Chapter 51 (Daily)

After her press conference alongside Misaki Toyoda, Jackal Tojo met up with Sayuri Rogue away from the press. She had then given Sayuri Rogue a set of documents. The Xtrema CEO looked over them and smiled.

"Does this mean…"

"That's right, Sayuri. Our friends over at Shangri-La are onboard with your Pandora Project."

"About time." Sayuri said. "I've been waiting for a reply for two months."

"Well, that was around the time I scheduled to come back to Japan, so I figured I'd deliver the news to you in person." Jackal said.

"I'm glad you did." Sayuri said. "Honestly, out of everyone so far, you're one of my favorites to win it."

"Well, I know it'd be more fun if you competed in it too."

"I'd be happy to have some of my wrestlers represent Xtrema for the event, but I certainly can't. I told you, the days of championships are behind me. My work makes me too busy for that."

Jackal chuckled. "I never thought I'd see Sayuri Rogue playing business woman. You used to pick fights at bars with someone for taking your seat."

Sayuri laughed back. "Oh, were we ever that young?"

"In any case, I'm meeting up with Misaki and Kanae where I'll be staying." Jackal said. "Would you like to join in?"

Sayuri looked at her watch and grimaced. "Wish I could, Jacky, but I've got an important meeting to get to. But how's about we catch up some time later, just the two of us?"

Jackal nodded. "Of course. Just text me the details. Later, Sayuri." Jackal got into her ride.

"Later, Jacky." Sayuri said seeing her old friend and rival ride away.

Without her mask, Rosita Rivera headed to a restaurant that came with a separate room for private meetings. She followed the instructions and once she entered, she sighed in exhaustion seeing a middle-aged woman in a red jacket sitting next to a muscular man in a black mask with a cactus-like stripe across his head.

"Hi, Rosita!" the man greeted.

"Hey, Saboten." Rosita replied with a roll in her eyes. She sat across from the woman in the red jacket and crossed her arms. "Let's get this over with, Mammy. Whatever you're selling, I'm not…"

"Just hear me out first." Mammy said. "Trust me, I've got a plan that'll save our operation."

"Is it better than a recent plan you had that involved underpaying Tiger Mask, trying to sabotage his match, and make him join you? Or perhaps the plan about trying to marry a mayor?" Rosita asked. "Yeah, I've heard about your botched match. Don't know how it got so popular where you were."

"Trust me. This will work." Mammy said. "I've heard about this Rookie All Star event happening soon. If you join in and represent our federation, it'll attract a large number of impressed wrestlers and they'll line up to join us."

"There are so many things wrong with that idea, I don't even know where to start." Rosita said. "But I suppose I'll start it with the fact that this event you're talking about is for rookies only. I've been wrestling for years. I'm no rookie."

"La Calavera isn't," Mammy said before reaching in her bag and pulling out red tiger mask with black stripes and devil horns, "But Gato Diablo is very much new to wrestling."

Rosita jolted her head back in shock. "Dios mio, what is that?"

"It's your new costume. Made it myself." Mammy said. "Think about it. A luchadora with no experience suddenly shows natural talent and flair in her first ever match. People will wonder 'where did those amazing moves come from'. As soon as we tell everyone that you were trained in our company, all those other rookies will transfer themselves over to us and when we gain enough notoriety with our women's division, the men will come right back to us. Of course, you will have to lose your match to make the story more convincing."

"Sounds great to me." The Saboten said. "Mammy is so smart."

Rosita dropped her jaw with a disgusted expression. "So not only are you asking me to lie to the crowd about who I am and how much experience I have, but you're asking me to throw the match?"

"It's all for the sake of Mexican wrestling."

"It's all desperation, that's what it is!" Rosita shouted. "That's the most deceitful, underhanded plan I've ever heard of! Aye caramba, what is wrong with you? Even if I did like that idea, I can't leave Japan. I built a new life here and I'm with this really great guy. I can't just give it all up."

"So you're not going to help us?" Mammy asked.

"Not even for a billion pesos! That's my final answer! So adios!" She got up and stormed out of the room.

"What do we do, Mammy?" the Saboten asked. "She seemed pretty ma…"

He was interrupted when Mammy grabbed his face and pulled the inside of his cheek with her thumb. "Shut up, dear. Obviously, we won't let her get away with this. We'll get her back, one way or another."

After leaving her meeting, Rosita was on her way home when she got a text message from Sayuri Rogue. She was told to head to her office as soon as possible. Of course, Rosita followed. Before heading inside the Xtrema building, she put on her La Calavera mask.

Once inside, she walked past the gym area to make it to the CEO office. Sayuri Rogue sat there with Ryuji Hashimoto beside her. She gestured her hand to a chair that was right next to an occupied one, one with someone that made La Calavera widen her eyes.

"Maria?" she asked surprisingly. "Maria Hirano?"

"Hola, La Calavera." Greeted the masked luchadora's old friend.

"I hope you don't mind. It's supposed to be a surprise." Sayuri said.

"Well, it certainly is." La Calavera said sitting next to Maria. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good. Thanks for asking." Maria replied. "I've heard you were pretty good yourself."

"I wouldn't say that. So what are you doing here?"

"Well, my family recently moved to Japan, and Ms. Rogue gave me a call. Said she wants me to be this next episode's guest."

La Calavera turned her head to Sayuri Rogue. "So is that why I'm here? You want me to be her opponent?"

"Not exactly." Sayuri said. "In fact, I want you to be her partner in next episode's tag-team match."

"Que?" La Calavera asked.

"I had the same reaction." Maria said.

"You see," Ryuji started to explain, "We have Creed, Crawford, Juli, and Hart to make their debut matches at the next show. That makes four matches out of the six we can afford. And we've already got a main event lined up for a singles match, to the last one has to be a tag team match. We know of your history together and thought the two of you would be a good team."

"I see." La Calavera said. "Who are our opponents?"

"That would be the Daughters of Darkness." Sayuri answered.

"That would make this a tough match." La Calavera said.

"And Ms. Hirano here would be the first visitor to team up against an official Xtrema wrestler in a tag match." Sayuri said.

"You up for it, Maria?" La Calavera asked.

"I'm fine with it. It'll be a good chance for us to work together again."

The masked luchadora smiled before nodding to her boss. "Gracias, Senora Rogue."

"De nada." Sayuri replied. "Now, you all better leave. I've got a very important meeting to do."

"We understand." Maria said getting up. She turned to leave with La Calavera beside her. "So what have you been up to lately."

"Well, I just got a blast from a very bad past." La Calavera replied before closing the door behind the two of them.

Sayuri took a deep breath before turning to her assistant. "Well, I got about a minute before my scheduled call. Why don't we go over the match card?"

"Certainly." Ryuji said looking over the schedule in his hand. "For our opening match, Artemis Creed will go against Mercy. The second match will be Charlie Hart vs Clementine Cirrus. After that, Maria Crawford will make her debut match against Zelda Logan. The next match will be the tag match of La Calavera and guest Maria Hirano going against the Daughters of Darkness, Midnight and Azraella Bloodstone. Next, Jun Juli will face Kyoko Natsumi. The next one will be Monica Everly's interview with Queen Bee and Diana Diaz. That should be interesting. Lastly, our main event will consist of Eris going against Platinum Mask. That about sums it up."

"Perfect." Sayuri said. Suddenly, her phone began to ring. She sighed before answering it. "Hello?"

"Ms. Rogue."

"Ah. Vincent McMahon. So nice to talk to you. I assume this is about the email I sent you."

"Yes. About your 'Pandora Project'." Sayuri guessed that the WWE CEO had done air quotes. "Look, I'm sorry, but…"

"No, you're not." Sayuri interrupted.

"Pardon?"

"You're not sorry. You legitimately want to stay out of it."

"If this project of yours fails, every wrestling company that supports it will be ruined."

"And if it succeeds, we'll not only make ourselves even higher, but we'll revolutionize the world of women's combat sports. I'm willing to roll the dice and even bet my career on it."

"Well, I'm not." McMahon argued. "Why are you insisting on my support in the first place?"

"Because, supposedly, WWE is the biggest wrestling company in America." Sayuri explained. "Your roster consists of female wrestlers that many of my girls admire. I already got support from AEW and TNA. Your support will be a big step for us."

"Nothing you say will change my thoughts on the matter!" McMahon growled. "It's a bad idea, and I will not support this crazy scheme."

Sayuri exasperated. "Are you doing this because you really think it's a bad idea, or is it just convenient for you if it is?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me. You're betting that Pandora fails because if it does, then like you said, every wrestling company that supports it fails. And since you don't support it, that'll raise WWE even higher."

"How dare you?" McMahon asked angrily.

"But consider this, if it does succeed, and you're not one of the people who support it, then it'll lower WWE's status even lower while the rest of us get higher."

"Now, listen here, you bitch…"

"Go ahead! Tell me I'm wrong! Tell me that's not what'd happen! If your own wrestlers start losing faith in WWE, then they might leave you. Hell, some of your women might join my roster. Xtrema could use Ronda Rousey."

"If you want to take my wrestlers, than I'm taking one of yours first!" McMahon shouted.

Sayuri grinned. Her plan was working. "Is that a bet? How about this? In my next pay-per-view, Supernova, I'll have one of your wrestlers in its visitor's match. You can choose the match if you wish, but I get the final say. I don't want a squash match like Bianca Belair vs Kaito Marx. And don't forget, you have to send a woman. If my wrestler wins, then you give me your support on the Pandora Project. If yours wins, however, then you can have the losing wrestler be transferred to WWE."

McMahon stayed silent for a minute before answering. "The funny thing is, I know what you're doing… and it worked. It's a deal."

"Great. You just have until the day before Supernova to choose the match." Sayuri said. "I'll be waiting for your call. Good luck, McMahon." She hung up and turned to her assistant, who was basically petrified. "I think that worked out rather well."

"You really planned that?" Ryuji asked.

"Of course. Vince McMahon is a proud, stubborn old man who doesn't like to lose or be proven wrong. I just used that to my advantage."

"But what if he sends someone super tough like Nia Jax or Sasha Banks?"

"Which is why I have the final say in who faces who." Sayuri said. "Just have a little faith. I need WWE's women to help boost the anticipation of the Pandora Project. This is my way of telling him that I'm not asking."

*Xtrema Shorts*

Chibi Monica Everly waved to the reader. "Hello there! Monica Everly here to give you a new interview. It's amazing how quickly Epiclot214 got this chapter done. Apologies if the story moved a little quickly, but we weren't certain what else to include here other than this. But I digress. Today, we'll be getting the inside scoop on Xtrema's one and only man, Kaito Marx!"

Chibi Kaito sat across from Monica nervously waving at everyone. "Hey, everybody. Now, Monica, there are some things about me that Queen Bee and I want to keep personal. So is it safe for me to just answer honestly?"

"Don't worry, Kaito. None of this is canon. Just answer every standard question plus some personal questions from our readers. You ready?"

"Okay, good. I'm ready."

"Excellent. Now, for our first question… How long have you been wrestling?"

"About eight years, give or take. I mean, that's how long since I applied to my first gym. I've been wrestling in public matches almost immediately after since then… and thus, here I am, a jobber man in a female wrestling league."

"Do you have any dream opponents?"

"Well, that's a tough question since basically every one of them can kick my butt. I mean, I'd like to go against Queen Bee again. I've been improving and I'd like to show her. Other than that, I'd also like to face Sakura Hagiwara. I don't know why. I guess it's because she knows that it's like to be recovering from a long losing streak."

"How do you feel about your fans?"

"Well, even though some of them hate me because I waste their time, I know a lot of men there envy me for my position. I mean, sure, I get beat up by girls a lot, but I'm the only man in a league full of women. To them, that earns respect. Me, I do hope I earn more than just their envy."

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

"Like I said before, that's a tough question. So many girls there do not hold back. But to answer your question, I guess it would be against Mantis. Every time I fought her, she moved so fast, she didn't even give me time to react. She kicked me many times and knock me down before I even noticed the first kick. She let me get up, but then she beat me even faster and harder. And she didn't even pin me when she had the chance either. She just used me as a punching bag until she got bored. That's when she tossed me out of the ring and let the referee call it a count-out. It was nearly as humiliating as my third match against the Skunk where after she beat me, she invited some of the other heels to stinkface me."

"What do you do for fun?"

"Well, I do like streaming television. Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus."

"What do you think makes a great wrestler?"

"A strong will to never quit and great honor. Sure, that wasn't enough to get me a real win yet, but I'm still holding onto my belief."

"Do you have any interests besides wrestling?"

"Well, consider me an otaku, because I do like anime and manga."

"Now for the personal questions asked by Awesome ax10. First, what's your relationship like with your parents?"

"My parents, Aiko and Hiroman, are my idols. They inspire me to keep wrestling even though I keep losing. And believe it or not, they encourage me despite what my sister thinks. They do believe I can win someday, but until I do, I don't feel like I earned the right to talk to them."

"How do you feel about the other Xtrema wrestlers?"

"All of them? Well, you already know my relationship with Queen Bee, and Sayuri was kind enough to let me in her league. Most of the faces are cool, like Clementine, Atlantis Force, Jun Juli, Sam Hamilton, Scarlette, Thunder Mana, etc. Most of the heels really scare me like the Skunk, Diana Diaz, Willow Powell, Catrina Horace, Maria Crawford, Mantis, etc. And I get really frustrated at Black Swan because every time she beat me, she takes away my mask."

"Which girl would you date if you weren't with Queen Bee?"

"Well, normally, I wouldn't answer that considering how tough my girlfriend is, but since this isn't canon, I'll indulge you. If I had to choose, I suppose it'd be… either Clementine or Calypso. I mean, I kinda sympathize with them. Clementine almost didn't get anywhere in the wrestling world just because of her gimmick, and Calypso was outed in her hometown. I kinda know what that's like."

"How does each girl treat you during your matches with them?"

"Well, even though we're dating, Queen Bee doesn't hold back. Clementine can get rough too, but she knows when I've had enough. Anyone from Atlantis Force treats me fairly too. Liza just likes to hurt me. The Skunk loves to humiliate me. N-Bomb likes to squash me. Azraella likes to hear me scream. Midnight tries to seduce me when fighting me. Freya gets very cold and unemotional in the ring. Mantis likes to bully me around and toy with me until she gets bores. Madame Python acts like a sexual predator when she ensnares me. Black Swan showboats over me, especially when she takes my mask post-match. Eris often humiliates me while constantly flirting with me and getting me with sexual moves. Mewlie likes to scratch me. Neko Girl holds back (I already know about her crush, which I don't really reciprocate), but still fights like a wild cat. Kyoko Natsumi shows me mercy. Team Spirit often showboat over me, but consolidates me with a double kiss to my cheek (which does get Queen Bee upset). La Calavera acts more like a motherly figure in the ring and treats me well, sometimes to a dinner after the show. Despite her name, Mercy doesn't hold back and keeps beating me after our matches. I suspect Cleopatra might like me with how much she seems to enjoy me in her submissions, but I can't say for certain. Willow Powell definitely hates facing me, so she finishes me as fast as she could. Thunder Mana may be a face, but she's opportunistic, so she doesn't hold back. Carly X is pretty much the same way. Scarlette treats me just about the same as La Calavera does. Diana Diaz just wants to crush me and grind my bones into dust with her foot. Zelda clearly doesn't like me. Jasper Jones respects my 'heroic spirit' as she puts it. Sam Hamilton… Well, that depends on what she's dressed as. If she's a good guy, then she treats me fair, but if she's a bad guy, then she hurts me to stay in character. Platinum Mask… Well, it's hard to read her, but I'm pretty sure it's similar to Thunder Mana. Clover is a rough fighter. Poison often mocks me saying that I could even be beaten by Dan Hibiki. The Galaxy Twins are showy too, and I suspect that Carina might have a thing for me. Same thing with Jun. She likes showing off her legs, and I think I saw her blush at me whenever we're sparring. Like Eris, Catrina makes sexual advances at me in the ring, which she knows gets on my nerves as much as it makes me flustered. Artemis fights like a warrior, and she treats me like one. Electra is rough. Lastly, Maria Crawford… Well, considering her theme is a dominatrix who wants to hurt Queen Bee, I'm pretty sure I don't have to draw you a picture."

"Here's one more personal question, this one from Mhafandom. If you were to tag team with anyone besides Queen Bee, who would it be?"

"Hmm. That's a good question. Well, my first guess would be either Clementine or Calypso seeing how I described them in an earlier question. Other than that, I'd say I'd go with… Thunder Mana, Scarlette, or Carly X. Now, I… Queen Bee?"

Chibi Kaito gasped when a Chibi version of Queen Bee walked in with an upset look on her face. "What are you doing there?"

"Well, I happen to overhear your conversation and I heard you were attracted to Clementine and Calypso! So…" Chibi Queen Bee growled as she punched the inside of her hand.

Chibi Kaito panicked. "Wait! Bee! This is non-canon! It doesn't count!"

"Well, if it's not canon, then that means THIS WON'T BE REAL!"

Chibi Queen Bee dragged Chibi Kaito away from the stage and proceeded to punish him with several painful submission techniques such as the torture rack, the figure-four, the bearhug, and the sharpshooter. Chibi Monica made a cartoon sweat drop before turning back to the readers.

"Well, that was a good interview… which is ending rather interestingly. Before we go, let us review the match-card which will begin in the next chapter."

Chibi Monica displayed an electronic board with the matches displayed virtually for everyone to read…

1.) Artemis Creed vs Mercy

2.) Charlie Hart vs Clementine Cirrus

3.) Maria Crawford vs Zelda Logan

4.) La Calavera and Maria Hirano vs Daughters of Darkness

5.) Jun Juli vs Kyoko Natsumi

6.) Monica Everly interviewing with Queen Bee and Diana Diaz

7.) Eris vs Platinum Mask

"What a set of matches, am I right? Who do you think is going to win? What do you think will happen on this episode set before the Supernova PPV? Give us your predictions and we'll see in the next two chapters. Also, if anyone has any questions they'd like to ask our characters, feel free to. Any and all comments are welcome."