Chapter 50 (Daily)

It was a fairly normal lunch hour at Matsuda and Juli's. Inside, the head waitress and part-time wrestler, Jun Juli, was getting the orders of everyone while being admired for her legs.

She was done delivering her last order for the moment when she noticed two girls brooding in a booth table by the window. One girl had black hair tied in a ponytail and the other had light-brown hair with pink eyeshadow. Jun recognized them and approached.

"Hey! Milk and Mint, right?" she asked.

The girl with the ponytail (Milk) looked up at her waitress and smiled slightly. "Oh. Hey, Jun. It's been a bit."

"Nice to see you." Said Mint.

"So, I heard you two had your debut match the other night." Jun said. "How'd it go?"

The two girls frowned again. "Not so well." Mint answered.

Jun blinked her eyes wide open understanding their pain. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah. We were pretty devastated." Milk said. "Maybe our next match will turn out better… If we even get another match."

"Do you think it's better if we just quit?" Mint asked. "We were bodied by Queen and Payne. The world of wrestling is a lot crueler than we thought."

"Don't think like that." Jun said. "I know it's rough, but you can't let one loss get you down. Look, because of you two, I finally got accepted into Xtrema. I wouldn't even tried if it wasn't for your enthusiasm. Tell you what. I got my debut match next week. How's about I score you two a couple of front-row seats so you can see how much you motivated me?"

"Really?" Milk asked. "You'd do that?"

"Of course." Jun smiled. "You two have great spirit. I think my dad would've liked you."

Candy Pair exchanged smiles. "Thanks, Jun." Mint said. "We'll be sure to check out your match."

"Thank you." Jun replied before taking their order.

At the Xtrema gym, La Calavera was on her phone as she left the locker room. "Gotta go, mi amore. I'm about to start working out. I'll see you tonight. Okay, bye." She hung up and was about to start on the nearest set of equipment, but then, her phone started to ring. She sighed in annoyance before answering. "Hola?"

"Hola to you too, La Calavera."

La Calavera widened her eyes as she recognized the voice of her old promoter. "Mammy? What are you…"

"Funny story." The woman at the other end said. "See, me and my son had just attended a special event here in Japan, and since we're here, I figured I could have a chat with you."

"If this is about getting me to come back to Mexico, you can forget it." La Calavera said.

"Oh, come on." Mammy said. "It's for the sake of Mexican pro wrestling."

"The answer is no!" La Calavera insisted.

"Look. Just… give me a chance to talk. How about a meeting tomorrow at lunch?"

La Calavera sighed. "You're not going to let it go, are you? Fine. Whatever. I'll see you there."

"Great!" Mammy said before hanging up.

"I bet she's going to bring that cactus-headed man-child son of hers." La Calavera said. "That woman…"

In one of the practice rings, Queen Bee and Clementine Cirrus grappled for the advantage over each other. Both grunted before Clementine gained ground by launching Queen Bee onto her back. She attempted to jump up for a splash, but Queen Bee rolled away.

Clementine was short of breath. "Hey, Dawn, can we take a break? We've been sparring for half an hour."

"Right. Sorry, Clem." Queen Bee sighed. "I'm just looking to practice for when I have to face Diana Diaz."

"I don't blame ya." Clementine said. "I heard scary tales about that woman. Rumor has it she spent six months on a deserted island plagued by storms all the time as part of her training."

"Is that true?" Queen Bee asked.

"Dunno, and I don't want to ask her and find out." Clementine said.

A man's throat cleared outside of the ring. Ryuji Hashimoto stood with his signature clipboard in hand.

"Oh. Howdy, Ryuji." Clementine said. "What's up?"

"Well, actually, I've got news to the both of you about the next episode." Ryuji said. "Queen Bee, instead of a match, you'll be doing an interview with our newest backstage reporter, Monica Everly, alongside Diana Diaz. We believe it'll spice your championship match."

"Fine by me." Queen Bee said. "I've been aching for some words with that ogre."

"And as for you, Ms. Cirrus," Ryuji continued, "We're setting you up as Charlie Hart's debut opponent."

"Really?" Clementine asked. "That's amazing!"

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot we had a legitimate Hart in our roster." Queen Bee smiled. "Where is she?"

"She's over there, at the treadmill next to Carly X's." Ryuji pointed.

Bee and Clementine went across the room and to the treadmills. Both young girls on the treadmills were running at the same speed, which was slow enough for them to talk at. Carly was still a little sore after losing to Mewlie, so she wasn't as much invested in the conversation.

"Hey." Queen Bee greeted to the Hitgirl. "I'm Queen Bee. I never got the chance to welcome you to Xtrema."

"Thank you." Charlie said. "Hey, you must be Clementine, right? My debut opponent? I have to admit, you're bigger than I thought."

"I get that a lot." Clementine said.

"So how are you related to Bret Hart?" Queen Bee asked. "Sorry if I'm being inquisitive. I've been a fan of the Hart family for a long time."

"That's okay." Charlie said. "To answer your question, I'm his granddaughter."

"Oh, really?" Clementine asked. "So your gramps used to face off against my daddy."

"Sounds like it." Charlie said. "I guess that's why we're being paired up next week. But try not to injure me too much. I'd like to compete in the Rookie All-Star Match."

"The what?" Carly asked finally from the next treadmill.

"The Rookie All-Star Match." Charlie continued. "It's a cross-promotional event where rookies from all over Japan face off against each other. Think you can enter?"

"That's a good thought, but I can't." Carly said. "You said that it's for rookies, and well, I've got a bit too much experience to be called one."

"What?" Charlie asked. "Aren't you about my age?"

"Well, yeah." Carly said. "Before coming here, I spent some time competing in WWE."

"Oh, is that so?" Charlie asked with widened eyes. "You… worked for Vince McMahon?"

"That's not what he'd say." Carly said. "I made a name for myself there. Even became the Diva's Champion. But after going off-script in a championship defense, the old man fired me."

"Ugh, he's the worst right?"

"I know."

"He's almost as bad as GWM's CEO, Miss X."

Carly widened her eyes and immediately stopped the treadmill she was on. Charlie noticed the disappointed look on the Stylish Tiger's face.

"What's up?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, you probably had no way of knowing this," Queen Bee said, "But Miss X is Carly's mom."

Charlie widened her eyes again. "Oh. I'm… sorry if I offended you."

"Don't worry about it." Carly said. "I'm not naïve enough to not understand how my mother is. I may resent her, but she's still my mom. Hopefully, something will happen and her whole company is shut down. Maybe then, she'll be better."

"Well, as it so happens, that's my goal." Charlie said.

"Say what?"

"Yeah. I'd like to earn the Hart family name by doing something but, and that something is taking down Global Wrestling Monopoly."

"That's quite a goal." Queen Bee said. "How do you plan to do that?"

"I'll figure it out." Charlie said. "But it's going to start with gaining experience in wrestling. What's why I'm entering the rookie challenge."

"Well, it was nice to meet you." Queen Bee said.

"Yeah. See ya in our match." Clementine said before leaving with Queen Bee.

When Sayuri is upset, you would know it. And she was especially mad at Diana Diaz and Poison who sat in front of her desk.

"You two really are trying my patience, aren't you?"

"Hey, you don't have any proof that Eris was attacked by us." Poison said.

"It doesn't matter since she's not demanding justice." Sayuri said. "She's just asking to be in next week's main event, but since Queen Bee will be interviewed with you, Diaz, I'm going to have to look for another opponent."

"See?" Diaz asked. "It all worked out."

"Don't push your luck." Sayuri warned. "You've been on thin ice ever since the Lady Kai incident. After the assault on Atlantis Force before Olympia, the ice began to crack. And now, you're losing chunks of the ice. Pull something like this again, and you'll be lucky to wrestle in apartment matches."

Suddenly, Sayuri's phone beeped. She checked and saw a text message displayed at her home screen. It read "She's here."

Sayuri smiled before turning back to Diaz and Poison. "That's all. Just watch your step before you fall through the ice." She got up and left along with the tag team champions.

As soon as she got the text message, Sayuri immediately took her car to the airport. There, she noticed a large group of reporters, including Kanae Fujishita and Natsuki Okumura, flashing pictures around one area. Sayuri smiled before circling around them. There, she found who she was looking for.

Two women shook hands while one gave a bouquet of flowers to the other. The girl who gave the flowers was none other than Misaki Toyoda. The other was an older woman with long, blonde hair. She and Sayuri saw each other and smiled.

"It's been a long time, Sayuri." The blonde woman said extending her hand.

Sayuri took the hand and shook it which caused the reporters to go flash faster. "It sure has. Welcome back to Japan, Jacky."

*Xtrema Shorts*

Chibi Monica greeted you with a bow before welcoming you. "Now, we return to our latest Xtrema Shorts, with our own interviews with Xtrema characters! Today, our latest conversation will be taken with Xtrema's biggest no-nonsense wrestler, Zelda Logan!"

A spotlight shined on the Chibi version of Zelda who didn't seem overjoyed to be there.

"Welcome to Xtrema Shorts, Ms. Logan." Chibi Monica welcomed. "How abou a smile?"

"I am smiling." Chibi Zelda replied.

"Well, aren't you a little bundle of joy."

"Look, I'm only here because people have questions. I hate seeming like a cartoon. I mean, look at me. I look like a bobblehead."

"Got it. I'll be asking some standard questions followed by some personal ones asked by our audience. Now, first question: How long have you been wrestling?"

"A couple of years, I suppose."

"All right then. Do you have any dream opponents?"

"Sure. Out of everyone, I'd like to go against Liza Surkova. Most of the idiots in Xtrema have stupid, over-the-top gimmicks. A skunk? A kabuki? A vampire? Liza's the most serious out of all of them so far, and I respect her for that. Of course, I want to punish Sam Hamilton for her relentless cosplay, and Catrina Horace for her skanky attitude."

"How do you feel about your fans?"

"As long as they understand what I'm doing for the sport, I can work with them at my back. But if they like those costumed clowns, they are all dead to me."

"What's the toughest match you've had so far?"

"In pro wrestling? Well, I've only ever had one singles match so far, so I have to say Rio Kazama. And believe it or not, I'm proud to have faced her. She knows exactly how a pro wrestler should be."

"What do you do for fun?"

"Well, outside of the ring, I do attend other combat sports events. I then go home, go online, and write my review on what I've seen. It's good for people to understand my pain, especially after the botched main event of Wrestlemania 35. That was without a doubt one of my biggest rants."

"What do you think makes a great wrestler?"

"Obviously, I'd have to say it's someone who can take pro wrestling seriously. Many wrestlers think it's just a showy gig for people to show off and make names for themselves. I don't wrestle for myself. I wrestle for the sport. And anyone who shows off with ridiculous gimmicks and outfits that are supposed to be revealing has no place here."

"Do you have any interests besides wrestling?"

"Sure. I like MMA. It's a good sport without any gimmicks whatsoever, and I happen to be good at it."

"All right. Now for the personal questions, all asked by Awesome ax10. First, what wrestling gimmick do you hate the most?"

"Ugh! I don't know where to start! But if I had to choose, I'd say I hate those girls who show off their porn-star bodies to make up for the fact that they have no talent whatsoever!"

"Which gimmick made you sick of them?"

"Back when I was looking up combat sports online until I found a video of WWE wreslter, Mike Halac, also known as the Mantaur, a man with a bull mask. The way he acted was just as stupid as the ridiculous mask he had on. It was so disgraceful to watch, it burned in my mind and it made me disgusted.

"What are your favorite combat sports?"

"Well, I like wrestling, obviously. Other than that, my favorite would be MMA. Kickboxing would be my third choice."

"What can you tell us about the combat academies you were in and your relationship with the other classmates?"

"Well, before I decided to go pro, I thought about mixed martial arts, so I signed up at this academy called Iron Fist. It was a good place for me to start my fighting career. As for my classmates, most of them couldn't handle the world of combat sports, so I didn't bother remembering their names. The others think I take the sport too seriously, but I say they don't take it seriously enough."

"Last question. What are your thoughts on hardcore wrestling?"

"Perfect. The ultimate test of your mettle in the world of pro wrestling. If you can still stand up after being hit with a chair, crashed through a table, or thrown from the top of a ladder to the outside of the ring, then you have my respect."

"Well, thank you for sharing your opinion with everyone." Chibi Monica said. "Now, dear readers, just so you know, this chapter took place after Tiger Mask W episode 16 and in the middle of Wanna Be the Strongest in the World episode 7. Now that Jackal Tojo's back in Japan, things are about to get interesting.

"Thank you for reading. Any and all comments are welcome."