The audience gave mixed reactions over the match between two wrestlers: Chinatsu Suzumoto and Hornet from the League of Evil. The heel team were distracting the referee long enough for Hornet to cheat with a bamboo sword.
"DIE, BITCH! Hornet shouted as she swung it right at Chinatsu's head. Chinatsu fell unconscious while Hornet threw the sword out of the ring. She covered Chinatsu just as the referee returned to the match and started her count.
1… 2… 3!
DING-DING!
Hornet raised her fist in victory as the bell signaled her victory.
"And that's victory for Hornet! She's going her own team proud by pulling off their underhanded tactics, though somebody should probably check on Suzumoto right now."
Hornet returned backstage with her villainous comrades. Once she left for the locker room, she reunited with her partner, the large Digger Yamamoto, who smiled upon her return.
"Well done, partner." Digger said. "You really stung her hard."
"I know." Hornet praised herself.
"So listen," Digger said pulling her aside, "I got word that there's a new girl in Berserk who's already a pro. And much of the roster don't like her. If we play our cards right, she may prove to be a good potential member of the League."
Hornet smirked grabbing a water bottle. "Sounds good. What's her name?" She asked while taking a sip of water.
"Well, I don't know her real name," Digger said, "But she has the ring name, Queen Bee."
Like a classic sitcom trope, Hornet spit out a spray of the water she sipped. He coughed turning back to her partner. "What did you say?"
"Queen Bee. Why? Does it mean something to you? I mean, I notice that you and she both use bug gimmicks."
"Where is she?" Hornet asked.
"She's got a debut match in a bit." Digger said pointing at the locker room TV. Hornet stepped closer to get a look at the newcomer. Hornet's jaw dropped when Queen Bee emerged and waved to her fans as she walked down the ramp.
"I don't believe it." Hornet said.
"What?" Digger asked. "Do you know her after all?"
Hornet gave a devilish grin and chuckled. "Oh, I know her all right. And trust me, she's going to be eaten alive."
Queen Bee stood in the ring as Hikari showed up in her yellow leotard. While they got themselves ready, Misaki watched from the backstage entrance. That's when she was approached by a certain someone.
"Hey there, Misaki."
"Jackal." Misaki greeted with a smile. "It's great to see you here."
"I just came to see the newcomer." Jackal said. "So that's her, huh?"
"Yep. She calls herself Queen Bee." Misaki said. "She's from America. Have you met her?"
"I didn't have the pleasure." Jackal admitted. "Although, if she's already a pro, this could be disadvantageous if she's underestimating Hikari."
"What do you mean?" Misaki asked. "Hikari's a scrappy wrestler, but her win-loss record is pretty even."
"You'll see." Jackal said.
The referee made her announcement while the referee patted down both Queen Bee and Hikari. "And for our next match, we're proud to welcome a new member of Berserk, the American pro, Queen Bee! Straight from the American independent league, this stinging wonder is here in her debut match against the scrappy Hikari!"
DING-DING!
After the referee patted down both competitors, the bell rang giving Queen Bee and Hikari what they need to start the match. Queen Bee, thinking this would be an easy match, started off strong with a tackle. However, Hikari caught her by surprise with a knee strike to her face.
With Queen Bee dazed from the attack, Hikari grabbed her arm and pushed her down with an armbar. She pulled her arm back tightly making the newcomer grit her teeth in pain.
"Impressive." Misaki said. "She hasn't been that quick before. And here, I thought being a pro already would give Bee an advantage."
"It's because Queen Bee's a pro that she ended up where she was." Jackal said. "Hikari knew that Queen Bee had a lot of experience over her, so she probably had to train even harder to catch up with her."
"Now that you mention it," Misaki said, "I did catch her sparring with Chocho. Usually, she was sparring with Langley."
"And that's because she wasn't going to underestimate her opponent." Jackal said. "Queen Bee on the other hand… I could take one look at her and I could already tell she was going into this overconfident. And that could be her weakness."
"Yeah. I think I got that too." Misaki said. "Well, this should be good."
"Queen Bee," the referee said, "Do you give up?"
"NO!" Queen Bee yelled making Hikari wretch the armbar tighter.
The newcomer dragged herself to the side of the ring after a minute and she reached out to grip the rope. The referee called a rope break making Hikari let go. The small wrestler waited for Queen Bee to stand back up on her feet before running toward her for an elbow shot. Queen Bee, however, saw the attack coming and side stepped out of the way letting Hikari hit the ropes instead. Queen Bee grabbed Hikari from behind and launched her backward in a German suplex. She kept her down for the pin.
1… 2…
Hikari kicked out. Queen Bee picked Hikari up and held her above with a bearhug. She constricted her arms around Hikari's body making her squeal.
"Hikari, do you give up?" the referee asked.
"NO!" Hikari screamed.
Queen Bee smirked before crushing some more. Hikari felt it getting tighter before she balled up her fist and sent it struck her opponent in the face with a haymaker. She was free and she grabbed ahold of Queen Bee's arm before slamming it onto her knee. With the newcomer stunned by the strike, Hikari found her chance.
Hikari jumped onto Queen Bee's back while she was still standing and hooked her legs around hers. She then grabbed Queen Bee's arms and pulled them backward. This was Hikari's special move: the Hikari Stretch (a variation of the palos special). This move actually made Queen Bee scream for the first time in this match.
"Give up?" the referee asked.
Queen Bee nodded her head as she didn't find the strength to speak. Her mind raced with one thought: she didn't come halfway across the world just to lose her first match. She repeated that thought and used it to power her arms away from Hikari. The dominant wrestler tried to pull her arms back, but when her head got close enough, Queen Bee thrusted her own head backward striking Hikari in the face. Hikari fell off of her opponent.
Queen Bee lifted Hikari up before dropping her back onto her knee. With Hikari's back stung, Queen Bee took her opportunity. She grabbed Hikari's legs and locked in her signature move: the sharpshooter. After a minute, Hikari screamed loudly until she tapped out.
DING-DING!
"And she did it, folks! After this close match, Queen Bee has won her debut match! It appears she came to Japan looking for competition, and if this match was any indication, she may find it in Berserk!"
Queen Bee released her opponent and offered to help her up. Hikari reluctantly took it and stood back up.
"I still think you're an upstart," Hikari said, "But you've at least earned my acknowledgement."
"I'll take it." Queen Bee said before raising her fists to the pumped up crowd.
After the match, Hornet stared in disbelief over the match she just saw on TV. Digger sat behind her.
"So," the large heel said, "Eaten alive, huh?"
Hornet gritted her teeth and crushed the plastic water bottle in her hand. "That was obviously a fluke. She's still the same loser jobber I've demolished in America… and tomorrow, I'll have to give her a reminder."
After her standing ovation, Queen Bee returned to the locker room of her fellow Berserk team. Sakura placed her hand on Bee's shoulder.
"Congratulations." Sakura said. "That was great."
"Thank you." Queen Bee said.
"Indeed." Misaki said approaching her with Jackal Tojo, who made the newcomer widen her eyes in shock. "Well done, newbie."
"Jackal Tojo!" Queen Bee gasped. "Oh, my goodness! I'm such a fan! I was in the front row seat with my dad on your first match against Sayuri Rogue! It inspired me to be a wrestler!"
"Is that so?" Jackal asked. "Well, happy to spark your passion. You surely have talent, but hopefully, you'll learn not to underestimate your opponent like that."
"Yeah." Chinatsu said with an ice bag over her head. "I can vouch for that. I didn't think Hornet would go that far, but the way I was handled in my match…"
"Yeah." Queen Bee said. "Beatrice will do that."
"What?" Sakura asked. "Who's Beatrice?"
"Sheesh. Do you seriously not know?" Rio asked. "Beatrice Harper is Hornet's real name."
"Really?" Sakura asked. "I always just called her Hornet."
"Hang on." Rio said. "Bee, how do you know Hornet's real name?"
Queen Bee frowned and looked away for a moment. "Well… Let's save that story for another day."
Author's Note: And so ends Queen Bee's first match in her victory. But it seems that her challenges have only just begun.
I have certain news for those who read my Xtrema story. There's a bit of a delay to the next chapter. I was just about ready to send it to the document manager here on the side, but there was some kind of technical error and it was all erased. So now, I'm forced to redo the whole chapter from scratch. Sorry, but I'm sure it'll be just as good.
Thanks for reading. Any and all comments are welcome.
