Chapter 4
Queen Bee was surrounded by flashes of camera lights at her conference. Reporters began to fill her ears with questions. Luckily, she was prepared for them. One of the reporters, Kanae, approached her with a notepad in her hand.
"Queen Bee," she asked, "Last night, after defeating Kaito Marx, you demanded for him to be your boyfriend. Would you like to give your reasoning?"
Queen Bee gave a small laugh. "Marx may suck as a wrestler, but I'm sure he'd make a great valet. With him in my corner, I'm more than prepared for any challenge. And if he ever decides to dump me, I'll just give him more of what I gave him last night, only it'll hurt more."
"I see." Kanae said. "And what do you say about your upcoming match against N-Bomb next week?"
"I admit, N-Bomb is a considerable opponent." Queen Bee said. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting some sore body parts. But I'm not one to back down from a challenge."
"Even if she's demanding a steel cage match?"
Queen widened her eyes. "I admit, that's news to me. But the truth is, I welcome it. Only one of us will be walking out of that cage as champion. And N-Bomb, if you're listening, I've got two words for you… salad bar."
The reporters flashed even more shots and continued their questions that Queen Bee very much answered.
At the Xtrema gym, Diana Diaz was lightly jabbing at a punching bag. This muscular amazon had imagined all possible opponents in place of the bag. An adult man nervously approached her. He had a black bowl cut and a black blazer. His nametag read "Ryuji Hashimoto".
"Um… Ms. Diaz."
Diana looked back at the Xtrema secretary. "Ah, Mr. Hashimoto. What gives you the spine to talk to me?"
Hashimoto gulped. "Actually, Ms. Rogue has sent me about your request. She and Scarlette have approved."
Diana grinned. "Finally. My very own opportunity for the TV Championship. Amazing what you can earn after only three weeks. Anything about the match I should be aware of?"
"Nothing really. Just a standard one-on-one match up."
"Aw, well. Win some, lose some." Diana turned back to the punching bag. "At least I get to face a champion. Hopefully, this one will turn out better than that bug girl or that island girl. After all, a good fight is the whole reason I joined this federation. And if I'm not satisfied…" She pulled back her fist as far back as she could and thrusted it forward. Her punch hit the bag so hard, it blew a massive hole with sand flying out. She pulled her fist back and blew the sand off of her knuckles. Hashimoto was positively petrified. "Try to put that into words."
Later that night, in a household, a Spanish woman and a Japanese man had just finished their movie night. For the past two hours, they sat in their couch watching Raiders of the Lost Ark.
"So how was Indiana Jones important?" the Japanese man asked. "No offense, Rosita, but the character himself was basically non-canon to the story. The Nazis found the Ark and died anyway."
"They actually fixed that later on." Rosita said. "You see, that Nazi who burned the medallion label on his hand only got one side. The other side had an inscription warning anyone to not look at the ark when it opens. If they had the full madalion, they'd notice the warning, and keep the ark. That better, Mitsuki?"
"Sure. Thank you." Mitsuki said.
Rosita's phone dinged two times. She picked it up and read two different messages. The first one made her groan and roll her eyes.
"What's up?" Mitsuki asked.
"It's Mammy, my old manager in Mexico. Apparently, she's giving another offer to have La Calavera return to her federation. Not interested."
"Why not?"
"Are you kidding? It was crashing and burning because some of our best wrestlers had moved to GWM. If I stayed, it'd be a major problem for all of us. Besides, if I left, I'd be leaving you."
Mitsuki smiled. "Thanks, dear. So who's the other message from?"
Rosita opened it up and read through it. "I see." She said with a smile on her face. "It's from Ms. Rogue. Apparently, I have a match next week."
"Against whom?"
"A visiting wrestler from Saudi Arabia." Rosita looked at the name and tried her best to read it out loud. "Sarah Abdulaziz Al-Saleh."
"Sounds exciting. What do you say we have Miguel schedule a workout for you?"
"Already on it." Rosita said as she started to call her butler.
Kaito drove all the way to the address Queen Bee texted to him. It was a two-story house with a blue roof and yellow walls. Queen Bee opened the door and let him inside. Kaito was admiring the place.
"Nice home." Kaito said. "So why'd you call me here?"
"Come with me." Queen Bee said as she walked to the basement. Kaito followed her.
When the two of them were down, Queen Bee hit the lights and revealed a massive, clean room. The left half had training equipment (exercise machines, dumbells, and a punching bag), while the other side was nearly filled by a large wrestling with. The apron had a black-and-yellow stripe pattern and the words "Queen Bee" on it.
"Holy cow, this is quite a home gym!" Kaito admired. That's when he noticed the ring's apron. "Custom made?"
Queen Bee didn't answer. She just said, "Let's get started."
"On what?"
"Making you a better wrestler, of course." She entered the ring with Kaito following her. "Don't worry, I just want to give you some pointers."
"How do you know what pointers I need?" Kaito asked.
"Well, I have been watching some of your old matches, and when we were wrestling, I was also measuring you up." Queen Bee said. "I notice some problems that you could improve on if you want a chance of winning anything."
"Like…"
"Well, for one thing, I noticed you use moves that are basically less than basic. Headlocks. Punches. Kicks. DDTs. Most ordinary moves if you ask me. But you've never done an advanced move, have you? And another thing, you've never done a high-risk move. You never lifted anyone and you've never performed a diving move. The other wrestlers always outmaneuver you always giving them an advantage. But judging by how we grappled the other night, I could tell your body is capable of piledrivers and high-flying moves."
"But what if they fail?" Kaito asked. "What if I carry someone and they crush me? What if I try to dive on someone and they roll out of the way or worse?"
"That's common in pro wrestling, Kaito." Queen Bee said. "You should've thought of that. Trust me. Everything you've been through is far worse than everything you're afraid of happening. Luckily for you, you can be better. Losing helps build you up."
"Easy for you to say. When's the last time you lost?"
"A couple of months ago."
"What?"
"Just because I'm the ace of Xtrema, it doesn't mean that I'm undefeated. I've had my fair share of losses in the past, and I always learn from them."
"So… What about this loss?"
Queen Bee rolled her eyes. "You know what, I guess I can give you an example. My last loss came a couple of months ago. I had just won the Xtrema Championship and volunteered for an exhibition match against a rookie from the League of Evil, Excavator Sakuya. I basically dominated her for most of the match. Then, suddenly, another League of Evil member, Hornet, came to the ringside and mocked me. The referee tried to talk her into leaving, but while she was distracted, Sakuya kicked me with a low blow and hit me with a DDT. The ref didn't see it and counted the pin. After that, the entire League of Evil kept stomping on me until my friends saved me."
"Sounds painful."
"It was. But it made me extra aware of my situation from then on. And that's just another reason for me to beat Hornet."
"Another reason? What other reasons are there?"
Queen Bee stopped herself and thought for a moment. She sighed and turned her head back to Kaito. "Not important. Anyway, we're here to give you some tips on improving your style. Let's get started."
Queen Bee gave a wrestling pose while Kaito did the same.
In her office, Sayuri Rogue was on her computer. She had just finished designing the promotional poster that she sent to the printers. Her match-ups made her smile.
"So first, we've got La Calavera against Sarah Abdulaziz Al-Saleh. Next, Scarlette and Diana Diaz will face for the Xtrema TV Championship. Team Spirit and the Daughters of Darkness' tag team title match will follow. By demand, Queen Bee and N-Bomb will compete for the Xtrema Championship in a steel cage match. Lastly… is my secret main event. I just know this will get the fans excited.
Author's Note: So here's the match card.
1.) La Calavera vs Sarah Abdulaziz Al-Saleh (a character created by Awesome ax10)
2.) Scarlette vs Diana Diaz for the Xtrema TV Championship
3.) Team Spirit vs the Daughters of Darkness for the Xtrema Tag Team Championship
4.) Queen Bee vs N-Bomb for the Xtrema Championship
5.) A special main event
Who do you think will win? Any and all comments are welcome.