Watching on one of the many oddly-placed TV sets scattered across the backstage area, Dean Ambrose shakes his head, mildy unamused; sure, the match that has just finished up was as expected, a bit of a car-crash competition (ending up that way in more ways than expected), but in the end, the wrong person won, in his opinion.
Poor Sunset. Didn't deserve that much damage done to her, but it was a bit more that she took than what he was expecting her.
And how it ended... OOF... yeah, she would benefit from a trip to the doctor's office.
Speaking of those who needed medical help after their match...
Dean opens the door to one of the various locker rooms, being greeted almost immediately with the sight of a still-recovering Star Butterfly, having just gotten touched up by the doctor that tended with her bumps and bruises, and now she's laid her head in the lap of fellow competitor; the blonde agent, Sherry Birkin, someone she's gotten along well with, especially after meeting in the ring for their first-round bout, to a winning effort for the Mewman Princess.
It was nice – quite cute, even – to see how they've earned each other's respect after doing battle a few hours back, and now they look to have gotten quite acquainted to each other despite the difference in personality. Sure, she's far from the first person to have come out of their match beaten all to hell, but it's somewhat elevated when she's as young as she is.
"'Sup kid," Dean greets the magical princess. "Feelin' any better?"
"Well, my ears finally stopped ringing," she replies, attempting a big smile. "That's a start..." Her tone was more relaxed than her usual, placated as a result of her having to relax and recover from the brutal beatdown she was unfortunately at the hands of.
The stubble-faced guy chuckles silently, leaning against the lockers. "Yeah... don't try to move around too much; let everything heal up. This business ain't easy, kid."
He looks up to the older of the two blondes. "Same goes for you, 'agent'."
Agent Birkin replied, "Don't need to tell me twice; think I've seen enough here now to see how fucked up things can get."
Ambrose sniffs a little. "Just be glad you got off easy. Sunset out there got thrown away along with the trash."
"I don't see why she keeps on fighting, after all that – she's not even close to being a professional here."
"Hey, neither are you." Ambrose then gestures towards the thankfully-healing Star laying in 's lap. "Or her..."
"I've been through a lot in all this time I've been in my workforce," Sherry justifies her sort of professionalism in her craft. "I've fought psychopaths… monsters..."
"I fight monsters too..." Star moans out a response, slurring from her somewhat sore jaw.
Sherry looks down at the princess, uncertain of whether she was genuinely speaking on her own experience, or if Lesnar battered a few screws loose – at least, a few more. "I... I didn't come here just to keep people safe – I mean, it's a personal bonus on my end to serve and protect, but..."
"But what?" Dean wriggles his eyebrows up a little, his interest in the blonde agent's business beginning to peak.
Looking back down at Princess Butterfly, Birkin looks a little bit unsure of how to put to words her main mission to the loose cannon from Ohio with this youthful girl in the way. Calmly carrying the dazed but comfortable Star up and letting her lay down on a nearby bench, she stands up and meets Dean at complete eye contact.
She asks him, "You mind if we keep this between us? In private?"
Dean closes the door behind him.
"You have these conversations in a bathroom stall, Dean?"
"You said 'in private'. I mean, you oughta be careful what you wish for with me here."
"Yeah, I guess I should..." Sherry shakes off the very eccentric logic on Dean's part; it's definitely not the most logical place for private talks like this, especially since there isn't much elbow room, especially with two people in a space meant for just one.
Dean smiles back, leaning against the wall behind him with his arms crossed. "Alright, I'm all ears... now I really wanna know what the hell you're on about."
Slightly hesitant to share otherwise classified information to someone who probably doesn't know shit about national security, Sherry begins to roll along with her elaboration. "Okay... well... it started last week... I was on a brief vacation around the UK, taking a bit of a break from the abnormal, during a surprisingly calm point in time. It was a bit of a slow week. It was then I realized it was the 'calm before the storm' before most people did, when I got the call to head back to the US – to head over to California."
Dean kept quiet, a fairly rare feat for him, as he listened on to what felt like something of interest to him, especially now that he wants to understand Agent Birkin's intentions.
She continues. "When I arrived, I got some intel on a competitive ring within a mysterious temple with rumors of supernatural phenomena occurring that has happened underneath the noses of authority, and that the owner had vanished right when they started to notice."
Dean begins to realize what company she may be talking about... "Oh yeah. Pretty crazy place, isn't it?"
"Very," Sherry replies. "The state police enlisted officers Reyes and Ryan to go undercover at the Temple and try and snuff out the whereabouts of the owner, but nothing came back... and when a mysterious flyer came around about 'earning redemption' among other things, that's when they called us to further investigate... and here I am."
Dean scratches through his hair. "Yeesh. You must've been going through a lot of shit this past week. With the undercover bullshit, and the tournament, you've barely gotten anywhere, haven't you?"
"I have.. it's just that I haven't managed enough time to fully comprehend it all," she responds. "But at least I know one thing..."
"And that is?"
"I found him – 'El Jefe'... Dario Cueto - he's working with Paul Heyman... He may have gotten away from the Temple and off the radar altogether, but with him and Heyman working together... things could really fall apart here if they manage their goal."
Ambrose perks up, a bit happy to know she's managed big-time progress in her mission. At least someone's going out on a positive note tonight. "Oh, cool! Guess what we need to do now is rat him to the police, and mission accomplished, right?"
"It doesn't work like that!" Sherry goes very quickly against Ambrose's consideration. "Sure, we'd get our guy... but even then, it's too early to call on whether things will spiral out of control or not, even with some of these... odd characters, to say the least. I think I need to keep myself from outing him out for the time being, for months, maybe years if I have to..."
Ambrose sighs through his nose, his smile somewhat fading. "Guess you're right."
The agent then extends a hand to put against Dean's chest. "But... just know... unless we have to... we don't tell anybody. If word spreads too far, even to the fans... well, I don't know what the hell could happen... but I know it's gonna go straight to shit."
He responds... "I'm not always great with promises... but I'll try my best."
"Good."
All of a sudden, the door to the stall they were within opened, and they both looked towards the pitcher of light that shone back at them.
Fresh off her losing effort, with a thick bandage slapped across the staple-caused wound on her forehead, Sunset Shimmer looks a bit baffled to see a bathroom stall barely being put to use, as she leans on her arm on the wall of the stall.
"Alright... what the fuck." Shimmer can't really utter much in terms of a response to seeing Ambrose and Birkin together like this.
Dean preemptively retorts. "Before you ask – no, we are not secretly banging each other under the table."
"I wasn't gonna ask that." Sunset assures him, albeit a bit annoyed. "I was gonna ask why you guys were talking about shit in the bathroom – the women's bathroom, to be exact."
Dean speaks up again, "If it makes you feel any better, it's not my first time being in this sort of bathroom. Far from."
Sunset shakes her head. "It doesn't. Now step aside, 'Titty Master' – I gotta unload. You too, what's-your-face."
The stall empties out, with Dean just plain bailing on the bathroom altogether, while Sherry just stands outside the stall as Sunset closes it behind her.
One thing hangs above the agent's head, for sure. "How much did you hear?" she asks.
"How much of what?" Sunset asks back, from the other side of the stall, as the sound of trickling liquid hitting more liquid made background noise. "The private bullshit you and Dean were spittin' around in here? Trust me, I didn't hear much, and besides, I don't wanna bother with whatever secrets you and him are holding."
Birkin sighs in relief. "Good. I don't think I would trust you with any sort of secret information."
The flush of the toilet sounds off during Sunset's response. "Don't know if I should hold that as a compliment..." Then the stall door opens as she exits, adjusting her jeans. "...but I don't really want to get involved in your business anyway. I'm a carefree type of babe like that."
Giving Sherry a light smack on the ass as a bit of a positive gesture to get her to come along, Sunset tells her, "Now come on – there's one match left to watch in this fuckin' crazy tournament tonight."
They both head their way to carry on to see what's left for the second round of the Tournament of Fate...
Back to the arena. The dim lights brighten back up, allowing the crowd to tense up for one more showcase of the night.
("Touch Me And I'll Break Your Face" - Mick Gordon feat. Ali Edwards)
The moderately familiar song seems to cut right to the chase, unlike the first time around, jumping right to the drop as some pyro blasts off on-stage.
"The following contest is the final match in the Tournament of Fate's second round! Introducing first, from a classified location in East Europe, Black Orchid!"
Amidst a wave of cheers, with a tad bit of boos having been drowned out as a result, the mercenary steps out on-stage for her second time of the night, the battle damage clear with the slightly bloodied bandages wrapped around her head to cover her cuts from her bout with the Lunatic Fringe, and the stains of blood faintly noticeable on her attire in spots. With her batons locked in place on her boots, the look on her face spells determination, but also says that she will put herself through quite the danger to put away her opponent, once again.
"We are on the home stretch of Day 1 of this two-night event! The Tournament of Fate will end this second round with quite an interesting bout, between two talents that are just getting started!" Joey Styles proclaims. "Orchid is ready to go through hell again, as she enters another hardcore bout, and considering how much pain she had to go through against Dean Ambrose, this may be another big step for her to potentially become the first Tournament of Fate winner, and a very worthy competitor to become such at that!"
As Orchid jumps to the apron and enters the ring, Jim Ross speaks on commentary once Joey finishes. "Brock Lesnar, Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan – what all these three have in common are that they are heading into the semi-finals, and that, based on the formation of the brackets, at least two of them will likely have to deal with this aggressive individual tomorrow night!"
B. Orchid takes a corner of the ring, standing towards the stage, prepared for all comers, especially her opponent in this upcoming battle.
("Another Way To Die" - Disturbed)
Fire. Nothing but fire bursting off on the stage, accompanied by some of David Draiman's vocals, as the Mortal Kombat tournament veteran Scorpion makes his presence felt again.
"And her opponent... from the outskirts of Japan, weighing in at 235 pounds... Scorpion!"
"This ninja may not weigh a ton, but trust me, he's a strong motherfucker, I'll tell ya that!" Tazz quips with some colorful, profane language on his tongue. "Anyone who manages to tame the Big Dog in Roman Reigns in their first wrestlin' match is a guy I would love to see win."
"Well, both these competitors have managed to defeat members of a WWE force that was known as the Shield." Joey notes. "The impact they've both brought down on Heyman's new company filled to the brim with talent has really done a number!"
Scorpion goes through the ropes, staring right at Orchid, as JR speaks up again. "We are about to start off our final bout of Tournament of Fate, Day 1! Don't go anywhere!"
The fighters stand off at opposite corners, with Earl Hebner right in between them. This is going to be a burning hot contest!
Hey. It's been a while since you've seen me directly speaking to you. I figured I won't do this for every chapter, regardless of whether it would be before or after the chapter.
Get hyped, because Orchid vs. Scorpion is going to be the next chapter!