Chapter 72 (Daily)

The following late morning after the latest Xtrema episode, Sayuri Rogue was in her office. She waited patiently until Ryuji entered her office.

"Morning, Ryuji." Sayuri said. "Any news?"

"Yes. I've called other wrestling gyms such as Berserk, Miyabi, El Palacio, and others. They all agreed to have some of our wrestlers train there."

"Good. That'll solve our crowded issue at our own gym." Sayuri said. "Anything else?"

"Well, we've got some interesting new opponent requests for Xtrema Against the World. For example, there's this fantasy-RPG type girl named Rachel who wishes for a lumberjill match against Midnight and her brides."

"Already settling which match they want. I like that." Sayuri said. "We should probably come up with matches for the others as well. What else?"

"Well, we have Liza Gorgon for Scarlette, Bunny Bomber for Hotrina, Mistress Spencer and Sebastian for Eris and Platinum Mask…"

"Whoa. Hold on." Sayuri interrupted. "Did you say Sebastian? As in, a man's name?"

"That's what it reads here." Ryuji said tapping at his clipboard. "It says here that Mistress Spencer is a dominatrix and Sebastian is her most personal slave. He may not be an official part of their roster, but he does tag with her on occasion."

"Mistress Spencer." Sayuri repeated. "Hey, she's from Rumble Roses, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Deny that request!"

Ryuji widened his eyes. He hadn't heard his boss respond that suddenly before. "Can I ask why?"

"Three reasons." Sayuri said. "One, Sebastian is a man. This is a female wrestling event. Kaito Marx is the only exception simply because he's part of my roster and everyone in my roster is going to compete. Two, I'm not really interested in Eris and Platinum Mask going against another master-servant tag team. Seems too specific. Eris is an undefeated Goddess of Chaos and Platinum Mask is a mighty and mysterious warrior. I feel like those two could take something a bit more high-level. And third, I don't want anything to do with Rumble Roses, period."

That last reason surprised Ryuji. "You know, now that I think about it, you've never had any contact with Rumble Roses, have you? You never challenged any of their members to a visitor's match. You never invited them to the Pandora Project. Why is that?"

Sayuri glared her eyes away from her assistant. "That doesn't matter. Just deny that request and keep your eye out for more."

Ryuji raised an eyebrow before complying. "Yes, ma'am."

Kaito Marx was wearing a tracksuit as he jogged laps around the park. While he took his breaths, several thoughts raced in his mind.

"So my opponent at Xtrema Against the World is a Keijo player, which means she'll be hitting me with her butt and boobs. Hope Dawn doesn't get jealous. Still, if I want to beat her, I need something. I got so close to beating Clementine, but something was missing. I just need a finshing move, but what?"

That's when a feeling shot through him. He suddenly had the feeling to… Well, to put it bluntly, he had to use the restroom. He found a bathroom area close to where he stood and went inside.

A couple of minutes later, Kaito washed his hands. However, after he finished his drying, he was surprised when a pair of black latex gloves covered his mouth. He looked at the mirror and saw Maria Crawford finishing with a sleeper hold.

"Shh." She whispered. "Go to sleep, jobber boy. I got a lot of ideas to do with you. You'll love it whether you'll want to or not. But first, let's take care of a certain bug who pretends to be a real wrestler."

Jasper Jones had her own training regimen. She often goes to random alleyways and lift heavy dumpsters before heading to the next alley. She timed her speed. Of course, today had something different going on.

On her way to her final alleyway thinking about her missing Gold Card. She was so focused on it, she didn't realize there was someone in front of her until after she accidently bumped into her. Jasper shook her head to see who it was. It was Rio Kazama who was jogging around the block in her Berserk training outfit until Jasper knocked her down.

"Sorry about that." Jasper apologized.

"This is not my week." Rio complained to herself. "You're that Jones girl from Xtrema, right? The one with the conspiracies?"

"That's me. Jasper Jones, latest reincarnation of the warrior woman, Barbaria the Savage Queen."

Rio rolled her eyes. "Sure. Whatever. Look, I've got a lot of training to make up for. Something pretty devastating happened to me the other night."

"You mean that Blue Panther thing where she interrupted your match against Sakura and knocked you out with just a sleeper hold?" Jasper asked.

Rio gritted her teeth. "Yes, that."

"Well, this may be none of my business," Jasper said, "But maybe I can help."

"Help? HA! How?"

Jasper smiled feeling like she was ready to drop a bombshell. "I know exactly who Blue Panther is."

"You're a little late for that, honey." Rio said. "Misaki already figured it out. It's Juri Sanada from Miyabi."

"No, no, no!" Jasper denied. "That's what she wants you to believe. Really, it's Elena Miyazawa."

Rio widened her eyes. A puff of air escaped her lips before she broke into laughter. She laughed harder than she ever laughed before. She stopped when she noticed Jasper's serious face.

"Wait, you're serious? Lady, maybe you haven't noticed, but Elena's no wrestler. She's a pop star."

"You said the same thing about Sakura Hagiwara. And look where she is now." Jasper said.

"Elena was in the crowd with her idol group when Blue Panther first appeared. Everyone saw her there." Rio said. "Explain that, genius."

"Well, that time, I believe, really was Juri. I could tell because her height, body type, and dedication to her moves were consistent of her entirely. It must have been part of a long-term plan to mislead everybody. But the other night, that must have been when Elena put on the mask. The body type and height were slightly different, but they were consistent of Elena Miyazawa."

"Look, the last time I saw that princess, I threw her around the Berserk gym like a ragdoll. She's no wrestler." Rio said. "How do you think she became strong enough to knock me out that easily?"

"She must have gotten training from Juri. I know because I once saw Elena at Miyabi."

"You saw Elena's face?"

"Well, the back of her head really, but that's not the point."

Rio laughed again. "Okay. I'll humor you. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Elena has been getting secret training from Juri Sanada to be a masked wrestler and went on to sabotage Berserk matches. Why would she do that?"

"Well, if the other night is any indication, I think she's doing it to get Sakura back."

"Get her back?"

"Well, yeah. Blue Panther issued a challenge with Sakura's pro wrestling career on the line. I think this may have to do with Sakura's sudden decision to stay at pro wrestling. I think that Elena believed that she was losing Sakura as a friend and this is some kind of elaborate, overly-complicated way to get her back into Sweet Diva. In fact, I bet that at their match, Elena's going to unmask herself so that she stuns Sakura with surprise and gets an early advantage. If Sakura expects Blue Panther to be Juri Sanada and it turns out to be her best friend, it could end up costing her the match. You need to tell Sakura what I said so she'll be better prepared for it."

Rio stared silently for a moment before smiling. "Okay. Sure. I'll make sure that Sakura knows. Why don't you continue your workout."

"Yes. Thank you." Jasper said before continuing her run.

As she saw Jasper run off, Rio sighed and crossed her arms. "Guess it's true what they say about that Jones being a nutcase."

Dawn was at her home gym next to her Queen Bee ring. She ran on the treadmill thinking about her upcoming title match against Clementine Cirrus the next week. She knows that the cowgirl is tough and even though they're friends, she's not going to hold back. And neither is she.

Dawn stopped running when she heard her phone ring. She smiled recognizing it at Kaito's ringtone. She took a sip of cold water and answered the phone.

"Yes, babe?"

"How sweet of you to call me that, Dull N' Broken."

Dawn widened her eyes before lowering them in anger. She growled and called back. "Crawford. How do you have Kaito's phone?"

"Oh, I kinda took it from him after I brought him over to my place." Maria replied. "I've got a lot of toys I never got to try and I think he's the best person to try them out on."

"YOU BITCH!" Dawn shouted. "IF YOU TOUCH HIM, I SWEAR…"

"Don't have a temper tantrum, little girl." Maria said. "I haven't done anything to the guy… yet. First thing's first. You and I have some business to take care of."

Dawn growled. "What do you want?"

"I'll put it simply. I don't just want your boyfriend. I want your World Championship belt."

"You already had your chance." Dawn said. "I'm facing Clementine next week for it."

"Unfortunately, I'll be the one facing her after I win the belt off of you." Maria said. "You see, I have the Gold Card. And I'm cashing it in."

Dawn widened her eyes again. "What's the match?"

"Come by my place tomorrow evening for a street fight title match." Maria challenged. "I'll have a referee there to validate my card. And once I win, I won't just have that belt, but I'll also have you and Kaito as my personal slaves."

"You don't have the right to do that!" Dawn argued.

"Actually, I do. The Gold Card allows me to set the terms and conditions of the match." Maria said smugly. "Since I have it, you don't get a say of it."

Dawn growled turning red in anger over the phone. "Fine. I'll see you there. It's about time we settled this."

"Excellent. I'll keep Kaito locked in my dungeon as insurance." Maria said. "You better come on over dressed to be a slave."

Maria hung up leaving Dawn fuming in anger. She grabbed the nearest barbell and furiously threw it across the room yelling in anger.

*Xtrema Shorts*

Chibi Monica Everly started the segment differently. Sure, the stage, the music, and the audience cheers were the same. Chibi Monica herelf however was nervous. That was because she was intimidated by her guest, the Chibi version of Diana Diaz.

Chibi Monica cleared her throat and addressed the audience. "Welcome to another segment of Xtrema Shorts. I'm Monica Everly and here with me today is Xtrema's most brutal titan, Diana Diaz."

"Titan, huh?" Chibi Diana asked. "That's pretty good. For that, Monica, I guarantee I won't lay a hand on you."

Chibi Monica gulped. "That's… reassuring. Now, you know how this works, I presume. Just for precausion, I'll go over it. I'll simply ask you a series of standard questions along with some personal ones asked by the readers of Xtrema, mainly Awesome ax10."

"Sheesh. I like that the guy is giving us attention, but I can't believe that out of the thousands of views we get, they're the only one who asks us anything. Whatever. Just ask the questions."

"All right. First question… How long have you been wrestling?"

"Four years."

"Do you have any dream opponents?"

"Queen Bee obviously. She's even stronger than ever and that makes me pumped. All she has to do is ditch that worm, Marx, and we'd have a clash of titans that'll make what we had in Supernova look like a slapfight by comparison."

"How do you feel about your fans?"

"Why would I care for their approval? My goal is to be an Olympic-sized legacy and I don't need their yays or nays to build it."

"What's the toughest match you've had so far?"

"I'd love to say Queen Bee, but my mind keeps coming back to that visitor's match against Lady Kai. That woman really made me mad. I had such a hard time touching her, it was infuriating and frustrating. Honestly, I'm glad I broke her neck. It's what she gets for getting on my nerves. And trust me, her little successor will end up in much worse shape come Xtrema Against the World."

"What do you do for fun?"

"Picking fights with the strongest. There's this underground fight club that I attend where I seek out challengers, whether they're men or women. I've fought five times and I won them all with bloody knuckles."

"What do you think makes a great wrestler?"

"Strength is all that matters. Mercy, love, and compassion are weaknesses that must be purged out."

"Do you have any interests besides wrestling?"

"Survival training. When man isn't enough, the raw power of nature provides just the satisfaction I need. Storms or quakes or beasts, I'll conquer them all."

"Hehe. I… see. Now, onto the personal questions. What's the story of your origins?"

"Well, I was born taller than average already. One morning, I woke up and realized that I had an unbelievable growth spurt overnight. Not just my height grew, but my muscle mass as well. A few weeks of working out at my local gym later, and I outclassed literally everyone there. It was then that I realized that my growth spurt was a sign, a sign to be the very best and challenge the strongest. Before I could do anything, however, I needed to challenge myself. So when I heard of a lone island that's plagued by storms and wild animals 24/7, I took it as a challenge and lived there alone for months. When I returned to the mainland, I became the woman that you see now, powerful and mighty."

"Who do you consider worthy opponents?"

"My first choice is obviously Queen Bee. Thunder Mana is okay too, I suppose. Then, there's Mother Devil. Sayuri Rogue is strong too, but she always tries to ruin my fun. My last worthy opponent would be Ranka Shimusen. She's plenty strong and I respect that. If only she'd stop holding back for her pathetic fans."

"Well, that's it for now…"

"Wait, hold on!" Chibi Diana interrupted. "You mean I only get two personal questions?"

"Sorry, but we didn't get any more." Chibi Monica said nervously.

Chibi Diana growled before facing the camera. "Listen closely, Awesome ax10. Next time, I better have more questions or I'll turn your face into pasta with one stomp! And while you're at it, include me more in your Girmov fanfic! I didn't get any time there other than my Magic Hours match! I deserve more than that!" She stormed out.

Chibi Monica's hands shivered before settling. "Well, that was intense. I'll end things off here before Diaz decides to change her mind and come back to destroy the place. Thank you all for reading. If you have questions, just ask. Any and all comments are welcome."