The day after the match, Black Mask joined Night Queen for a cup of coffee at her apartment. She lived in a high rise apartment that overlooked the skyline of the city of Dallas, not far from where Black Mask lived.
"You really outdid yourself last night. Both in your victory and your speech afterwards." Black Mask said as Night Queen poured him a cup.
"Well I certainly don't mind if you continually shower me with praise and rewards for my efforts." Night Queen said confidently with a smile.
"Haha, don't get too cocky. I'll put you in your place." Black Mask chuckled, though he was also being just a bit serious.
"So when are you going to take off the mask? It's just the two of us here. I've noticed that you wear it much more often." Night Queen said as she stood without the heavy makeup that she usually wears into the ring. "You usually don't keep the mask on when you're just around us M-" She said as she was about to call Black Mask by his real name.
"The mask stays on!" Black Mask shouted as he slammed his fist into the table. "And don't call me that. Just call me Black Mask."
"Right, of course. I'm sorry." Night Queen said as she hurried to change the subject. "Here I made your favorite desert, a Black Velvet cake." She said as she put a plate with a slice of cake in front of him.
"My favorite? Oh, of course, yeah this is my favorite." Black Mask said with a bit of hesitation, as if he couldn't remember.
Black Mask's strange behavior and outburst worried Night Queen, but she was so desperate for even a trace of his affection that she ignored the growing signs that something was wrong.
A week had gone by and the next Friday Night Knockdown was about to start. Even with the Spring Showdown event only a day away, King Kamehameha had yet to respond to any of Black Mask's challenges.
The night's matches included tag matches from Black Knight and Twilight Killer, and Black Maria and Night Queen. Both team's matches were quick and easy victories over relatively unknown opponents.
Dark Mistress had also one a match against Trish Status which she one with one of her signature submissions. Black Mask was in the co-main event of the night against former number one contender Wolfman. Black Mask won by pinfall after hitting him with a Black Meteor.
The night's main event was a Triple Threat Match, though what made it so important was that it featured a wrestler that was making a highly anticipated return to the ring. This would be the first match for former SWF Universal Champion, Super Maxx, since he lost his title to King Kamehameha. He would be facing Iron Toa and Bagman. Bagman who had been on a run of winning since he lost to Black Mask in the gauntlet title eliminator match.
The match started with Iron Toa charging straight at Maxx, but as he grabbed for him Maxx jumped out of the way and floored Toa with a powerful uppercut. Bagman then grabbed Maxx from behind, but he easily broke the grip and threw Bagman over his shoulder onto the canvas.
Bagman got back up, and as soon as he did he was speared into the ropes by Maxx. Maxx then hit him with a lariat that sent him over the top rope. As Bagman went out, Toa had gotten back up and attempted another attack that was easily countered by Super Maxx. Toa was rocked by a Maximum Punch from Maxx, who then brought him to the corner.
Super Maxx climbed the turnbuckle and locked Toa's arms behind his back. He then lifted him up in the air before dropping him directly on his head while placing his knees in the back of his head. With his face smashed in, Toa was completely incapacitated and laid out on the canvas. Maxx then went and covered for the count.
"1!"
"2!"
"3!"
"And that's it! Super Maxx wins it!!!! What's spectacular performance!!!" Ted announced. "That was his first match back and he showed that he's not just back, but back and better than ever!"
"Yeah it was a very quick match I think that a lot of people expected him to have a lot more trouble in that match than he did." Bill said.
"I think that you were one of those people Bill." Ted pointed out.
"I think that Super Maxx just put himself right back in the title conversation. And what a spectacular new move that he showed off tonight, I wonder what he calls that move." Bill said while ignoring Ted's comments.
Super Maxx stood in the center of the ring with a microphone in his hand. "It feels absolutely amazing to be back in this ring fighting for all you here tonight." The crowd cheered in support.
"But the first thing I noticed when I came back is that the only thing anybody wants to talk about is Black Mask and how much he deserves a shot at the title." Maxx continued. "I'll admit that he's had some incredible matches and he deserves to get a shot at the belt one day. But I worked for YEARS to get my title. Do I not deserve a shot to get my belt back? The way I see it, I have one win against King Kamehameha and he has one win against me. Shouldn't
"I couldn't agree more." King Kamehameha said as he entered the arena. "If anyone deserves a title shot against me it's you. Know before Black Mask sends his girlfriend out here to go on another incoherent rant. I'm not saying I won't keep my word to fight him. Luckily, believe that I have a solution that would make everyone happy."
"What is he up to now?" Black Mask thought to himself.
"Me! Versus you! AND, Black Mask! Triple Threat match! At Spring Showdown this weekend! What do you say?" King Kamehameha suggested.
Of course, Super Maxx and Black Mask both agreed to the bout. Black Mask was a bit thrown off that King Kamehameha would choose this venue to finally fight him, but was just glad to finally be given his shot at the title.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital where Black Mask was treated after his gauntlet match. The doctor who had treated him was looking over his test results again.
"I've been looking over this data for a few weeks now and I still can't believe it. I told that woman that Black Mask had suffered permanent damage from pushing his body too far, but the next day the test we ran showed that not only had the damage been healed, but he seems to be even stronger than before. I've never seen anything like this. I'll admit that there's still a lot about superhumans and their physiology that we don't know yet, but this is still remarkable.