Mike Haggar stumbled out of the seedy fight club and onto the misty, grime-coated streets. A former professional wrestler and new Mayor of Metro City, Haggar pledged to clean up the mess made of Metro and punish the punks who loomed large over the city's forces of justice.
Haggar clutched his bruised and aching shoulder and grunted through the pains accumulated through his previous encounter. He'd just faced off against two of the massive Andore brothers. In that square cage with the Andores, he was surrounded by 100 men, eagerly placing bets on who would wind up on a stretcher. With the ferocity of a bear, Haggar had managed to punch, kick, and piledrive his way to victory. But the Andore brothers did not go down without a fight; they made sure Haggar took his lumps until the very end.
The muscular mayor gritted his teeth and continued on, eager to see his mission through to the end. He took down every punk and thug in his path until he got to the boss of that part of town -- Edi. E. The cop-turned-Mad-Gear-thug laughed boisterously as Haggar charged forth, ready to teach the traitor a lesson!
But Edi. E. was ready. He grabbed the foolish wrestler by his suspender strap and bludgeoned his ruggedly face with the butt of his night stick! Four strikes was all it took for Haggar to utter his cry of defeat and collapse into the arms of the big boss!
"Night night," he grunted through a wide grin before slamming his fist into Haggar's face, knocking the hero into unconsciousness.
Haggar awoke some time later, groggy and disoriented. His body had been stripped nude and he was laying upon a sturdy wood table. He struggled to lift his arms, but they and his legs were secured tightly to the table by iron cuffs. With what little strength he had left, Haggar tried to brute force his way out of his bondage.
He could hear the soft snickering of dozens of voices from somewhere around him. He looked around, but the bright lights pointed at him blinded him to little more than his immediate surroundings. The bodybuilding mayor was just about to bellow at his binders to free him when he heard a deep, gut-turning laughter among the spectators.
"Turn it on," that gruff voice then spoke through from somewhere in the darkness of the large brick-walled room. Suddenly, Haggar heard the mechanical sound of a machine. He looked upward and his face contorted into an expression of terror! A massive compactor studded with large spikes was descending upon him!
Haggar shook his head quickly, desperate for an escape! But there was no way out! This was it! Mad Gear had won! He couldn't let it end this way -- he had to keep going, even if it meant throwing in the towel!
"N-No!" Haggar shouted to whoever it was who ordered the nefarious trap to be engaged! "Please! I'll do whatever you want -- ANYTHING!!"
"Anything?" his conqueror responded, an evil grin spreading quickly across his mouth. With his nod, the trap was stopped, mere millimeters from piercing Haggar's skin.
Haggar, heart racing and lungs panting in fright, knew that even though he would live to see another day, his days of fighting Mad Gear were over. Metro City was theirs to control, and Haggar's 100 years of servitude had just begun.
Two nights later at the grand opening of Mad Gear's new nightclub...
