"You ready?" Kanae asked her partner as they stood in front of Berserk.

"Sure." Natsuki replied. "Lead the way."

Kanae entered the gym, and much to her delight, the first person she sees is her old friend and rival, Misaki Toyoda. She turned to Kanae and smiled. "Hello, Kanae."

"Hey, Misaki. I'm here for the interview."

"Sure thing." Misaki said. "Hey, who's your friend?"

"Hi. I'm Natsuki Okumura."

"He's my new partner." Kanae said. "He'll be taking notes on my interview with your newbie."

"All right." Misaki said. "She'll be here any minute."

Sure enough, at that second, Dawn Sawyer walked in with her gym bag in hand. She saw the reporters and stared. "Uh… Hello?"

"Queen Bee, it's nice to meet you. I'm Kanae Fujishita and this is my partner, Natsuki Okumura."

"Oh, you must be here for the interview." Dawn said. "Well, I'd be happy to answer any question you might have."

"Before you begin, Ms. Sawyer," Misaki said, "I thought you would know now that your opponent has been chosen. At our next show, you will go against Chocho."

"The big one with the red handband?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, and I advise you to be cautious." Misaki said. "She's been number one contender for my championship three times, and other than the three losses I have given her, she's only been beaten twice since she joined Berserk."

"Well, I can't wait." Dawn said before turning to the reporter. "All right, Ms. Fujishita. Where do we begin?"

"Right. Misaki, do you still have that private room available?" Kanae asked.

"Of course." Misaki said. "It's at the far right."

Kanae thanked her and went to the other room with Dawn and Natsuki. They opened the door and entered the small room with four chairs surrounding a small table. Dawn and Kanae sat at chairs on different ends of the table while Natsuki sat beside them.

"What's he for?" Dawn asked. "I thought this was one on one."

"Natsuki here's a last minute partner of mine." Kanae said. "I'll be asking the questions while he takes notes of our conversation."

"Don't mind me." Natsuki said. "Just pretend I'm not even here."

Dawn sighed. "Forgive me if I turn out a little hostile. I've had a very bad experience with a reporter before."

"Oh." Kanae said. "Did one make you look bad?"

"You could say that. Anyway, let's get this interview started."

"Right." Kanae said while Natsuki pulled out his notepad ready to write. "Here we go. So, a professional wrestler from America, a big name in the independent circuit, now joins a wrestling gym in Japan. That's quite a change in your career, wouldn't you say?"

"I don't mind." Dawn said. "That's been the plan for a while. Compete in enough events on my American tour to pay for a new life here in Japan."

"So you planned on moving to Japan. Why?"

"Well, at first, it was for revenge. Beatrice Harper—or as you may know her, Hornet—is an old rival of mine who did something that I'm pretty mad about. So I wanted to compete against her again and beat her."

"So you moved all the way to the other side of the world for one match? Did you have a plan for after?"

"Well, originally, I thought about joining one of the major leagues, like Stardom. But that kinda changed after seeing Hornet's match against Sakura Hagiwara. I looked her up and… kinda felt bad for her. And after she improved a lot in the ring and competed against Elena in their brutal and emotional match, it inspired me to join Berserk."

"Well, you know, even though she's part of the League of Evil stable, Hornet is a Berserk wrestler. Odds are, you may have more than one match against her, and everyone else in the League too."

"As long as I can get one big win over her in the name of the Queen Bee gym, I don't care how long our rivalry goes."

"Queen Bee gym. I take it you named yourself after it."

"Yeah. It changed me, made me into a great wrestler. After it shut down, I inherited its name to carry out its legacy. I also bought the gym's ring at a clearance auction. The moving guys should arrive this weekend to set it up at my place."

"I see. That's pretty cool. Now, onto another topic, about your upcoming match against Chocho, do you like your chances?"

"I won't lie. This will probably one of the biggest challenges I've had yet. But I'm pretty sure I can pull it off. I've taken on bigger girls than her, and I've won most of them."

"All right then. Now, here's a little bit of a personal question." Kane gave a mischievous smirk. "Are you seeing anyone?"

"What?" Dawn asked taken aback. "Why? Are you interested?"

"No, I'm just asking." Kanae replied. "After all, most of the Berserk girls have a boyfriend, most of whom are at Animal Squadron."

"Animal Squadron? I think Misaki sent somebody there last night."

"You still haven't answered my question. What's your dating life like?"

Dawn sighed. "If you must know, then no. I'm not seeing anyone right now. I've had plenty of dates back in America. Most of them were guys, a couple were girls, but they never really lasted. I'm not looking for a relationship right now though. For now, I'm just focusing on my career as a pro wrestler. Now, onto the next question."

"Right. Well, back to your history. What made you want to be a pro wrestler?"

"When I was younger, my dad took me to a Shangri-La event where I watched the first World title match between Jackal Tojo and Sayuri Rogue. I loved it so much, I dedicated my life to being a pro wrestler, much to the chagrin of my mother who had other plans for me."

"You must miss your family a lot then."

"I suppose… But I just wish my mom would support me instead of giving me a backhanded comment in her texts."

"So you made your debut at your original gym, Queen Bee. And you went pro?"

"Sort of. The truth is, my record was horrible. If you ask Sakura, she'd tell you it was worse than hers. But after a lot of training under my mentor, Lyra Booker, I managed to move past my weaknesses and become stronger for it."

Kanae chuckled. "Same old story. Well, I think we have time for one more question. What exactly are your goals as a pro wrestler?"

Dawn smiled as she answered. "For the first part of my career, I was beaten and trampled on every day with everyone either angry at my performance or laughing at my humiliation, like I was some kind of court fool. Well, I'm no fool anymore. I've risen up the wrestling chain, and now, I'm aiming for the top. Sakura Hagiwara wishes to be the strongest in the world. Well, I wanna be the queen of pro wrestling. Print that in your paper."

Kanae stood up from her chair. "Well, I believe that's all I got to say. Did you get everything, Natsuki?"

"Um…" Natsuki said nervously, "I think so. Just… Could you repeat everything after 'here we go'?"

"What?" Kanae asked in surprise. "You didn't record anything?"

Natsuki's worried look broke out in laughter. "Sorry. Just kidding. Don't worry. I got everything."

Kanae looked at the notebook and saw that her partner written down the entire interview word for word. She then chuckled at his joke. "All right. You got me."

"So we're done here?" Dawn asked.

"Pretty much." Kanae said. "I'll let you get back to your training. Just remember, Chocho is just about as tough as Misaki, and trust me, Misaki isn't so easy to beat."

"How do you know?" Dawn asked.

"Well, believe it or not, I used to be a Berserk wrestler." Kanae answered.

"You were?" Dawn asked.

"You were?" Natsuki repeated. "Are you getting back at me for my earlier joke?"

"No, it's true." Kanae said. "Me, Misaki, and Juri Sanada, we were all Jackal's students. After she left for Shangri-La, the three of us became the toughest women in Berserk?"

"Well, what happened to you?" Natsuki asked.

Kanae lowered her head and started rubbing her back. "Let's just say my last opponent was a really sore loser. Broke my back and everything."

"And you're still standing?" Dawn asked.

"My back's been getting better. For a while, I wasn't quite fit for wrestling, but I have been doing exercises to get myself back in shape. In fact, I just had my physical from my doctor the other day. I'm waiting for the results, but if I'm cleared up, then I can get back in the ring."

"That's awesome!" Dawn cheered.

"Wait. What about your journaling job?" Natsuki asked.

"Well, I'm an awesome wrestler and a great journalist." Kanae said. "I was afraid that if my back got better, then I would have to choose between one job or another. But after Sakura chose to be both an idol and a wrestler, I realized I don't have to decide. So as soon as my back gets better, I'm going to be journaling part-time."

"Well, if that's what you want, then okay." Natsuki said.

"Thanks, Natsuki. You're a good guy." Kanae said. "And thank you, Ms. Sawyer, for this interview."

"My pleasure." Dawn said getting up and heading to the door. "I look forward to the paper."

Dawn opened the door and left it open for the reporters to follow. The three parted ways.

Dawn opened the door and entered the locker room. That's when she came across a certain woman who just changed into her wrestling attire, a black two-piece, black boots, and a red bandana underneath her black hair. She was a taller-than-average woman with tan skin and a heavy build.

"Chocho." Dawn said. "Not sure if you've heard, but we're gonna be opponents in the next show."

"Oh, I've heard." Chocho said with a smile as she straightened her top. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Well, that makes two of us." Dawn said. "I've heard you can keep even Misaki on her toes. So this match could be fun."

Chocho laughed. "I know. But don't think you're going to win quite yet." She held up her right arm and flexed her bicep. Dawn hated to admit it, but her opponent's muscles were even bigger than hers. "This is power right here."

"And yet, Misaki was able to beat you three times." Dawn taunted.

"Don't forget, I may have five losses, but I have twenty-four wins. And after I'm done with you, I'll make it twenty-five."

"More like I'll hand you your sixth loss."

"We'll see about that in the ring this Friday night." Chocho walked past Dawn and left the locker room after giving her future opponent one last look.

After Chocho left, Dawn released a breath. "Twenty-four wins? That's a crazy record I never knew. I'm going to have to train harder to beat her."


Kaito Marx checked to see if this was the right address he was at. He looked at the paper Misaki gave him the previous night, he checked his maps app on his phone, and looked at the plate at the front. It was, in fact, the place he was supposed to be at, a building with the words "Animal Squadron" above the doors.

"Guess this is the place." He said to himself. "Now, to find…"

"Hello there." Said a voice next to him. Kaito looked to see a young, well-toned man with green eyes, slicked back brown hair, and a thin goatee. He wore a red shirt under a long, white coat with gold linings, black pants, a white leather belt with a gold buckle and a green emerald shaped like a dragon, and white boots.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Um, hi." Kaito said. "Do you go here?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." The man said. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I'm looking for someone named Satoru."

"That's me. Satoru Hayabusa."

"Oh. Well, my name is Kaito Marx, and I was sent by Misaki Toyoda."

Satoru widened his eyes before smiling. "Marx, huh? As in…"

"Yes, Aiko and Hiroman Marx are my parents. I get that a lot." Kaito sighed.

"And you want to be a wrestler?" Satoru asked.

"More than anything." Kaito said. "Problem is, my win-loss record isn't very good."

"I see. Well, don't worry. We'll make sure you have everything you need here at Animal Squadron."


Author's Note: And there, you have it. I've had some good suggestions and thought about each of them carefully. Awesome ax10 suggested either Kurea or Moe. Foxboy614 said Sakura or Chocho. Lastly, Readkos wanted Queen Bee's next opponent to be Yumbo Yamamoto (which is Digger Yamamoto's name in the Japanese dub). They were good suggestions, but after careful thinking, I decided to go with Chocho.

For those of you who don't know who Chocho is, I'll explain. Chocho is one of the unnamed wrestlers who mostly just stand around the background when they haven't beaten Sakura. If you watch the anime, Chocho appears in episode 2 giving Sakura her 52nd throw in the 100 Hellish Throws test. She's also the first person onscreen to give Sakura her submission loss in episode 3, which in the show gave Sakura her tenth loss. I figured these background characters have been underused, especially how colorful they were, so I decided to give them bigger roles in my story. Names were provided by Awesome ax10. As you can see, I've given Chocho an impressive record, background, and a competitive personality. I'm thinking about making a headcannon chapter with profiles to make for each unnamed wrestler. What do you think?

I'm calling Hornet's partner Digger Yamamoto (her name in the English dub) for a certain reason. In another anime called Fighting Beauty Wulong, there is another obese wrestler called Yumbo, and I did not wish to confuse the two, so to me, Hornet's partner is Digger Yamamoto.

Satoru Hayabusa is an OC created by Foxboy614.

Next chapter will be Queen Bee vs Chocho. Who do you think is going to win? And what do you think about bringing Kanae back into the sport of wrestling? Any and all comments are welcome.