Mid-Round Interlude
Part 1
Trouble Brewing

After eight hard-fought bouts, the Tournament of Fate takes a short break after the end of the first-round, following a gruesome battle between Dean Ambrose and Black Orchid, who have certainly come to know – and pretty much hate – each other heading into their fight. Alongside Black Orchid, having defeated the Lunatic Fringe, include several other grizzled veterans have fought and/or wrestled for years, such as Daniel Bryan, Scorpion, Brock Lesnar and Kevin Owens, as well as newcoming talent who have never really been involved in the violent sport, like Sunset Shimmer, Aria Blaze and Star Butterfly.

Well-known hopefuls such as Attitude Era veteran Stone Cold Steve Austin, ECW psycho New Jack, NXT Champion Finn Balor, Japanese sensation Shinsuke Nakamura and even Dean Ambrose's brother-in-arms Roman Reigns have stepped up to the plate in the first round, and have fallen pretty hard with losses that crashed their momentum before they could even get started with the Tournament.

When I went ahead with the first round, I kept almost every match a secret, only revealing a couple ahead of time (Orchid vs. Ambrose, Reigns vs. Scorpion) because "Fuck it". This time, I'm revealing the whole card for the second round, which is a four-match ordeal.

The brackets went like this when I formed it:

Match 1 - - - Match 8
Match 3 - - - Match 6
Match 5 - - - Match 4
Match 7 - - - Match 2

So given the match order, the second round is gonna go something like this:

Daniel Bryan vs. Aria Blaze
Brock Lesnar vs. Star Butterfly
Kevin Owens vs. Sunset Shimmer
Black Orchid vs. Scorpion

If your biggest favorite of the bracket ended up losing in the first round, there's always someone else to fall back on.

And then after the second round, and then one or two more chapters following (which will then be the point in which the Quirkiness of Fate story crosses paths with the main story), we move on to the next story in the saga with Act 3 covering Day 2, featuring the Tournament's finals, and maybe an extra match or two based on some circumstances to be determined. It's only going to get better from here on out.

Alright, enough of the author's note, time to get to the story, where this chapter is going to reintroduce the corporate family that have established themselves as a focal part of the story in the first act of the Tournament of Fate saga...

Date: February 21, 2016
Time: About a quarter till 10 PM (Pacific Standard Time), a bit earlier from where we last left off in the story
Location: Ohio

Makeshift headquarters have been set up; clearly, it hasn't been calmly put together, since it doesn't look entirely tidy; hell, it seems as if a hole was patched up in one of the walls, presumably a fist flying through it being the cause.

Standing at one end of a fairly dusty but sturdy meeting table is the chairman of WWE, Vince McMahon.

The building frustration within the elder is subtly visible after the past couple days and its series of events, what with the slightly disheveled nature of his hair, and the deep frown of complete dissatisfaction across his face. He seems to be without a jacket to go along with the rest of his suit, leaving him in the formal shirt and pants, and some dripped beads of sweat can be noticed on said shirt. Stress was very visible on him.

Sitting on opposite sides next to Mr. McMahon, are his daughter Stephanie and his step-son 'Triple H' Hunter Helmsley. They both maintain a content expression, if not with a slight tinge of nervousness given their father's expression at this very minute; after all, he was the one who rushed them back to Ohio for this emergency meeting.

Making up the rest of the group stuffed into this room are a who's who of reknown wrestlers of the past who make up a majority of the road agents and ambassadors: Arn Anderson, Pat Patterson, Road Dogg, Finlay, Jamie Noble, et cetera, et cetera, there's a great handful here.

After a few moments too long of uncomfortable silence, Vince finally starts, speaking through a deep, gravely serious tone. "It's taken the last couple of days, but finally I've gotten just about everyone I need in this meeting. The reason here being... that we've got a large problem on our hands. … A problem that not only concerns the people in this room... but perhaps the entire WWE as a whole."

He continues, almost beginning to pace around where he stands. "Earlier tonight, you have all gotten word of the delay of our Fastlane pay-per-view, as a result of circumstances revolving several missing talents: Brock, Roman, Ambrose... even Kevin Owens, who we haven't heard from since he enlisted himself to help out with our situation. ...People here have been assuming many different reasons; personal family issues... transportation troubles... the odd Randy Orton 'injured while taking out the trash' incident... ...but unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case tonight."

Digging into one of his pockets, Mr. McMahon pulls out a folded-up piece of paper. "Yesterday, as I was preparing to travel over to this part of Ohio to look over Fastlane, I stumbled upon this..."

Unfolding the paper, it becomes quickly recognizable what it is.

"This message." Vince continues, showing it towards the group in front of him, before flipping it back towards him to read it. "Within every soul, a fire still burns... somewhere, redemption you will earn. That about sums it up, and it's followed by coordinates – leading right to the Staples Center in California. This may not concern much to you, but to me, who I know is a part of the business – who I know runs a promotion of their own in this world – this was only the first clue to me, and to my son Hunter and daughter Stephanie, the only others I've talked to about this beforehand..."

Vince folds the flier back up and sets it down on the table. "The second clue relates to a man you know as Paul Heyman. On the morning of the same day I found this message, Heyman called to alert me that there was some business he had to tend to before he and his client Brock Lesnar came back down here for Fastlane. In California. Never heard from them since then. Now, does anyone see a connection here yet?"

The handful of elder personnel murmur to each other as they slowly begin to understand the connection that Vince has implied.

As for the man of the McMahon house, he steps away from the meeting table, walking toward a corner near the back of the room, where a computer is set up.

Going behind the computer desk, Vince took a moment to click around as he was setting something up, all while continuing to go into detail of his discoveries. "One more clue, one more damning piece of evidence towards what I've discovered, comes to us online. Earlier today, in an attempt to snuff out the whereabouts of our absent workers, I searched in and out through the internet, attempting to get a connection to any of them on social media. Came up with nothing for so long, to the point where it almost seemed like a point to calm down... but then I stumbled upon this. What you're about to see, gentlemen, might be a bit shocking to some of you..."

A projection of the computer screen deployed out on the wall to the left of the meeting table, shining in between the Authority and the road agents.

And, all of a sudden, we see a good look at the tail-end of the Tournament of Fate, finally being seen by the eyes of those still within the premises of the WWE.

Although there are many details that can be discussed of the footage that everyone is seeing, most through wide eyes, the main focus seems to be on one of the people involved in the match being streamed right now, Mr. Lunatic Fringe himself, Dean Ambrose. The grisly, bloodied look of his is very recognizable, and a little bit frightening itself, as he is seen getting beaten down in the middle of the ring by an equally-bloody woman who is unknown to the group watching. (Think back to the Ambrose vs. Orchid chapters to get a better understanding, if you've read them already)

Vince speaks through gritted teeth, absolutely disgusted, as he looks towards the projection. "What you're seeing... is something that WWE superstars should not be associated with, and for good reason. What's also unacceptable is perhaps the fact that they've practically walked out on us to be there." He turns around to the others again, creaking his head to dart towards Triple H partway through. "And not just the WWE roster itself, but NXT as well – Hunter, I've seen some of the talent you've brought in and developed over there as well. I don't like it one bit... and I'm sure you don't, too."

It comes as a little bit of a surprise to the formerly-labeled King of Kings, having not heard about certain members of the NXT roster taking part in whatever was going on in their own terms. It really is blistering off into something that could ring in a domino effect of disaster. Where's that sledgehammer where you need it?

Arn Anderson speaks for the men considered relics of the past having been brought here to this emergency meeting. "Vince, if I may ask... what the hell kind of event are we watching right now? What reason do they have to bring in some of our talent?"

Mr. McMahon replies. "From what I can find out about this, is that it's a tournament of sorts, featuring not only some of WWE and NXT's talents... but bizarrely enough, people like Stone Cold Steve Austin and Daniel Bryan in the mix, people who shouldn't even bee competiting at the capacity that they are. That I don't understand, but what I do understand is this is most definitely what Paul Heyman was actually planning there in California, working with others in a group effort to put on something to battle against us. It's one of the biggest reasons why we've made the decision to delay Fastlane until we can deal with this, and we will do our best to put a stop to this. If it means trying to end a war before it can actually begin, I will be alongside two of the most essential members of my immediate family, and we will be heading to Los Angeles to try and find a way to put a stop to this."

Pat Patterson tries to justify one of the possible outcomes... "Vince, we don't know how much they are expecting us to do, or what they've prepared to fight back against us..."

McMahon pounds a fist down on the table as he cuts the long-retired wrestler off. "Dammit, Patterson, as God is my witness, we will end it, and we will do it immediately!" After the initial snap, he pauses to calm himself. "No more questions. No more complaints, people... You're all dismissed for the night..."

The road agents and ambassadors get up from their seats and exit to the right of the room, leaving the Authority to themselves for a brief moment, before Vince looks towards the family members that have joined him in the room. He proclaims, "Hunter, Steph... we've got some traveling to tend to."

With that, the three of the WWE's currently-employed McMahon family tree drift off to the opposite direction of where the other personnel had left.

"Let's hope you know what you're doing, Vince." Triple H tells his step-father.

Vince replies, "I do know what I'm doing; if I can tear apart WCW and keep TNA, Ring of Honor and New Japan at bay, I can surely put a stop to whatever Heyman's got going on over in that crappy little tournament of his."

Let's hope he's right.

So that's part 1 of a couple more parts to go of this half-time sort of thing. Round 2 will come by soon enough, in a few weeks or so, but for now, we've got to take a look at what comes next for most others involved. So much story to work through, and so little time.

Until next time.