Chapter 126 (Daily)

At the first sight of her dad, Dawn jumped onto him to give him a big hug. The two of them shared a laugh while Kaito walked in on them.

"Dad, you have no idea how surprised I am to see you here!" Dawn said breaking the hug. "I mean, seriously! What are you doing here in Japan?"

"Well, I saw your Xtrema Against the World match and wanted to congratulate you in person." Dawn's dad said.

Dawn's happiness slowly turned to worry. She looked around her dad suspiciously. "Is Mom…"

"No. Your mother's on a long business trip in Seattle, so it's just me for the next couple of weeks."

"That's awesome. Oh! I've got someone I'd like you to meet." Dawn said before turning to Kaito. "Kaito, this is my dad. Dad, this is my boyfriend, Kaito."

"Nice to meet you, young man." Dawn's dad said shaking Kaito's hand. "You can call me Albert."

"Nice to meet you, Albert." Kaito said. "So you're Dawn's dad, huh?"

"Yep." Albert said taking his suitcase's handle. "So do you two have a spare bedroom for me or…"

"Oh, we do." Dawn said leading her dad inside their home. "So while you're here, do you think you can come and see me at Xtrema?"

"Sure. I'd never miss out on that while I'm here." Albert said.

"Gotta say," Kaito said, "After everything I've heard about Dawn's mom, I'm surprised you're supporting your daughter's choices."

"Well, I am kinda the reason she got into pro wrestling in the first place." Albert said. "See, back when Dawn was little, I had two tickets to the next Shangri-La show that came to Boston. I was planning to go with a friend, but he couldn't make it. I didn't want the extra ticket to go to waste, so I brought Dawn with me instead."

"I remember that night like it was yesterday." Dawn said. "It was the first ever match between Sayuri Rogue and Jackal Tojo on Shangri-La, an epic match for the World Championship. I fell in love with the sport right away and trained ever since, much to Mom's chagrin."

"I don't get it." Kaito said to Albert. "Sorry for asking this, but if you and your wife strongly disagree on Dawn's choices, then how come you're still together?"

"I may not like how Miranda sees Dawn's choices, but I still love her." Albert said.

"Come on, Dad." Dawn said. "Let's get you unpacked."

Eris groaned angrily as she sat in her royal-looking couch. And despite her circumstances, Elonie Silverwind (aka Platinum Mask) was liking every second of it. It warmed her heart to see her tormentor upset over her first ever loss. It was pretty much the only comfort she had when she was forced to massage Eris' shoulders.

"Can you believe it?" Eris asked angrily. "Who does she think she is, not striking that so-called 'loss' from my perfect record? It's more than I can bear."

"Well, she is the CEO, Eris." Platinum Mask answered.

"Hey! I was half-expecting you to sing me a song in my honor which was inspired by the Gaston song from Beauty and the Beast." Eris said. "I don't need your sass."

Platinum Mask was in the perfect condition to strangle Eris from behind, but she knew she couldn't. If Eris didn't go on her computer and reset the countdown manually, her secret would be exposed to the world. So now, all she could do is bear it for as long as she could.

"So what are you thinking of doing now, Eris?"

"I need something big. Something so eventful, that everyone will completely forget about what that fatass did to me. Something like…"

Eris was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. She picked it up from beside herself and held it to her ear.

"Hello? Oh, it's you. What is it?" Eris' dour expression changed to shock and excitement. "…Wait. You're serious? No lie? …Wow! That's perfect! Just what I needed! Oh, but I have one condition: Platinum Mask faces her first. This week. Is that all right? …Good. Thank you, ma'am." Eris hung up with the most mischievous smile on her face.

"Who was that?" Platinum Mask asked.

"That was Ms. Rogue." Eris said. "She gave me the biggest news yet. Thanks to my long winning streak, I am now the number one contender for the Xtrema World Championship. That means I'm going to face Queen Bee for the title at Dynamix."

"Oh." Platinum Mask said. "Well, that's good for you."

"Oh, it's going to get better." Eris said standing up and facing her servant. "I've also arranged a match between her and you this week. Whether you win or lose, I don't really care. But here's what I'll need you to do. I need you to injure Queen Bee."

Platinum Mask widened her eyes. "What?"

"You heard me. Playing mind games with her is going to be a lot of fun, but if I'm going to get a guaranteed win, I need a real advantage; a physical weakness I can prey upon. Whether it's a bad ankle, sore ribs, or whatever, I want you to make sure she leaves this week's Xtrema show with one."

"But what if your match against her at Dynamix is canceled."

"So don't injure her too badly. Just give her something that will last until after Dynamix. Now, in the meantime, why don't you go and draw me a bath? I need to strategize what to do against that bug."

Platinum Mask scowled at her mistress, but she knew she had no choice. She proceeded to follow her orders and started planning for her match against Queen Bee too.

"Thanks for the heads up." Dawn said before hanging up her phone. She turned to her boyfriend and father as they were all having dinner together.

"Was that Ms. Rogue?" Kaito asked.

"Yeah. She informed me of some recent decisions made for us." Dawn said. "First of all, it looks like I'm defending my title against Eris at Dynamix."

"Which one is Eris?" Albert asked.

"The blonde one with the purple streak." Kaito said. "She used to be undefeated until last week."

"And this week, I'm going against her lackey, Platinum Mask." Dawn continued. "So yeah, I pretty much have my hands full. And so do you, babe."

"Me?" Kaito asked. "Why me?"

"She wanted me to give you a message." Dawn said. "It seems that there has been a fan blowout after you were attacked by Black Swan, or Fenix Malvada as she calls herself now. So Ms. Rogue has arranged an official match between you and her this week."

"Oh." Kaito said in surprise. "That's a surprise."

"Is that a problem?" Albert asked. "I mean, your losing streak is over now, right?"

"Yeah, but this is complicated." Kaito answered. "I could never beat her back when she was just Black Swan. And now, she seems even more ruthless than before."

"Well, don't worry about it." Dawn said. "I'll be in your corner again, and this time, she won't get the drop on me."

"Thanks, Dawn." Kaito said.

Albert smiled at Kaito. "I like him." He thought.

Fenix Malvada was sitting at the edge of a lake with a fishing pole in her hand. It was dark out, so it was unusual for her to be fishing in the lake in the dark. She sat quietly until her phone rang. It was Sayuri Rogue informing her of her next match.

"Against Kaito Marx, you say? …I understand, senorita." She said before hanging up.

That's when she found what she was looking for. After her hook caught it, she reeled in the line and pulled it out of the water. She held in her hand the filthy, washed up remains of her old mask. She stared at it lamently.

"But he's not the one I want to face."

"And just like that, the match card is complete." Sayuri Rogue stated after hanging up her phone. She and Ryuji looked at the computer screen to look over the match card.

"Amazon Aqua vs Cleopatra

The Skunk vs Mercy

Viper Takagi vs N-Bomb

Jun Juli vs Neko Girl

Kaito Marx vs Fenix Malvada

Queen Bee vs Platinum Mask"

"Anything I missed?" Sayuri asked.

"Yes. There has to be a confrontation between the Tag Team champions and their challengers to hype up their PPV match." Ryuji said.

"Thank you, Ryuji." Sayuri said before adding it in her agenda. "There. Scheduled for after Viper's debut match. Speaking of which, what do you think for N-Bomb being her first opponent here?"

"Well, first of all, N-Bomb wouldn't be her debut opponent. You've already established that was Thunder Mana in Xtrema Against the World."

"Don't be a smart-ass."

Ryuji chuckled. "Anyway, I think N-Bomb would make a good opponent for her now that she's officially signed in. Good for N-Bomb too. I heard she wasn't exactly happy with what happened in the Yin-Yang Tournament."

"She's not the only one." Sayuri sighed. "Neko Girl is still pretty steamed over losing her chance to return to the bracket. That, accompanied by Jun Juli's desire to be in more matches, is what inspired this match-up."

"So it looks like we've got our matches." Ryuji said.

"Yep. The dominos are all in place." Sayuri said. "Now, let's see them fall."

*Xtrema Shorts*

Monica Everly waved to the crowd in her Chibi form as soon as her show started. She sat next to a Chibi version of Mercy, who simply shrugged her arms and scowled menacingly.

"Welcome to Xtrema Shorts where we ask questions to our mighty wrestlers that were given by you, our readers. Today, our questions are for The Commando, Mercy. Thanks for…"

"I know. You're glad that I'm here." Chibi Mercy said. "Just get on with your questions."

"Well, I see someone's eager." Chibi Monica said. "But let's go over the rules. First, I ask you some standard questions that I ask everyone. Then, you are given questions asked by our readers. So are you ready?"

"Of course." Chibi Mercy said. "Just give them to me."

"All right. First question… Who was your debut opponent?"

"That would be Mewlie. That catty cow thought she'd win by sneaking in a pair of brass knuckles and knocking me over with a punch to the head. Thankfully, I grabbed her arm and made her punch herself. And when her daughter tried to interfere, I threw Mewlie out right at her and won by a count-out."

"What's it like facing Kaito Marx?"

"Like one of the sandbags back at my old squadron."

"What do you think of Sayuri Rogue?"

"Let's just say she better not piss me off, because I'm actually confident I can beat her."

"Who's the easiest opponent you've ever faced other than Kaito?"

"Probably Isebella. I insulted her partner and she challenged me to a one-on-one match to 'teach me a lesson'. But we all know how that song and dance number goes."

"Okay. Now for the personal ones asked by Awesome ax10. After your XAW flag match win, did any of your countrymen speak on your behalf to the armed forces for kicking you out?"

"I heard some of my fans vouched for me, but my so-called 'team' didn't care. They're all just a bunch of narcissistic misogynists who deserved what I did to them."

"Should you ever win the Xtrema world title, what will your plan be?"

"Crush, defend, dominate. Need I say more?"

"Aside from Natasha Han, who would give you a good flag match?"

"I'd say Liza Surkova, Clementine Cirrus, and Mantis."

"Well, thanks for your input, Mercy. Now, before we sound off, let's take a look at the match card one last time."

Amazon Aqua vs Cleopatra

The Skunk vs Mercy

Viper Takagi vs N-Bomb

Scarlette and Clover confront the Daughters of Darkness

Jun Juli vs Neko Girl

Kaito Marx vs Fenix Malvada

Queen Bee vs Platinum Mask

"One more thing to announce. We will be taking a little break from the main story for now. I know it is a bit abrupt before a match night, so we apologize for this. We simply figured that now would be the best time to start this. Starting next chapter, we will begin the 2023 Summer Special!

"We haven't had a special in this fanfiction in a year because of Xtrema Against the World arc, so it will be great to be back. We will be using some old classic matches of the past along with a few new ones. If anyone has ideas for what kind of matches they want to read here, give them in the comments.

"Well, that appears to be it for now. See you all next time when we announce the Summer Special match card. Any and all comments are welcome."