It was another day at the Xtrema Gym. Mantis was practicing her kicks. Liza Surkova and Mercy were sparring. And Clementine was on the phone with her friend, Tina.
"What was that?" the cowgirl asked.
"You heard me." Tina said. "I told my daddy I'm extending my stay and so, I'll be here in Japan for a little while longer."
"Why?" Clementine asked.
"Let's just say it has to do with that match we've been asking for. Ms. Rogue and I were discussing it after you beat Powell. I don't want to spoil it though, so you're gonna have to wait."
Across the gym, Carly had just finished another piece of exercise equipment before Thunder Mana approached her.
"Hey, Mana." Carly said. "Heard you're going against Queen Bee for a title shot. Congrats." She noticed the worry on her trainer's face. "Are you okay?"
"Carly, there's something you need to know." Mana said. "After you defeated Neko Girl, I got a text… from your mother."
Carly looked shocked. "What? What did she say?"
"Mainly… she was telling me to keep up the good work." Mana admitted. "I guess she noticed how I stood up to the Killer Kitties despite the kendo stick and…"
"Hold on, what?" Carly asked. "My mother was praising you but not her own daughter? What the heck?!"
"I'm sorry." Mana said. She noticed the teen's frustration growing inside. She was about to say something until Hashimoto's voice called out.
"Gym meeting! Gym meeting!" The girls stopped when they saw Ryuji Hashimoto gathering everyone up. Ryuji stood there with six newcomers behind him.
"Right. First of all, I'd like to introduce six new members of our roster. Meet Zelda Griff, Jasper Jones, Sam Hamilton, Platinum Mask, Clover, and Poison."
"We know who Poison is." Scarlette asked.
"Si." La Calavera said. "She's the one who helped Diaz break that ninja. What's she doing here?"
"Lady Kai has decided not to press charges." Hashimoto said. "They're about as welcome as the rest of us now. Next, I'd like to announce a change in a championship. We've just received a post saying that the Skunk attacked Kaito Marx and won the 24/7 Championship belt from him."
"Really?" Freya asked.
"About time." Mewlie said. "He should have known better. What a loser. Right, Neko Girl?"
Neko Girl chuckles softly. "Yeah." She then thought to herself, "Hope he's okay."
"Now, we've got to finalize the matches for the next show." Hashimoto said. "First, to break in these new girls, our opening match will be a battle royale between the six. Over-the-rope elimination rules."
The new wrestlers looked at each other anticipating their upcoming match. Although, Zelda was glaring real angrily at Sam, who was unable to tell the frustration.
"Next, thanks to popular demand, we've got a rematch set-up for Carly X and Neko Girl."
"Happy to." Carly said. "I've kicked her tail once and I'll do it again. Besides, I need to let out my frustration."
"That match was a fluke, and you know it X-tra Lame!" Neko Girl growled.
"Oh, please." Carly scoffed angrily. "You couldn't beat me on your best day."
"Really?" Neko Girl asked. "Then how's about this: our next match will be a no DQ match. Nobody beats me in a straight-up catfight!"
"Challenge accepted!" Carly replied confidently. Mana looked at her worried.
"If you both want that, okay." Hashimoto said as he edited the paper on his clipboard. "Now, the next one will feature a guest wrestler. And she has chosen Liza Surkova to be her opponent."
The Russian gave a small chuckle. "'Bout time I get back in the ring. Who's my opponent?"
"The runner-up of Dessert Force, another MMA fighter named Ishtar. Apparently, she's the rival of the champion who guested here weeks ago. She's agreed to a match here to prove herself to handle any challenge Ms. Al-Selah has overcome."
"I welcome it." Liza said.
"All right then. The last two are what you already know. Atlantis Force and Team Spirit fill face off for a championship opportunity. The same thing with Thunder Mana and Queen Bee at the main event. All right then. That'll be it."
He dismissed everyone and let them resume their training. Meanwhile, Thunder Mana pulled Carly X to her.
"Carly, think about what you just agreed to." Mana said.
"I don't care!" Carly replied. "I'm facing her again, and even when the odds are against me, I'll send that kitten to the pound again!"
"But this will be a no DQ match. She exels at that just like her mother."
"I don't care if she's the champion herself! I need this! Now, please, Mana… Don't get in my way." She walked away leaving Mana to sigh.
As the sun began to set, Kaito rested his head on the table. Dawn came to him with a coffee mug offered to him.
"Have some tea. It'll calm you." Kaito took the cup and a sip from it. "How is it?"
"It's better, I guess." Kaito replied. "I still can't believe that rat got the jump on me in my own house."
Dawn sighed. "It's my fault. We were supposed to be watching a movie. If I had been with you, maybe I would've stopped her."
"Right now, I gotta worry about what my family might think." Kaito said. "Especially my sister. That won't end well."
"It can't be that bad." Dawn said.
"You don't know Miyako. As soon as she hears about this, she'll probably drive here herself to teach me a lesson. She's… not the nicest woman." He hung his head. "And I probably deserve it."
"Don't think that way." Dawn said. "It's not your fault."
"I should've been able to stop the Skunk." Kaito said. "She humiliated me in my own house and I couldn't do a thing to stop her. I'm… I don't know what to do."
Dawn looked at him with concern. "Look, I know things seem bad now, but trust me, you'll get this right… just like I did."
"Like you did?" Kaito asked. "What do you mean?"
Dawn's hands trembled as she tried to speak. After taking a breath, she finally confessed. "It's time you learned the truth about me. Before I moved to Japan, I used to wrestle in America."
"Really?" Kaito asked.
"Yes. Back then, my ring name was Dawn Breaker. When I was a kid, I fell in love with wrestling. With legends like Trish Stratus, no one could stop me from becoming addicted. So when I got older, I joined a wrestling company called Queen Bee."
"Queen Bee?" Kaito asked. "Like…"
"Yes, I named myself after my old gym. But that's not the point. I was very excited when I was accepted. I competed in as many matches as I could… and I lost them all."
"What?"
"You heard me. I used to be a jobber. My losing streak could rival Sakura Hagiwara, except I never submitted to the same move over and over again. I was the laughing stock of the whole roster. One time, a reporter came to cover the gym and decided to try it out in a practice spar against me. Ten seconds after it began, I tapped out when she caught me in a sleeper hold."
"Seriously?" Kaito asked in shock.
"Yeah. Unlike you, though, I didn't have that never-give-up attitude. I was on the brink of quitting, which led to most of the heels to pick on me and humiliate me. I was about to quit… until my trainer, Lyra, came to me. She gave me some private lessons that helped me discover my strengths and weaknesses, similar to how I've been teaching you. With Lyra's advice, I managed to pull of my first win. Not only that, but it was an iconic match as well that broke the internet."
"That sounds inspiring." Kaito said. "This Lyra woman sounds awesome."
"In many ways, she is. She made me the champion-level wrestler you see right here. I hoped to test my mettle against her, but nowadays, that's less likely."
"What do you mean?"
"Some time before I had my first win, two of our most popular girls were given offers and abandoned the gym. They moved to Japan and without them, the public started to lose interest in us. And before we knew it, the gym was utterly bankrupt and had to close down. My first ever win was also the final match we ever had."
Kaito felt sympathetic. "Wow. That must stink." He then remembered. "Wait, they came to Japan? Did you…"
"Yes." Dawn answered. "I joined Japanese wrestling to find the two that abandoned the Queen Bee gym and avenge it by defeating them."
"So… are they in Xtrema?" Kaito asked.
"No. Actually, they're in separate associations. One of them, Beatrice, joined Berserk. The other, Liz, joined GWM. You probably know them better as Hornet and Queen Elizabeth."
Kaito's eyes bulged. "Really? You know, I was wondering what Hornet's deal was. Wait, was that why she attacked you before?"
"Yes. She recognized me and I guess she couldn't stand how a jobber became Xtrema's top champion. I joined Xtrema for a chance at her and Elizabeth."
"And then what?"
"Well, I suppose I'll continue living on my wrestling career until I retire in my 50s. So now, you know the truth."
Kaito gently placed his hand on top of hers. "Dawn, it was brave of you to tell me this."
Dawn chuckled. "Well, you were pouting and I figured it would cheer you up to know that I've had it worse."
Kaito pulled his hand away and scoffed. "You had it worse? I don't think so. I tapped out to a stinkface just a few hours ago."
"You think that's bad?" Dawn asked. "Did you forget me saying I lost a match quickly to a TV reporter?"
"That's nothing. My mom's a wrestler. My dad's a wrestler. My sister's training to be a wrestler. Me, I got kicked out of my old gym for losing twelve times."
"I lost a match once and was forced to be the bad girls' training dummy for a month. They called me Dull 'N Broken the whole time."
"I get paid for losing to all these girls. That really damages my masculinity."
"Don't get me started on the swirlies! They all took turns!"
"I grew up being regularly beaten by my own sister!"
…
Seeing how they all opened up on their humiliating experiences, Kaito and Dawn burst out in laughter. When they both calmed down, they gazed at each other.
"The point is," Dawn said, "If someone as constantly humbled as me could build myself to be a champion, then I believe you can as well."
He showed his thanks with a kiss. They two of them embraced each other. Dawn slowly crept her hand to the button and zipper of his pants.
"Uh, before we start," Kaito said, "I think you should know that my face may still have some Skunk butt smell on it."
Dawn gave a smirk and a chuckle. "That's okay. I'll be sure to replace it."
A couple of hours later, Kaito had fallen asleep in his bed. Dawn spent a few minutes in his shower clearly satisfied. She also had some time thinking about an offer earlier. As soon as she got out of the shower, she wrapped herself in a towel and picked up her phone. She walked through the bedroom and into the living room where she picked up the card she was given. A few seconds after she typed it in, a familiar woman's voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Ms. X." Dawn addressed.
"Ah, Queen Bee." Ms. X was clearly grinning on the other side. "I take it you're calling about my offer."
"I am, actually."
"That's good to hear. I know it's hard, but I'm sure that…"
"Forget your offer."
"…Excuse me?" Ms. X asked with an upset tone.
"You heard me. Forget your offer and forget you."
"You can't be serious? You're actually declining? What about your match against Elizabeth?"
"Believe me, this isn't an easy decision. But I've just had a good look at myself and remembered that I'm not a sellout like her or Hornet."
"If you do this, I won't let you have a chance against Elizabeth!" Ms. X threatened.
"I don't care what you say. I believe in Xtrema. I know Ms. Rogue will somehow give me a match against her. And when I do, I will defeat her just like I'll defeat Hornet! So tell Elizabeth that I'm coming for her!" She proudly hung up and returned to the bed to sleep beside Kaito.
After the phone call, Ms. X stood in her bedroom looking out at the city. She clutched her hands and gritted her teeth.
"Damn her." She growled in her head. "She's just as irksome as Tiger Mask's manager. No one talks tat way to me. But how do I get her back? If I send one of my wrestlers after her, it'll make us look bad." Just then, her eyes widened and a smile crept on her face. "Or… It can be someone who doesn't work for GWM. And I think I know just the one."
Author's Note: And now, you know Queen Bee's backstory. I didn't know whether to make Queen Elizabeth her hated rival (because they both have Queen in their names) or Hornet (because they're both stinging insects), so I decided to use both.
Ishtar is an OC created by Awesome ax10.
Next time starts the next set of matches. Here are the matches...
The Newcomers Battle Royale
Carly X vs Neko Suki
Liza Surkova vs Ishtar
Team Spirit vs Atlantis Force
Queen Bee vs Thunder Mana
Who do you think is going to win? What are your predictions?
Any and all comments are welcome.