Sayuri Rogue and Seichii Inoba arrived from their office. Sayuri stayed back while Seichii cleared his throat to get all the wrestlers' attention. The ladies of Berserk paused their training to listen to him speak.
"Well, ladies, we have matches set up for this Friday. First of all, Queen Bee."
"Me, sir?" Dawn asked.
"Yes. Your opponent, by request, is Moe Fukuoka."
"Yes!" Moe cheered.
"You actually requested this?" Dawn asked. "That's the last thing I expected. Well, next to Digger Yamamoto eating a salad at least."
Moe chuckled. "I just wanted the chance to wrestle you."
"Give her hell, Moe." Sakura said.
"Ouch, Sakura." Dawn said playfully. "And just when we started to be friends."
Inoba chuckled before going on. "Next, Misaki, Ms. Rogue has suggested that you finish your match against Excavator Sakuya."
"Really?" Misaki asked.
Sayuri nodded. "I don't like abrupt endings to matches. Whether somebody interferes with a match or a wrestler gets injured. Winning by default isn't my preferred method."
"Well," Misaki said, "It would be nice to have some closure. That little brat has been bragging over her 'victory' since that night."
"Very good." Inoba said. "Also, for the main event, we have Sakura Hagiwara teaming up with Yoshi Hirano of Animal Squadron. I understand that you challenged the movie star, Willow Powell, to a match."
"Hey, she deserves it." Sakura said.
"I don't mind. As long as the lawyers don't get involved." Inoba said. "I just got word fom Juri Sanada in Miyabi, and apparently, Willow's formed an alliance with another woman who doesn't like you, Yoshiko."
"Yoshiko?" Sakura asked. "That large woman who dresses like a prison inmate. What's her deal with me? I've never met her."
"She doesn't like how you were Jackal's opponent when she returned to Japan." Inoba explained. "She was in the Rookie All-Star event and called herself out to be the only woman worthy of facing Jackal."
"Yeah, I remember." Kurea said remembering how the woman in question squashed her in their last match.
"Well, when Jackal chose you to be her opponent, it really upset her." Inoba continued. "She said that an inexperienced pop star with a very low win count didn't deserve to be chosen over her."
"So she's teamed up with someone else who has a grudge against Sakura." Dawn said.
"Hey, Sakura," Kurea said, "You're going to need me to train you."
"You?" Sakura asked.
"I fought her before. Sure, she beat me, but I know how she wrestles. You're going to need my advice."
"All right." Sakura accepted.
While Berserk had its own official practice area, the League of Evil had its own private place. In the junkyard, the heels practiced their dirty tactics inside of a homemade ring. There were other equipment around the junkyard which were used for exercise.
As soon as Excavator Sakuya heard the news, she strick her knee on the practice dummy she was working on.
"You're taking it better than I thought you would." Dana said.
"That old hag, Misaki, still thinks my win over her didn't count!" Excavator Sakuya said. "Here's what happened! We fought in the ring, she got hurt, the ref declared me the winner! What's so hard to understand? And now, I have to prove it all over again?"
Digger smirked. "So what'll it be? You want us to bring the chains this time?"
Sakuya sighed. "Sorry. Not in this match."
"What?" Hornet saked. "But it's our thing."
"It's about that cute idiot, Kaito." Sakuya said. "I'm trying to lure my way into his heart. I'll be pulling myself out if he catches me cheating deliberately. In order for us to have our revenge against Sawyer, I'm going to have to do something that the League of Evil has never done… fight fairly." Most of the team gasped and fell silent. "I know it's upsetting, but it'll mbe a lot better in the long run."
Hornet sighed. "Fine. We'll stay out of your match. But this better be worth it."
Back at Animal Squadron, Kaito Marx was practicing his moves in one of the practice rings. With Yoshi Hirano on his back, Kaito quickly climbed to the top rope before leaping off. He landed a hard splash on Yoshi's body making the Hawk grunt.
"How was that?" Kaito asked helping his friend up.
"It was good, but it didn't leave a good enough impression to be a finisher." Yoshi said. "Still, it was pretty heavy impact."
"Good, because you're going to need it." Satoru Hayabusa said as he approached the ring. "I just got word from Miyabi. You know that French movie star you and Sakura challenged?"
"Si." Yoshi said. "That bruha insulted Sakura. She'll get what's coming to her."
"It's not just her you have to worry about." Satoru said. "Remember, this is a tag team match. Your other opponent—Powell's partner—turns out to be Yoshiko."
"Who's that?" Kaito asked.
"Yoshiko was a member of Stardom, this big female wrestling league. But her tember lead to her being kicked out. She was recruited by Juri to be a Miyabi wrestler, but her fuse has become short again because of Sakura."
"So Willow brought this Yoshiko into this because she too hates Sakura?" Yoshi said. "Well, that's just mean."
"You know, you could use this to your advantage." Kaito said.
"Que?"
"Well, Willow and Yoshiko are preparing to go against Sakura. But if they don't consider you much of anything, you could surprise them."
Yoshi rubbed his chin. "That's not bad."
"And Mr. Marx," Satoru said, "You'll be pleased to know that your test date is set."
Kaito widened his eyes with joy in his heart. "The Ten Beasts Fury! When is it?"
"The day after the match." Satoru answered. "If you pass, you'll finally get your debut match."
"Congratulations, amigo." Yoshi said.
"Thanks."
"Did you get this, Luciana?"
"Yeah, Ayane I heard." Luciana replied. "Yoshi and his bimbo girlfriend are facing a movie star. My money's on the star."
Her friend laughed.
"So what about Queen Bee?" the third girl asked. "What's your plan to do with her?"
Luciana picked up the newspaper that had the next match card on it. She smiled at Queen Bee's name and folded the paper back up. "I may not like jobbers that much, but she's really gained a rep. First, we'll see how she does in her next match. If she's good enough, I'll have my special talk with her. That good enough for you, Gracia?"
Gracia chuckled. "I can't wait. And what if she can't do well enough?"
"Then she's going to regret wasting my time on her." Luciana said. She emphasized her point by punching her open hand. "She's either going to be as cutthroat as the rest of us or we'll be cutting her throat."
Author's Note: And that's the next chapter. Coming up next, we have the following matches: Queen Bee vs Moe Fukuoka, Misaki Toyoda vs Excavator Sakuya, and Sakura and Yoshi vs Willow and Yoshiko. In case you all forgot, Yoshiko was Kurea's opponent who beat her in episode 7.
Who do you think is going to win? Any and all comments are welcome.
