Chapter 39: Daily
In the late night, the latest show of Global Wrestling Monopoly was over, and at the main event, The Third successfully defended his title. He won his match without a single strain on his one-piece, full body, gray tiger costume. His very size commanded fear to everyone who'd dare cross him.
After his dominant victory, The Third moved on into his personal locker room. He was ready to just contemplate on his victory alone. Strangely, that wouldn't be the case.
As soon as he entered the room, The Third knew something was off. At first, he couldn't tell what it was. She shut the door behind him and looked around. All he could see was a TV on the wall, his own bench, and a few lockers (one of which was full of jackets). He turned his head from the lockers to get a better angle. That's when the intruder made their move.
Someone jumped out of the jacket-filled locker to deliver a strong dropkick to The Third. Unfortunately, the Heavyweight champion saw the attack coming and countered the attack by knocking his assailant away. The intruder quickly got up and was about to strike at The Third with both fists, but the tiger-masked wrestler blocked it. As soon as he did, the attacker quickly struck with a double knee strike to his chest. While it did take him by surprise, he didn't budge.
"Are you done?" he asked. The two of them stopped for a moment letting the champion get a better look at his attacker.
It was a girl, a young woman with short, black hair and hazel eyes. She was slightly taller than most girls, but was definitely a lot tougher-looking. She had on a gray T-shirt with The Third's image on it. She also had on a pair of blue jeans and black shoes. She smiled and looked right at the champion.
"I just wanted to see it for myself." She said. "You're even stronger than I ever imagined. Not a lot of people would withstand an attack like that. I've even taken out men like that."
"How did you get in here? What happened to security?"
"You know, for a highly popular wrestling league with the strongest wrestlers ever, you'd think the security would be tougher."
"You mean you beat up the guards, sneaked backstage, and assaulted me just to meet me?" The Third asked. "Who are you?"
"Right. My name is Miyako Marx. You probably get this a lot, but I'm your biggest fan. I've modeled my entire wrestling style out of yours and your family's."
"Really?" The Third asked. "I take it you're not going to apologize for attacking me."
"Why? That would imply I regret what I did, and I never regret anything."
Underneath his mask, The Third smiled. "Good answer. You're a lot like me. You've got a lot to learn, but you're well on your way."
Suddenly, the door swung open. A lot of guards charged in with Miss X behind them.
"That's her!" shouted one of the guards as he pointed at Miyako. He had a really swollen eye. "That's the girl who attacked me!"
"You've got some nerve, child." Miss X said. "I'll…"
"Do nothing." The Third said. "Miyako here was just eager to meet me. I can't fault her for that."
"What?" the same guard asked. "But she…"
The Third approached the guard towering over him and giving him a threatening scowl. "Care to back that up?"
The guard was utterly petrified. He then cleared his throat and looked back at the CEO. "Never mind, ma'am."
"That's better." The Third said. "Now, Miss X, I think Miyako here would be safely escorted out. She got what she came for."
Miss X was confused, but she then turned to her assistant. "Lady, help Miyako out." She nodded and gestured for Miyako to follow.
"One more thing." The Third called out. He reached into his bag and pulled out a gray tiger mask identical to his. He tossed it to Miyako and she caught it. "Remember, strength is power. Never let go of it, no matter what."
Miyako grinned, nodded, and continued to leave.
As soon as she left the Thunder Dome, Miyako took a moment to pull out her new mask and gaze at it.
"This was better than I ever imagined. I bet my weak little brother will be envious I got to be in the presence of a real wrestler. If Tiger the Great the Third can take over the men's wrestling world, then I suppose it's my duty to take over the women's world."
Dawn Sawyer just laid in front of her computer with the video on right before her. The video showed her match the other night against Queen Elizabeth. She may have lost, but Dawn was determined to figure it out. Except for one problem…
"I don't see where I went wrong." She admitted. She turned away from the computer to rub her eyes and talk to Kaito Marx, who had arrived at her house about an hour earlier. "What do you think?"
"You're asking me?" Kaito asked. "Dawn, I've never been able to recognize the problem with my own wrestling style. I certainly can't help you figure this out."
Dawn sighed. "You're right. I just can't see where I went wrong. I know I did everything right. Sure, the battle was about even, but my finishing move should have got the job done. Instead, it failed me twice."
"The finishing move. That's the sharpshooter, right?" Kaito asked. "'Cause I've been thinking… maybe it's not the right finishing move for you."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Well, I've been looking back at your past matches. I've noticed there were only three matches you won in the past year where you finished it with the sharpshooter. In fact, it hasn't finished a match since the night we started dating. If it doesn't work all the time now, then maybe you should consider finding a new move. What made you think of using the sharpshooter in the first place?"
Dawn thought for a moment. "Back in my days as Dawn Breaker, the sharpshooter was the way I got my first win. I remembered how it was made famous by the Harts, a family of wrestlers who helped inspire me to become one."
"You're not a Hart, Dawn. It may work for them, but you need a move that makes you… Well, you."
Dawn smiled. "Wow. I never thought I'd see the day when you would give me wrestling advice. Thanks, Kaito."
"Glad to help, Dawn." Kaito replied.
The car stopped in front of a small gym labeled Berserk. Sayuri Rogue and Ryuji Hashimoto stepped out. The assistant followed his boss inside where many girls were training and working out. Sayuri looked around until her eyes caught the gym's ace, Misaki Toyoda, and its coach, Ryo Nakamura, outside of a ring. The two of them watched as Sakura Hagiwara was sparring against Selena Hirano.
"Am I too early?" Sayuri asked getting everyone's attention.
"Not at all, Ms. Rogue." Ryo said.
"Oh, hey, Ms. Rogue!" Sakura greeted.
"Hey, Sakura. I heard you stopped submitting to Boston crabs. What are you up to now?"
"Well, I'm trying to come up with finishing move. Ever since I lost my match against Hornet the other night, it's been pointed out to me that I need something to end my matches with. I'm trying to find one."
"Too bad all your moves so far wouldn't knock out a bird." Selena taunted angering the Sweet Diva idol.
"Well, keep up the good work." Sayuri said. "Now, Misaki, I'd like to talk to Mr. Inoba about a certain incident."
"You mean with the League of Evil attacking your ace?" Misaki asked. "Sure. He's been expecting this ever since. Right this way."
Misaki and Ryo brought Sayuri and Ryuji to a nearby office where the owner of Berserk was working on paperwork. Inoba was caught off guard by the visit, but he wasn't surprised. He cleared his throat and stood to greet his visitors.
"Welcome, Sayuri Rogue. I assume you're here because of the League of Evil?"
"Good guess." Sayuri said. "This was the second time this past year when your heel stable had interfered with Queen Bee's matches and attacked her. The public right now is asking for compensation."
"Now, Ms. Rogue, I know the League of Evil did what they did," Inoba said, "But you can't hold Berserk accountable. Those girls are animals that occasionally break out of their leashes."
"I understand. Believe me, I don't want to do this either. But the public wants us to settle this. After all, Digger, Hornet, and all those other girls are contracted under you. That makes them your responsibility."
"Why do they keep interfering with your matches?" Misaki asked.
"It's our ace, Queen Bee. She has history with Hornet, and it's not good history. Let's just say that Hornet hates Bee's success and leave it at that."
"Well," Inoba sighed, "I suppose I can scrounge up something. Although, it'll be a close shave. We're running a bit short these days."
"Really? Why?" Sayuri asked.
"Well, we recently made an accounting error. We're doing all we can to thrive, but this latest stunt the League of Evil pulled off is not good for us financially."
Sayuri paused for a moment and closed her eyes. She spent the short time in deep thought. Suddenly, her eyes opened and she made a grin.
"I got it. I know a way we can both get what we want. I can be recompensed and you can get more money."
"How?" Inoba asked.
"A joint event." Sayuri proposed. "Xtrema against Berserk. Your wrestlers against mine. Such a matchcard would get fans buying tickets faster than you can say ka-ching."
"But you have a whole league at your disposal." Ryo said. "We don't have that many."
"I'm not asking for everyone in both our federations to face off. Just nine matches. I'm sure we can come up with something. And the best part, whichever team wins the most matches gets 60% of the money from the ticket sales. You can keep Berserk afloat even if you get minority. Does that sound good?"
"You know, you might be onto something." Inoba said. "But who would face who?"
"Well, I already said that Queen Bee and Hornet have a grudge, so there's that."
"I have another suggestion." Misaki said. "Sayuri… I think I would like to face you."
Sayuri's eyes widened. "Is that so?"
"Yes. You're Jackal Tojo's greatest rival, right?" Misaki asked. "Not sure if you've heard, but she's coming over soon and I'm thinking of challenging her. I would like to warm up for her by going against you. Maybe then, I can see what works or not. How's that sound?" She held out her hand.
Sayuri smiled and shook it. "Challenge accepted."
"All right." Inoba said. "But who else?"
"I think we'll have to discuss it later." Sayuri said. "I've got a busy schedule, but I'll be sure to call you to talk more. Ryuji…"
"Note saved. 'Call Inoba about Xtrema/Berserk joint event'." Ryuji assured.
"Thank you for everything you're doing, Ms. Rogue." Inoba said.
"Anything for Jacky's old gym."
*Xtrema Shorts*
Chibi versions of Sayuri Rogue and Ryuji Hashimoto zipped into the middle of a cartoonish office. The smiled at you, the reader.
"Hello, faithful readers." Chibi Sayuri greeted. "Sayuri Rogue here introducing the all-new Xtrema Shorts. This version of the Author's Note was made by fellow fanfic writer, Awesome ax10, who we know as the writer for Girmov, the inspiration for this story."
"So is it going to be just us doing this?" Chibi Ryuji asked.
"Of course not. Other Xtrema characters will host their own shorts in the future. Right now, it's just us. First off, I'd like to acknowledge the crazy year we had. 2020 has many downs as everyone knows, but you can't deny that there were some ups. Hopefully, 2021 will be a lot better."
"Fingers crossed." Chibi Ryuji said. "So shall we talk about this thing with Berserk?"
"Of course." Chibi Sayuri answered. "As you just read, Xtrema will be competing in a joint event against the characters of Wanna Be the Strongest in the World. This is something Epiclot214 has been sitting on for a while, and even so, he hasn't quite figured it out. Sure, they already has some of the matches figured out like Queen Bee vs Hornet or myself against Misaki Toyoda. But most of the other matches are still a blank. Which is why we're asking for your contribution. If you have a request about which Xtrema character should go against which Berserk wrestler, we'd love to hear about it, either in comments or PM."
"Just remember one thing." Chibi Ryuji said. "In the timeline of the Wanna Be the Strongest in the World show, this takes place between Sakura's match against Hornet and her rematch against Rio Kazama. You can probably guess that Sakura's not going to win her Xtrema/Berserk match, but we don't want to make it too obvious. We don't want to give her an opponent who is guaranteed to win like Amazon Aqua or Willow Powell. It should be someone about equal to Sakura, but not so much."
"There's one more issue." Chibi Sayuri said. "Epiclot214 wants there to be nine matches so we can have three matches in each chapter. The problem is, we're down one Berserk wrestler. So far, we've got Sakura Hagiwara, Rio Kazama, Misaki Toyota, Kurea Komiyama, Chinatsu Suzumoto, Digger Yamamoto, Hornet, and the Hirano sisters (who we're putting in a tag match). Count them all out, and w'er short one match. We could use one of those other Berserk wrestlers who haven't been named yet (like the unnamed girls who assisted with Sakura's 100 Throws or keep adding to her losing streak), but we want to be certain. If you can help in any way, let us know either by comment or PMs."
"Just in case you're not aware," Chibi Ryuji said, "The Hirano sisters, Maya and Serena, are OCs. They were originally mentioned in the fanfics written by Foxboy614, but they were unnamed until Awesome ax10 included them in their Girmov story as new Berserk wrestlers and Foxboy was okay with it."
"In summation," Chibi Sayuri said, "Goodbye, 2020. Hello, 2021. We need ideas for match-ups and one more Berserk wrestler as well as Sakura's potential opponent out of the Xtrema roster. We won't get anywhere in the story without your help. We thank you for your assistance. And remember… Any and all comments are welcome!"