversation.

"I know sometimes I act stupid and say stupid things. But you kept me around when other would have said "Drop that bum." You give me respect. It's hard for me to say these things because that ain't my way but id I could just be someone else, I'd want to be you. You're all heart."

"Rocky nods at him and I know that Paulis words mean a lot to him. "Thanks Pauli."

"Now blast this guy's teeth out!"

"I'll try."

Well I guess now it's my turn. "Rocky! Befor you go out, I ... I just want you to know, I understand now why you need to do this and I'm sorry that I kind of disappeared ever since Mickey's death. I kept blaming you, but now I finally realized that it's not your fault. It never was and I love you, Rock!" I say as I try to keep the tears from spilling as I pull him into a bear hug. 

Adrian and I go ahead to take our seats. Adrian sits in Rocky's corner and my seat is in Ivan's corner. Just as I'm about to take my seat, the commentators start. 

"Hello, everybody and Merry Christmas from a very unusual place. We're in Moscow in the Soviet Union. I'm Barry Tompkins along with Al Bandiero. This promises to be the most-watched event in boxing history. The iron horse from America, Rocky Balboa."

"Since the tragedy in Las Vegas regarding non other than the legend Apollo Creed, Drago has been nicknamed Death From Above."

"The General Secretary of the Soviet and other members of the Politburo have made their way to their seats high above the ring here in Moscow as one of the fighters is starting to make his way towards the ring."

"Listen to this crowd! This borders on pure hatred. Rocky's face absolutely like stone. He's the picture of concentration."

"Listen to this crowd! It sounds insane. Now the entreance of the Russian national champion Ivan Drago, a man with an entire country in his corner."

My breath is stuck in my throat when I see Ivan making his way to the ring. That ice-cold look. The aura he radiates. 

"Look at the expression on the face of Ivan Drago. He seems impervious to the madness of the crowd. He's like a volcano just waiting to errupt."

And just as Ivan enteres the ring the national anthem of the Soviet Union starts to play and of my! As I turn my head to the side I see a ginormous painting of Ivan being raised.

"The Russain champion is amazingly cool as he acknowledges his premier."

The higher-ups are all sitting above the crowd. As Ivan stands directly infront of me and bows to his higher-ups. I can only hope, that the pressure doesn't get to him. This is by far his biggest fight. 

"I'd like to point out again, this is a non-sanctioned fight. This is not for the title. The American boxing commission has not sanctioned this bout."

The ring announcer enters the ring just as Ivan and Rocky come face-to-face with each other in the ring. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen."

"It's unbelieveble. I've never seen such a hostile crowd. It's an unbelievable sight to see."

"They're toe-to-toe. The Russain towers above the American. It's a true case of David and Goliath. The condition of both men is sureal."

As Rocky extands his gloves I can hear how Ivan says to Rocky "I must break you." befor slamming his hands on to Rocky's.

DING! DING! DING!

"There's the opening round bell. Balboa comes into the center of the ring. The Russain way back into Balboa's croner now.

"Get out of there!" Duke yells and I can barley watch as Ivan completely dominates Rocky. 

"Balboa gets out of the corner. Once more, it's Drago backing up Rocky with a jab. Balboa is not staying on balance because of the Russain's long jab."

"He can't seem to touch the Russain!"

"Rocky pounding away at the midsection of the Russain!"

"Yeah, but Drago just smiled at him."

"Rocky Balbao is in serious trouble!"

"They might have to stop this one before somebody gets killed."

"Rocky's hurt. He woke the sleeping giant and now he has to pay the price for it."

"A solid hand from Drago sends Rocky Balboa flying across the ring!" 

"And the champ is down!" 

Damn it Rocky, get up! I want to scream, but decite to bite my tounge since I wanted to be as nutral as possible for this fight. 

"Drago is continuing to punish Rocky Balboa!"

"He just will not let him out of that corner!"

"Rocky Balboa is just trying to get through this first round."

"And The Russain just thre Balboa into his own corner like a rag doll."

"A tough first three minutes for Rocky."

Ivan, please slow down. I plea slightly.

"He's not only fighting what appears to be an invincible opponent, but he's also fighting a very histile crowd.!

"And there's the bell for round two. Itßs been a one-sided fight so far. It will take more than luck for Rocky to survive this round."

"Rocky's been his with bombs."

"Balboe trying to stay in the middle of the ring against the big Russain."

"Balboa goes down again and bounces right back up!"

"He's getting killed!"

"Rocky Balboa has taken Ivan Drago's best punches so far." 

Rocky takes over for a second and delivers a hard punch to Ivans face ... and he actually cuts him open. Ludmilla glares worried up to Nikolai, as my eyes widen at the blood that's coming out of Ivans cheek, next to his eye. By the look of it, he seems more shocked that he is actally bleeding, that it looks as if he even feels the slightest bit of pain. 

But this definatly set Ivan in a spite of rage. 

"He's cut! The Russain's cut! And it's a bad cut!" 

"And now it's Rocky Balboa coming after Ivan Drago!

"Balboa just keeps on throwing punches!" 

The bell ring, but neither one of the men looks to back down. And by the look on both of their faces I can see that this isn't longer a boxing match. It was full on war now.

"The Bell just rang, but the Russian wants to go on! He grabs Balboa by the thoat!" My eyes widen in horror by the sight. Ivan what are you doing?!

"Balboa picks up the Russain and thows him to the ground like a wrestler! It's a gutter war! No hold barred in Moscow!"

"Rocky may be on the reciving end so far, but he's here to fight. This is shaping up to be a personal war and right now, it's anybody's boxing match."

Ivan sits down in his corner as Sergej takes a look on his eye, as his other teammates keep on encouraging him. He doesn't look at anyone of them, his eyes focused on me and I can hear him say to Sergej. "Kak moy glaz?" (How is my eye?)

The fight gies in. Round after round. They've just finished the 14th round and still neither man willing to back down. As Ivan just kept his punches focused on Rocky's head. Both men are sitting in their corner as the crowd now has actually started to cheer and root for Rocky.

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Nikolai runs to Ivans corner grabbing Sergej by his jumpsuite. "Ty obuchill etogo duraka! On pozor!" 

Nikolai shoves Sergej off the apron as he bends down to Ivan. "Slushay ikh. Nashi lyudi boleyet za NEGO. Ty brosayesh'ves radi etoy suki! Ty idiot! POBEDIT!", he yells at Ivan and shoves his head to the side. I gulp as I can see the fury into Ivans eyes as he slowly stand up. Than all of a sudden he grabs Nikolai by the throat and lifts him up. 

"NET!" Ludmilla screams at Ivan, but he doesn't listen and that's when I now I have to step in, in hopes of calming him down. 

"Ivan, please don't!" I plea and he must have heard me as he drops Nikolai into the crowd. Ivan slowly turns my way as he looks up to the premier minister and the rest of the Soviet Poliburo.

"YA BORYUS', CHTOBY POBEDIT'! DLYA MENY! DLYA MENYA!"

"There is the bell for the last round, Ladies and Gentlemen! Which one of these fighters will be standing at the end of this round?"

"Drago snaps out a stiff jab and another." 

"Rocky taking punishment, trying to get inside! He's completely exhausted."

"Balboa is chopping the Russain down!" 

"Drago's hard right hand stuns Rocky Balboa."

"Forget technique.. Forget strategy. This is just a street fight."

"This is a question of who wants it most."

And unbelievable Rocky does make his come back. He keeps on hitting Ivan. Over and over again and Ivan actually goes down, but so does Rocky and now both men are being counted on. The referee is already at 8 and I can barley watch anymore. 

Nine.

Rocky is up. Ivan is on one knee.

Ten. 

This is it! Rocky won by one second! But he won!

I rush inside the ring befor everyone else has the chance and actually go first to Ivan to check up on him. Surprising not only him but also myself with this action. I look over my shoulder to see Rocky, Duke and Pauli celebrating and Ivan just nods his head slightly for me to go over to Rocky. 

Once I get to him, I pull him into a hug. "Please tell me, this is the last fight. My poor nerves can't handle it anymore." I whisper laughing in his ear. This was something I used to say everytim that Rocky hand a fight and once we pull apart we both have a huge grin on our faces as a microphone is being held in front of his face. 

I step aside to make some room for his speech. 

"I came here tonight, not knowing what to expect. I just saw a lot of people here tonight hate me. When asked why I wanted this fight, well my best friend once said, that you can't change and he is now bound to a wheelchair. In here there are two guys killing each other, but I guess that's still better than twenty million. What I'm trying to say is, if I can change, than you can change. Everyone can change."

I see how Ivan looks at us from his corner as the whole crows starts to cheer. Rocky keeps on celebrating in the ring and then we make our way to exit the ring towards Ivan's corner. Ivan and Rocky look at each other as they do a final touch of gloves out of respect and as Rocky and the rest make their way backstage I keep standing next to Ivan and embrace him in a hug. 

"Ya lyublyu tebya, Ivan." (I love you, Ivan) I whisper in his ear as he wraps his arms around me shielding me from the reporters.