I really wanted to finish the Top 8 in one chapter but I realized after two fights that there wasn't enough space, so I had to relent. Still, almost at the end of the Tournament...
(XX)
"Only three turns left people! Let's hear your enthusiasm!" The Announcer shouted. Frankly, Izuku was pretty hyped for the day. The remaining fighters were all plausible winners – even Ragdoll, now that she had pulled out of nowhere a One for All – and the final result was unpredictable.
While he did agree the Battlemaster was amazing, he did make the Tournaments a bit predictable. Having a year without him was definitely for the best. It would make the crowds more curious for his return the following year too.
The arena cheered, and he took the time to check the quotas. Currently, of course, Haimawari was considered the most likely winner. He was the one that had already reached the semifinals before, and had only lost against the Battlemaster. After him was Kamihara, then Revenant – a great compliment, given his opponent was Kamihara, essentially placing him on par with his well-known opponent. Ragdoll and Deku came next, then it concluded with Huanli, Zombie and Izumi. It seemed the only fight that people had a firm agreement on the result was the one between the Crawling King and the UA President.
He would have called Ragdoll being that high in the listing absurd, but then again she had defeated All Might and showed off a One for All. He really needed to ask her how that happened. She had been odd for a while now, since the Tournament's start. Usually, she would have invited him, Hatsume and Jiro out for a celebratory drink after her win, but…
"Izuku, the first match is about to begin." Jiro's voice cut off his thoughts. He smiled, focusing back on his job. He'd deal with the rest later. "Alright, first match! On one side, the giant killer! He beat his way through Heroes and Villains that were considered favorites for the finals, until he reached this spot. Can he slay his way to the top? Iiiiit's Revenant!"
He watched Revenant walk in the Arena, his weapons ready on his sides and back. Mjolnir, two swords, armored boots and a gun were immediately obvious, but who knew what else the guy was carrying around? His combat suit was filled with surprises, it seemed. 'There's a reason if he made it this far.' The Announcer thought, 'But…'
"And here we have his opponent! This master of ninjutsu has made his way through the previous rounds with meticulous precision, striking weak spots and openings, or surprising his opponents with his skill and technique! He is a well-known fighter with a great record in our tournament, but now he has entered a stage he had never seen before! Will he thrive or fall? It's The Edgeshot, Shinyaaaaaa Kamihara!"
Kamihara wore the usual ninja-styled getup, so Izuku wondered if he had prepared differently at all for this fight. Then again, he might very well be already perfect. In the Announcer's opinion, Kamihara was the best example of a rounded opponent in the Tournament. His speed, technique, strength, combat intelligence and reaction times might not have been exceptional in isolation, but combined they gave him a real edge on most opponents, and there was always his magic.
Then again, Revenant was also very well-rounded. He could see why they were classified so close to one another. He had to assume Kamihara got a spot above Revenant due to showing lower reliance on the field.
Well, only one way to find out.
"Begin!" He shouted, and the battle started.
-x-
Revenant and Kamihara circled each other carefully. They had both pulled out their weapon of choice, Kamihara wielding a pair of knives while Revenant used a sword. He took one step forward, and Kamihara did the same, before they slowly returned to circling one another. But, like a mirror of each other, they both started moving in smaller and smaller circles, slowly closing on each other.
This wasn't Revenant's favorite fighting style, but the Arena was a flat terrain, and if Kamihara was half as smart as he seemed in his previous fights, he'd have a counter for anything Revenant might do to block his vision at a distance.
His free hand was ready to grasp on the smoke bomb in his sleeve, if the chance arose, but Kamihara had to be even closer if he wanted to be sure it wasn't wasted. Too far, and he could just wait for the smoke to disperse by moving to the edge of the arena, beyond the area covered by it.
And so Revenant kept moving, slow, steady circles that brough them close. The moment he reached the range he'd have considered ideal for the smoke bomb, his hand twitched to grasp it. It was a minute movement. Normally, it wouldn't have been a problem.
Kamihara didn't miss it and rushed forward, kicking to extend his own range, the feet slamming on Revenant's arm. He responded by letting himself rotate with the blow, reducing the damage from the impact while also creating centrifugal force to slam his sword's flat in Kamihara's side. The knives Kamihara had in both hands crossed with the blade, and Revenant admired his balance, given that his leg was still recovering from its extended position and he was pushing the sword forward, so he was keeping balance with one single foot on the ground.
Kamihara's leg bent to the side, turning into a tackle aimed at slamming on Revenant's knee, but before he could be pushed into that Revenant gave ground, stepping back while going again for the smoke screen.
"Predictable." Kamihara commented, stepping forward to block him again from grabbing the smoke bomb. Revenant grinned and his hand that had previously aimed for the sleeve instead darted downward toward his flashbangs, grasping onto one and tossing it. In response, Kamihara saw the flashbang coming and kicked upward, sending the object rolling high in the air. It exploded, showering the field in a blinding light, but neither of them were looking at it, already closing on each other.
Revenant slammed his feet down as Kamihara turned his raised kick into a pivot by putting his entire body into the forward movement the second it hit the ground, and then turned to deliver a kick on his right side. He felt it through the combat suit, grunting at the blow, but the reinforced boots held him down. Revenant grumbled and raised his helmet just in time to stop Kamihara from slamming one of his knives into his face. He jumped to the side, hand again moving for another smoke bomb, the one hidden in the container near his right side, but Kamihara tossed a knife, forcing him to stop again or end up with an impaled hand.
"I've been studying your combat patterns." Kamihara said, tossing a set of caltrops that cluttered on the field, "Your style is moving low and attacking the opponent from his blind spots." He moved in with another kick, the foot slamming into Revenant's chest, "And if you are in trouble, you use a smoke bomb to create a block in your opponent's field of vision, or a flashbang to temporarily blind them." He tossed the other knife, Revenant dodging it by so little it cut off some of the white fur on his costume's collar, and his hand moved to the pouch on the right side of his body while kicking forward to keep Revenant back.
'Now.' Revenant dove low, using the cover of Kamihara's kick to block his view. The caltrops on the ground couldn't damage his reinforced boots- 'So why did he throw them?' Revenant wondered just as one cracked under his boot and exploded.
It wasn't powerful, barely enough to force the heavy boots into moving, but it did unbalance Revenant. He regained his footing, only for another caltrop to crack under his boot. The explosion reverberate up through his leg, dulled by the boot but not completely stopped. He felt his leg ache. This time he had been putting his fool weight into it, so there was no damping the damage.
Kamihara took his time to turn around, and Revenant watched his light footing that allowed him to move around the caltrops. As agile as Revenant was, the boots did mean he'd have a hard time replicating that.
So instead he kicked, sending a pair of caltrop flying toward Kamihara's face. The ninja's eyes went wide for once as the cracked objects blew up in his face. When he regained his sight a moment later, Revenant had finally pulled the pin on the smoke bomb.
The explosion of smoke burst through the field, surrounding both fighters and Revenant didn't miss a beat, activating his mask's heat visor and rushing forward, wary of Kamihara's attacks…
A burst of fire sourged from Kamihara's mouth, a blinding light in the heat visor. Revenant switched it to normal, but the damage was already done, the heat vision damaged by the sudden burst, so bright it would take a while for it to work again. 'He didn't just examine my fights, he has been looking into my equipment.' Revenant thought. He had to register his gear at the beginning of the Tournament, and while it was allowed to add new abilities, magic or equipment, that would be recorded after a match, he had informed the JTO of his heat visor. 'Probably convinced someone from the tech department to let them examine the gear I registered.'
He'd have called it cheating, but frankly it was just smart. He had spent so long preparing for magic and combat skills based on it, that he had almost forgotten there was a weakness in his tech too.
He switched his stance to pull out his gun, Samurai's Edge, and fired a pair of low shots, but the impact with the ground proved Kamihara was moving too. Revenant listened, continuing to move. Several times he stepped on a caltrop, but he was ready and kept jumping in sync with the explosion, reducing the damage up his leg. So long as he didn't try to roll on the ground, he was mostly safe. They hurt a bit, but nothing he couldn't take in small amounts.
Kamihara was nowhere to be found though, which meant…
When the ground cracked, Midoriya was ready, slamming his sword downward. The digging skill was something Kamihara had already shown, so it was only natural to expect it again. The dulled blade struck the shoulder of the emerging opponent, who gasped in pain or surprise.
Without hesitation, Revenant followed by pulling out his gun and shooting, the bullets finding purchase in the other arms and shoulder. 'This is too easy.' He thought, and was proven correct when the Kamihara he had just hit vanished into a mass of green goo, and two more emerged from the sides.
-x-
"Twice's Quirk?!" Deku shouted.
"Must be the magical equivalent." Izumi replied, "It looks kinda like Mud Man's Parade, the Deal to create mud copies of people."
"Is that a thing?" Huanli asked.
"Sure, that's Bubaigawara's Deal." She shrugged, and Deku nodded.
"I guess it's the same then." He watched the three copies all attack Revenant. He struck one with the blade and another got shot in the shoulders and arm, enough that they both disappeared, but the one that had appeared to Revenant's left managed to land a kick on Revenant's open shoulder.
"That was a mistake." Huanli said.
"Why? This is Revenant's ideal fighting style." Izumi asked.
"He is fighting a ninja." Huanli replied, "Revenant and him probably have overlapping ability. He misjudged that because so far all of Kamihara's opponents dragged him into a direct match and he obliged. From the start, Kamihara was better suited for this kind of hide-and-strike attacks."
"Then why did he stop Revenant?" Izuku asked, as Revenant and Kamihara both disengaged, Revenant stepping away while Kamihara dove back underground.
"My best guess? He is trying to goad Revenant into making a mistake." Huanli sipped from a bottle of tea she had been given, "He is planting in his head the idea that even a move he trusted so much into didn't turn the tide of the fight, in hopes this pushes him into doing something rash."
"Would it work?"
"Depends."
"On what?"
"On Revenant." She shrugged, "Can he win against an opponent that knows how to fight in his same terrain?"
-x-
Revenant ducked under a kick, and turned his Qi into the Sunlight Straight Sword. He had been using it to dampen the blows before, but it was time to move on the offensive. The sword hit from an unexpected direction from Kamihara's perspective, finally cutting through his body armor and drawing blood- No, mud. The mud puppet vanished, but this time Revenant was ready. He imagined the straight sword turning into a metal rod of the same length and thrusted behind his back without looking. He felt the impact against a body, along with a gasp of pain, and turned around to see Kamihara was stumbling back. No transformation back, so this one was the original, not a puppet.
He pushed forward, but Kamihara opened his mouth unleashing another stream of fire, forcing Revenant to duck even lower under the fire. He tried to use a quick horizontal slice to try and hit the man's leg with his Qi weapon, but the ninja jumped, rolling in mid-air to redirect the fire toward Revenant. Revenant in response, however, planted his weapon in the ground, at an angle to the left, and imagined it growing in length while holding on it tight. The result was a push that sent him to the right, allowing him to dodge most of the attack. He returned the Qi back to the original Sunlight Straight Sword shape and panted. It was taking a toll on his body alright. The basic form was fine, but changing the shape certainly wasn't. He had to keep that as a last resort.
The problem was, he and Kamihara were about equally skilled. It should have been somewhat insulting, given what he had to go through to get this level of skills, but it would have been arrogant to assume there weren't other ways to acquire that level of skills. He ducked under a shuriken flying his way, and grabbed Mjolnir, switching to dual wielding the hammer in one hand and the Qi sword in the other. An invisible sword and a thundering hammer should have been enough to intimidate anyone, but surprisingly Kamihara just stepped forward.
He tossed the hammer, Kamihara ducking to dodge it, only for Revenant to call it back when the man stabbed forward, using its side to block the knife and then unleashing a charge of electricity. Kamihara clearly felt it, and Revenant decided to build on it by stabbing forward with the Qi sword, but in response the ninja kicked upward, hitting his arm and sending the blade off course, only grazing his flank. Revenant didn't miss his chance to answer to that by kicking upward, his reinforced boots hitting Kamihara's leg.
Kamihara winced, his leg at least hurting if not broken, and then breathed in. Revenant prepared to dodge the fire breath, only for the fire to emerge from Kamihara's hand instead. The fire struck him, and he shouted as he was forced to step back. They didn't burn him that badly – probably Kamihara having to keep them under control to not kill his opponent accidentally – but his skin hurt and the smell of burnt hair told him he had just received a very unusual haircut.
He sighed. If Kamihara thought some fire was enough to stop him, he'd have to think again. Revenant had fought enough burning monstrosities and once set fire to a pizzeria with him still inside. Burns were nothing new.
A shuriken struck his chest, but it bounced off and clattered on the ground, stopped by his body armor. Revenant took the chance to stab forward, surprising Kamihara enough he was forced to step back. Revenant followed with an horizontal slice Kamihara stopped with his knife, but that left his other side open when Revenant swung Mjolnir. Kamihara tried to step back, but the leg Revenant had kicked earlier gave way, cracking loudly. A moment later, Mjolnir slammed in Kamihara's side, the cracking of more bones following.
Kamihara was sent flying, rolled on the ground, and shakily stood up, pulling out a new weapon from his sleeve, a nunchaku he held with both hands as he pushed himself up. 'Still going?' Revenant silently asked. In response, Kamihara took his stance, rotating the nunchaku and pressing the two ends together. They fused in a single metal pole.
Revenant took position too. His legs ached due to the explosives, and the burns on his face were a constant annoyance. His arm ached too, probably the result of the several impacts.
He took a deep breath and stepped forward.
-x-
"We have a winner!" The Announcer shouted. Revenant smiled shakily, standing above the unconscious Kamihara.
"This is unfair…" Izumi muttered.
"What is?" Izuku asked.
"Nothing…" She said, a grim look on her face. Revenant hadn't agreed yet to her offer, and given how skilled he was she wasn't sure if he would. Maybe…
"You are thinking about this from the wrong perspective." One for All said, "If you ask a skilled fighter to add more skills, they might say no. But you can offer him something else."
'Like what?' She asked. Of course she had thought about it, but she wasn't sure what else Revenant might want.
"You will have to find out." One for All replied, "All you have to do is get his permission to strike that deal."
'That's not really helpful.' She thought, pinching the bridge of her nose as she stood up. "I'm going in." She said, the light for the Arena's entrance turning on to show she was expected to go in next."
Huanli and Deku both wished her good luck, and she stepped forward. In the five minutes left before she entered the Arena, she didn't have much to do, so she swung her weapon a few times, and repeated the list of Deals she had inside One for All.
She breathed in and out again, and finally her name was called. Looking at the Arena as she walked in, she couldn't help but wonder if she deserved the spot. Arsenal was stronger, but she had been hurt too badly to fight, and she had gotten this far thanks to that.
'Well, I suppose the only thing I can do is trying to win.' Haimawari landed on the other side of the Arena a moment later. According to pretty much everyone, he was the one people expected to win. She shook her head. No thinking about that. All she needed to do was her best.
The fight begun a moment later.
And another instant later, Haimawari accelerated to superhuman speed and slammed his fist, crackling with familiar blue sparks directly in Izumi's gut with enough strength to send her fly against the opposing wall. She gasped, standing back up shakily.
"What the…"
"Sorry." Koichi said apologetically, "I got this new Quirk from a nice witch that said she wanted to see me use it against some Midoriya. I think I have some trouble controlling the output." They both looked at his bruised arm. It wasn't quite broken, but it clearly had felt the recoil.
Izumi stared bewildered. "You have…"
-x-
"One for All?!" Kiruka Yagi shouted. "Again?!"
"It seems that Quirk is making the rounds." Yotsubashi, the JTO leader commented, an amused look on his face, "It certainly makes Haimawari a lot more fearsome than he already was. Did you see that speed?"
Kiruka grimaced. This reeked of the League for All. Were they trying to stop a Midoriya from winning the Tournament. That could be, but it seemed extraordinarily petty. Then again, if they were part of Yu Bakugo's following, they might have been warped to the point they were now petty enough to give away some One for Alls just to get in the way.
At least, that was what she hoped was the case. The truth was likely that they had a plan. Was Haimawari part of it, or did he just get One for All from them without being involved? And what about Ragdoll? The woman had avoided her when she tried to investigate, but now she had another route to figure this out, and fast. She had a bad feeling about this.
-x-
"First President of the Yuuei Student Council, Tutoria, the Deal to teach swordsmanship." She mumbled, deflecting the incoming follow up from Haimawari and slamming the blade in his chest in response. Haimawari's Quirk, however, blocked the blow, a circle of light acting as a shield.
"Plus, Eleventh President of the Yuuei Student Council, Crash Pain, the Deal to not feel pain." She whispered, and suddenly the pain she felt from the previous punch vanished. Tutoria reacted to another attack, allowing her to divert a punch, and she took a deep breath.
"Plus, Twenty-Seventh President of the Yuuei Student Council, I Fall Down, the Deal to have perfect kinetic vision." She ducked under the fist and followed with a strike. When she saw the defensive circle form again, she changed the trajectory of the blow, hitting the extended arm instead, fast enough Haimawari didn't manage to defend it. She ducked lower, and saw the uppercut coming, but knew she couldn't dodge it.
"Plus, Thirteenth President of the Yuuei Student Council, Bad Bye, the Deal to transfer damage from the user to the sword." She uttered out as the uppercut hit her, just in time. The training sword she had been using broke in half, and she grabbed her gun.
"Plus Tenth President of the Yuuei student council, Triple Rifle, the ability to fire three times with each shot." She fired three times, and noticed Haimawari frown, probably expecting her to keel over due to Crash Pain vanishing.
She smiled. "I'm also improving, you know?" She said, and she fired again. Since her fight with Shinomori, she ha felt… different. She felt more attuned with One for All, and that manifested in her limit increasing.
"Plus, Sixteenth President of the Yuuei Student Council, Oboe, the Ability to intimidate anyone." She stepped forward, grinning as Haimawari recoiled back in surprise. Of curse, her limit hadn't shot up indefinitely, but going from three to five was a massive improvement, even if it meant she had to be careful. As she felt Tutoria vanishing, she stepped forward, firing again and again, each bullet becoming three.
Crash Pain, I Fall own, Triple Rifle and Oboe were doing their job. Bad Bye was probably useless, but she was ready to grab on the handle of her broken sword. Hopefully, at least part of the damage would transfer back to it. 'It's a lot more complicated.' She thought as she dodged an incoming fist thanks to I Fall Down letting her see the incoming attack, and responded by firing three shots of Triple Rifle. Two got blocked by the ring of energy, but one passed through, hurting Haimawari.
Then he opened his hand and fired a bullet of compressed air. It slammed in her chest, the handle crumbling into nothing, but she didn't feel anything, instead taking the chance to fire again.
She was sure Crash Pain was the only thing keeping her up, meaning that she couldn't activate more Deals. Izumi dodged another punch, ducked even lower under another air projectile, and then fired and fired. The shots clearly hurt, at least those that did hit, but it wasn't enough.
She pulled out her other sword, the one Kendo had given her. It was a risk, since she had Bad Bye active, but she needed to end it now. "Struck Down By Love, the Contract to always hit the heart." She muttered, and she hit.
The circle of light blocked the blow again, and Koichi responded with a perfectly aimed counter. Izumi dropped the sword a second before the fist hit, and then lost consciousness.
"We have a winner!"
-x-
"Victory!" Kendo said.
"This is stupid." Setsuna said, leaning forward. Both of them had ditched their witch clothes for what passed for fashion in this world, but both witches were just waiting for the fights to be done so they could finally call it a day and go back to their usual clothes.
"Is it?" Kendo asked, "We get to watch Izukus getting hurt for free."
"I know you don't really care." Setsuna replied.
"I don't. But I expected you would, Lizard Witch." Kendo pointed out.
"Just because I'd like to dissect our Izuku and understand the need to get rid of others, doesn't mean I'm some sort of blood hound that wants them to suffer. Ideally, we'd just kill them and call it a day."
"What a softie." Kendo said, "But this is all for the plan. We need to know who will be standing on that podium, after all."
"Right…" She grimaced, "And we also need the final piece."
"Oh, don't worry about that." She glanced at the screen, now showing a replica of the previous matches' finishing blows, "I know exactly who we need."
"… You mean Kamihara r-"
"I mean Kamihara yes." She grimaced, "Did I get too used to talking like that? I'm a witch for crying out loud, I'm supposed to be a menacing figure standing deep in my lair in a dark room lighted only by a dim fire giving cryptic orders, but…" She sighed. "Sorry, I'm a bit… stressed lately."
"You need to relax Kendo, you know? I think this whole 'secret anti-Izuku organization' is taking the fun out of the 'witch' thing we have going on." Setsuna chuckled, and Kendo just groaned.
"I just want things to go back to the way they were before, when people were actually scared of us. Before Ozuku showed up and brought things like 'electricity' and 'furniture' and 'medicine that doesn't require to sacrifice some of your blood to the mysterious witch in the woods'."
"I know, we do that all the time. Just… Remember to not let that side slip when we talk with the others." Setsuna replied, "I think you are a lot funnier, but…"
"Yes, yes, I need to be a cold, calculating and cruel woman, because that is what keeps in line the madmen we had to recruit." Kendo rolled her eyes, "You'd think people would prefer an evil witch with some personality beyond 'scheming in a dark room' but noooo."
"I know, I know." Setsuna shook her hand, "Come on, look at the bright side. Everyone seems to respect you in the True League for All thanks to that."
"Setsuna, most of them are murderous sociopaths."
"Even Komori?"
"Komori is a mushroom witch that grows her 'little ones' off other creatures' bodies." She pointed out.
"Point taken. Still, if you don't like it, why are you doing this?"
"Because she asked."
-x-
"I want you to be the face of the True League for All." Yu Bakugo said, from her seat. It was just the two of them in the empty room, everyone else out dealing with their own matters. Kendo frowned.
"Why?" The witch asked, "You are the leader."
"I am, but I can't be the face. The League has to take as long as possible to find out, ideally until I decide to make my move. Which means, I will have to keep myself out of sight for as long as possible." Yu shrugged, "Out of everyone else, you are the best choice. You are used to leading others, you know how to put up a mask of coldness that will let you keep the respect of our bloodier members, and you despise Midoriyas."
"The last one isn't really hard to find around here, but I get your point. So, I will call the shots with your permission, lead the True League while you do… what?"
"This." She pulled out a small briefcase from under the table and opened it. Inside it were a pair of knives that were brimming with magic, a necklace, a strand of green hair in a plastic bag, and a vial of blood. "I'm going to be collecting One for All. As many as possible, from as many universes as possible."
"And then?"
"We share them. That's the other job you have, Kendo. Find a way for us to track down One for All easily. Until then, I will hunt them one by one."
"Why though? All for One and Midoriya need to die, but…"
"In our crusade against All for One we need as many weapons as possible. If I kill All for One, I don't think a lot of people will object if I also borrow One for All." She shrugged, "For an army of a few normal people, hunting All for One across the entire Multiverse is impossible. But what about an army of One for All? Even if it takes decades, we know we can't lose." She pulled the objects back in the case, and then slid it over to her. "Feel free to use these as you see fit, Kendo. This is all for a better Multiverse."
Kendo looked in her eyes, and for a moment felt a deep pressure on her forehead, as if she was staring in an abyss.
"It's for a better world." She said a moment later, taking the briefcase.
-x-
She passed her hand over the necklace she was wearing, one with nine spheres tied to the strands, each of a different color, and frowned. "I wonder where Yu is now."
"You mean she isn't back?" Setsuna asked.
"She said she felt a call for help from another universe's One for All." She replied, "But I'm sure she will be back soon."
"That's a thing?"
"She claims it is. I can't prove otherwise." Kendo sighed, passing a hand through her necklace again, "I guess adding one more One for All to our cause won't hurt. I wonder who it is."
-x-
"You seem in trouble." A voice said from behind her. The roughed up Himiko Toga stood up, turning slowly around. The woman behind her had long, flowing blonde hair, piercing red eyes and a calm face. She didn't look like she belonged in jail, but she had just walked in through the door.
"Who are you?" She asked. Since the Izuku Midoriya that wasn't the Masked Deku had thrown her in jail, she had a hard time. Turns out, serial killers aren't well liked, and while her Quirk made her strong, it didn't make her invincible.
"The name is Yu Bakugo, Himiko Toga." She said, "And I believe you have something that makes you really precious. Also, I heard the story about another Izuku sending you to jail. Would you like a chance to go after him?"
Himiko looked at the smile, and smiled back. "Well now, that sounds really appealing." She said, licking her lips.
(XX)
Izumi loses, Revenant wins. Both those fights I feel were a bit predictable, but at the same time I needed to show both for reasons that will be clear soon-ish. Still, hope they were fun at least.
I wonder if people will like this personality for witch Kendo. I played the trick of only ever showing her when she was around people beyond just her immediate friends to keep it as a surprise, but yeah, she isn't the cold calculating type. I feel like it'd be a bit of a 'calculating villain overload' if they were all like that.
And yup, that's the Himiko Toga Izuku captured back when he landed in the wrestling universe! I have been waiting for this reintroduction for a long time.