Chapter 65 (Daily)

"HE DID WHAT?!" Queen Bee yelled.

"That's right." Sayuri said. She gave an angry glance at their visitor, Fukuwara Mask, who had on his usual mask along with a pink tracksuit. "This literal clown here went on record and said you were competing at a wrestling event out of town."

"Without my consent?" Queen Bee asked sharing Sayuri's content toward the visitor.

"I promise, it's for a good cause." Fukuwara Mask defended nervously. "You see, this town I know is lacking in people, and I figured this Wrestle Mishmash could be what it needs for revisitation."

"And why did you decide to put me on your stupid poster?" Queen Bee asked. "Was it just a scam or did you think I'd say no if you asked?"

"Look, I didn't think you'd take it so personally." Fukuwara Mask said. He then made a sobbing noise. "I just wanted to help a small town. I didn't mean to seem like a bad guy." He continued his sobbing noise, but Sayuri's expression hadn't changed.

"Fukuwara, I'm a rich woman leading a business. I know when a man's lying to me."

"Well, it was worth a shot." Fukuwara Mask said dropping his act. "Look, what do I have to do to get Queen Bee to contend? Did I mention there's a large cash prize for the MVP?"

"You did, and it doesn't really mean much to me." Sayuri said.

"Well… How's about this?" Fukuwara Mask said. "It's about your Xtrema Against the World. I know plenty of other wrestlers, some of whom are women. I have connections. I'm sure there's someone you'd like to be there."

Queen Bee thought for a moment, but then, an idea came into her head. She found her opportunity.

"Queen Elizabeth." Bee said getting Fukuwara Mask's attention. "I want to fight Queen Elizabeth."

"Really?" Sayuri asked. "You already got your match against her."

"Yeah, but I didn't get my revenge." Queen Bee said. "I already beat Hornet from Berserk. I just need to beat Liz now to avenge my gym. If you can make that happen, I'm sure I'd compete."

"Great!" Fukuwara Mask cheered. "And don't worry. I'll have Queen Elizabeth competing against you by then."

Sayuri sighed. "You better. And I also have a condition."

"Hmm? What's that?" Fukuwara Mask asked.

"I'd like to be there as well. Not to compete, of course, but I'd like to speak to these other women you've got in your Wrestle Mishmash. Perhaps they'd be good recruits, or at least, competitors for XAW."

"Who else is competing?" Queen Bee asked.

"According to the poster," Sayuri said holding up a copy of the event's flyer, "It's Viper Takagi, Candy Pair, Spring Tiger, and Lyra Booker."

Queen Bee nearly slipped out of her chair in response to that last name. She regained her composure and shook the surprise out of her. "Lyra Booker? You've got Lyra Booker here too?"

"Yep, yep. Do you know her?" Fukuwara Mask asked.

"You're kidding, right?" Queen Bee asked. "She's my old mentor. Back when I had my losing streak, she was the one who pushed my training, made me overcome my weaknesses, and helped me win my matches for once. I had no idea she was going to be there."

"Ah, so this will be a fantastic reunion then." Fukuwara Mask said. "All right then, Ms. Rogue. I get you Queen Bee vs Queen Elizabeth, you can scout the other girls, and in return…" He held out his hand to the Xtrema CEO.

"Queen Bee can attend your Mishmash." Sayuri said shaking the offered hand.

"YAHOO!" Fukuwara Mask cheered as he leaped from his seat. "You won't regret this, you two!"

"I hope not." Sayuri said. "You better go through on your promises. You can go now."

"Thank you for your time." Fukuwara Mask said as he left the office.

"Well, he's certainly more of a character than he seemed on TV." Queen Bee said. "So how does this affect my time in Xtrema?"

"Not much, really." Sayuri said. "You don't have to compete until the second Xtrema episode, and this event of his is scheduled before the first, so you should be fine."

"All right then." Queen Bee said.

On the rooftop of an abandoned building, the large woman, Clover, had Scarlette caught in a reverse bearhug. She squeezed tightly making the red-costumed wrestler wince.

"Come on, red. Don't tell me you're gonna get your arse kicked that quickly." Clover taunted.

"In your dreams!" Scarlette hissed before shooting her elbow back at Clover's face making her let go. Once she was free, Scarlette turned to the kneeling Clover and hit her with a shining wizard.

After recovering, Clover chuckled. "Not bad, Em. That knee strike was a lot tougher."

"Thanks, Clover, but I could do better." Emily said removing her mask. "I need to prepare as much as I can for Xtrema Against the World."

"I get it. You haven't been in the ring in a while and who knows who your opponent will be. And from what I can tell, you're hoping for her to be strong." Clover said. "Still don't know why you insist we spar up here."

"Well, it'd just be us here." Emily said. "You remember when we first met, on top of this building?"

"How could I forget?" Clover asked. "I was just about ready to jump."

"Luckily for you, I was passing by and saw you standing at the edge of the roof." Emily said. "I rushed over to the top and talked you down. What I still don't know is why you even listened to me."

Clover shrugged. "I guess after you told me about your family troubles, it made me feel like there was someone I could relate to. The only difference is that you still love your family."

Emily frowned. "Yeah. I made a mistake."

"No, you didn't." Clover said. "You almost made a mistake. So you were on your way to forbidden territory. If you haven't set foot in it, it doesn't count."

"I was still about to do it." Emily said. "I know it's just a thought, but I still thought it and I regret thinking about it. This Scarlette thing seems like the only way to be there for my son. I need to make him believe in Scarlette, because he'd also believe in me That's why I'm hoping to get someone strong for Xtrema Against the World."

Clover sighed. "I think your reasoning's rather silly, but I think that's just me. Still, you're not the only Xtrema wrestler he's a fan of."

"I know." Emily said. "He told me he also likes Marx, Cirrus…"

"And Carly X." Clover said. "I notice the two of them were really hitting it off at Olympia." She noticed Emily getting nervous. "What?"

"I'm not sure how to feel about that." Emily said. "I just… I think I need to confront them about this, but I don't know how to do that without revealing that I'm Scarlette."

"Guess that's a sensitive topic on my part." Clover said. She rubbed the back of her head while Emily had Jason and Carly on her mind.

"So we're really heading out of town?" Kaito asked.

"Just for a couple of days." Dawn said as he began to pack her suitcase on her and Kaito's bed. "I'm hoping you would come by the way."

"Why?" Kaito asked. "I wasn't on that surprise poster."

"But I would like you to meet Lyra." Dawn said. "She changed my life and without her, I wouldn't be here and we wouldn't have met. She's like the sister I never had. I think she'd like you… unless you're in the ring against her. In which case, you better have a good health plan."

Kaito chuckled nervously before taking a breath. "All right. I'll start."

"Great." Dawn said. "I have a feeling we're both going to enjoy this Mishmash."

Deep in the hidden Hardkor gym, the girls there practiced the most brutal methods of using their skills. Meanwhile, in the office, Jessica Jaclyn watched through the window admiring how they're doing. She turned to the big desk covered halfway in shadow. Behind that darkened part of the desk, a pair of menacing eyes glared out.

"We're doing fantastically, Yami." Jessica said to her partner. "Thanks to the notoriety from Penny Twist's match, we finally have enough credibility to host our show publicly. Can't wait to see their reaction to the rest of our girls. You sure the public will approve of this?"

"Back in ancient Rome, the entire kingdom would cheer when seeing gladiators fight to the death against each other or against man-eating lions." The figure in the shadows replied. "Human beings have a hidden crave for the most brutal of conflict, whether they admit it or not. Here at Hardkor, we must give the people more than what they want."

"Fair enough." Jessica said. "So all that's left is to pick out our competitors. So many match ideas, so little time. We should probably have a championship match for the main event."

"Yes." Yami agreed. "Since this is our first show, it's only fair to have that be won already. I recommend Fiona Fangs to be one of the competitors."

"Fair enough." Jessica said. "So who would her opponent be? Kassidy Klaws?"

"No." Yami replied. "What we need is someone that would make this match a phenomenon to behold."

Just then, the intercom system on the desk beeped. A man breathed heavily into it rapidly.

"Boss! We've got trouble!"

"What trouble?" Yami asked.

"Someone's here!"

"What?" Jessica asked. "You guards can handle one intruder."

"But this girl, she… AAAAHHH!"

Suddenly, the front door of the gym burst open. Everyone in the gym stopped when the intruder stomped her way in. Jessica and Yami looked outside of their office with interest at the tall, muscular woman who walked in. But what everyone saw above all was what she wore on her head. She had on a gray tiger mask that covered her whole head.

The girl in the gray tiger mask glared around slowly before answering. "So where do I sign up?"

*Xtrema Shorts*

Chibi Monica Everly presented herself to the crowd. She blew kisses and sat on the stage across from Chibi versions of the Galaxy Twins.

"Welcome back to Xtrema Shorts!" Chibi Monica announced. "I'm Monica Everly, and here with me, are the sisterly newcomers who are taking the world of wrestling by storm, cosmic storm… Luna and Carina, the Galaxy Twins! Thanks for being here."

"Happy to be here, Monica." Chibi Carina said.

"Happy to have you here too." Chibi Luna said with a playful wink.

"Okay then." Chibi Monica said. "You know the drill. I ask you some standard questions followed by the personal ones asked by our thankful audience. Ready?"

"Always, baby." Chibi Luna said. Her sister nodded.

"Great then. First question. How long have you been wrestling?"

"Not very long, obviously." Chibi Carina said.

"Yeah, that match against Team Spirit was our very first." Chibi Luna said.

"Do you have any dream opponents?

"Me, I think I'll pick Kaito Marx. I know he's not a popular choice, but he's just so cute, and I bet he'd be fun to tease." Chibi Carina said.

"I'd like to face one of the hot girls who are strong. I love a woman who can kick my ass. Oh, but above all, we'd like to get our hands on Willow Powell." Chibi Luna said.

"Oh, yeah. That bitch is going down." Chibi Carina said.

"How do you feel about your fans?"

"We do this for the fans." Chibi Carina said.

"Yeah. Basking in their cheers and praise is what leads us to believe we can take the world of wrestling by storm." Chibi Luna said.

"Cosmic storm!" Chibi Carina said.

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

"Well, of course, we'll have to say the one against Team Spirit." Chibi Luna said.

"Considering they were our only opponents, that's literally the only choice for us." Chibi Carina said.

"What do you do for fun?"

"Well, there's not a lot we can do in public. Everywhere we go, people know us and come to greet us. We don't get to do a lot other than sign autographs." Chibi Carina said.

"Then again, having such loyal fans is wonderful. But to answer your question, we like to practice our high flying moves with private trapeze artistry." Chibi Luna said.

"What do you think makes a great wrestler?"

"Loyalty to the fans." Chibi Carina said.

"And flash. Lots of flash." Chibi Luna said.

"Do you have any interests besides wrestling?"

"Well, we do like to do trapeze art." Chibi Carina said.

"We also like to take up bowling. Turns out we enjoy it." Chibi Luna said.

"All right. Now, we can get on with the personal questions. Taking your tastes in attraction into account, did you ever go on a double date? If not, would you ever do it?"

"We've never done that, but sure. We can do that. As long as it's somehere we can agree on." Chibi Carina said.

"Carina likes a humble restaurant date while I would like to enjoy a public game night with my girls, like perhaps an arcade or we attend a sporting event." Chibi Luna said.

"Why did you two choose a space gimmick instead of simple masked women?"

"Well, it's the same gimmick we used when we were trapeze artists. We didn't just touch the sky, we joined the reaches of space." Chibi Carina said.

"Why would we pass up on such a fabulous gimmick?" Chibi Luna said.

"Does anyone know the two of you aren't actually twins?"

"Well, I would think everybody would know. I mean, we don't exactly try to keep it a secret." Chibi Carina said.

"We never said we were twins. Everyone just called us that because we look exactly the same when we have our costumes on." Chibi Luna said.

"Well, thanks for the insight into your minds, girls." Chibi Monica said. "If anyone has any questions for any of the other girls, just ask away either in the comments or the PMs.

"Oh, and last chapter, we forgot to mention something. Last chapter, there was reference to an OC named Lyra Booker. We forgot to inform you that she was created by Awesome ax10.

"That'll be all for now. Next time, we set up for the Wrestle Mishmash. Any and all comments are welcome."