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Freya & Darkness vs Big Bamlicious & Malaki
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"You really didn't waste any time making this decision, did you?"

"I'm really not one to waste time."

The interior of Commissioner Stern's office is largely filled by Big Bamlicious as he stands in front of her desk. She sits behind it, rubbing her neck.

"Well, since you seem to have things under control, I'll let you decide how and when you wish to make this particular announcement."

The big man nods slightly towards his boss and she rises from her seat.

"Trust me, you won't be disappointed."

Smiling as his hand engulfs hers, Bam shakes slightly before turning towards the exit.

"Oh, and Bam... Congratulations."

Another nod and the Majestic Cup winner is out the door.

As he closed the office door behind him, his eyes rose to meet that of a mildly perturbed former adversary.

Bam: Cat got your tongue, Brucie, old buddy?

Bruce simply lowers his eyes and claps sarcastically as Bam walks away. He had not hesitated in making his decision with what to do with the Majestic Cup. Some would argue he was the fool, and not holding onto it until the most opportune moment.

Bam wasn't going to slow his momentum with indecision. If someone was expecting a logical, rational approach, they had tuned in to the wrong channel. Bam rarely knew what his next move was, and that was what made him such a threat. There was no plan. Things just always seemed to come together.

As he made his way into the backseat of the awaiting limo, he was surprised by who was waiting inside.

"Congratulations on your victory." Malaki seemed eerily cordial as he welcomed Bam.

Bam ignored Malaki for a moment.

Bam (slightly irritated): Uh, Tone. Something you want to tell me?

Tony (Not turning around, nor looking in the rear view): Man, this is a GOOD thing boss. I'm tellin' you this is gonna WORK.

Bam: This smells like ringside tickets for you at FWR events for a long time, Tone.

Malaki: Ringside and a VIP box, actually. He IS a genuine fan, you know.

Bam: Yeah, I've heard. (He sneers at Tony as he faces forward quickly, noticing Bam's glare).

Malaki: So I am here to call a truce.

Bam: I must have hit you harder than I thought. Let me recap our brief history....

Malaki raises his hand to suppress Bam's forthcoming rant.

Malaki: I see where this is going. You've got NO ONE in the fed right now anyway. What do you have to lose? I'm pretty confident in your abilities to find a person.

Bam (pausing as if to change gears): Well, I'm listenin'.

Malaki grins as he leans back into the seat with an abnormally large grin.

Malaki: You have complicated my initial plans somewhat. I was supposed to walk with the Cup.

Bam: You mean yours and Stern's plans, don't you.

Malaki: She brought me here to remove Darkness as a threat.

Bam: So why didn't she sick the riot squad on them?

Malaki: My understanding is it's far beyond that. This is a matter of image to her. She does not want to be represented by the likes of Darkness.

Bam: So why doesn't she just strip him of the title, for crissake.

Malaki: She still needs to maintain the credibility of the business.

Bam: Why me?

Malaki: Why not you? I'm willing to bet it's a lot easier working with you....

Bam: Tony, stop the car.

Tony pulls the limo over.

Bam: I will think about this. I'm gonna tell you something, though. You plus Stern leaves me with a lot of questions.

Another black limo pulls up behind them.

Tony: Boss. Company.

Bam: I guess your girlfriend has been watching you.

Malaki: I'm foolish enough to go into the shark cage, I'm not fool enough to do it alone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Bam: Fair enough. We'll be in touch.

He reaches to shake Malaki's hand. Malaki is momentarily taken back by Bam's acceptance, then shakes hands as Tony opens the door. Malaki steps out and gets into the limo behind them.

Tony closes the door, gets back into the car and drives away.

Tony: So where to now.

Bam: I dunno really. I would like to head home for a few days.

Tony: El aeropuerto it is HEFE.

Bam: If that means home, then cool. Any more surprises today, and I am seriously gonna feed you to the Rotties.

Tony: Oh no. No worries.

The limo speeds off to the airport, darting through local traffic, horns honking everywhere.

Sometime later that evening. Bam is seated in his favorite chair, next to his indoor heated pool. He is pecking at his laptop in his white robe. He pauses to grab a sip from his cocktail as he intently stares at the screen.

"Now let's see. Darkness. What can we learn about this Darkness character?", Bam talks aloud to himself.

Bam scrolls through the list of fan pages. He grins as his head shakes.

"Man I love the fuckin' internet."

"How can a guy be a high-profile employee of an international corporation, appear on TV weekly, be known to millions of fans across the world and have no past?"

Bam slammed the printout down onto the coffee table in front of him. It was a single piece of paper, so most of the impact was from Bam's massive hand.

"You know what this is, Tony?"

Tony looked uncomfortable. "No, boss...what is it?"

"It's Darkness's entry on Wikipedia, is what it is. All one pages of it. This is a guy who's been at the top of the pro. wrestling industry for over two years now."

"Two years, huh?"

"Over two years," Bam corrected, "you know he made his debut in a dark match by making the Intercontinental Champion tap out?"

"Nope."

"Says it right here," Bam said, pointing to the paper in his hands. "That's when I was busy trying to keep Lance from having a nervous breakdown. Guess I must have missed this guy showing up in all the excitement."

"So no one knows anything about him?" Tony asked, trying to steer Bam back to his original topic.

"That's right," the huge man growled. Sitting in his leather sofa, he still seemed to dominate the room, despite its size and the full-length windows that opened onto the rooftop terrace. It was morning now, and Bam's late night research endeavours had served him as well as any bout of insomnia.

He passed the sheet of paper to Tony. "You see that little template at the top? With the scales? And the other one that talks about reference and sources? And then that one with the question mark?"

"Uh huh..."

"First one means it ain't neutral. In other words, everything in that article is some fanboy's opinion, most likely. Second one means no one has anything official or reputable to back up anything it says. The third one means it's original research, which amounts to the same thing I guess."

"So this could be total crap?"

"Read it, Tony - it is total crap. A long list of douchebags he's beaten, plenty of whom I know very well, some stuff about who his friends are and a couple of descriptions of moves."

"Boss," Tony said, shaking his head, "this is like a profile on ECF.com..."

"Or TCW.com," Bam snorted, "but yeah. It's all kayfabe."

"So what? He lives the business?"

"No one's that dedicated. And no one can keep secrets that close to their chest. Of all the millions of people who dick around on Wikipedia every day, and of all of them who are wrestling fans, not one nerd knows a damn thing about Darkness's real life, apparently."

"It don't even have his real name on here..."

"I know."

Bam took the single sheet of paper out of Tony's hands and stood up. He looked tired, with dark rings under his eyes and a five o'clock shadow eight hours too early.

"You should get some sleep, boss."

"I ain't need sleep, Tony. I need to figure out what I'm up against. This dude reformed the Hellfire Club...he fought Bruce...he was buddies with Dante...and I saw him get the shit kicked out of him by Bleeder the other night."

"So?"

"So? So this guy is my business. He's on my turf."

"I dunno, boss." Tony looked unconvinced. "Lots a' guys have had fights with those guys or have done the same stuff you have. It don't necessarily mean anything."

"You know he only has one hand?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. A two-hundred-pound guy with one hand and no history in the business is a two-time World Champion. He's beat guys who make him look like a damn midget without breaking a sweat. Something weird is going on here, and I don't like it."

"But all you gotta do is fight him, boss..."

Bam flung the sheet of paper away, but it was caught in a draft and fluttered unconvincingly to the floor. The former ECF Champion scowled at it before continuing. "I made a deal with Malaki to help him deal with Darkness. Plus this guy's the World Champion - he's got a target on his back the size of Texas - so I owe the son of a bitch a visit."

Tony nodded, understanding how Bam's moods and obsessions grabbed him. Bam wiped at his face, running one meaty hand from his forehead to his chin. He blinked a few times and then shook his head.

"Get some sleep, boss...seriously..."

"Nah, I just need a shower."

Turning on his heel, Bam walked across the cold marble floor, making no sound as Tony watched him go.

* * *

Freya looked up as she heard the knock on her locker room door. She narrowed her eyes and sniffed the air experimentally. The door did a lot to block the scent of whoever it was, but she could tell it was a man. A normal human man.

"Nothing to worry about then," she said to herself as she walked over to the door. There was another knock, this time not quite so polite. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Don't panic."

She opened the door and blinked at the figure who was standing there. With his long black coat, dark hair and beard, someone without Freya's senses might have mistaken him for a different World Champion at a glance.

"You're Malaki..." she said automatically.

"Ah, I see you've been paying attention," Malaki replied with a grin.

Freya blinked, but then grinned sheepishly back. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting to see you."

"Why would you not expect to see me?"

"Oh, no one visits little old me," Freya shrugged.

"I find that hard to believe." Malaki looked over her shoulder. "May I come in?"

"Sure."

She stepped back, allowing him to enter and he walked into the room. It was like any other locker room; bare, painted brickwork, wooden benches, an actual locker or two. Freya's clothes were strewn around fairly randomly. The Bleeder Championship was hung on a hook.

"Nice place..."

"Oh, it's not much," Freya smiled, "but it's home...for now..."

"I know it must be hard for a young woman on the road all the time."

"Oh it is," Freya said, "it's a man's world, you know?"

Malaki nodded thoughtfully. "Do you know Indigo?"

Freya thought for a moment. "Tall girl, red hair? Kind of a pointy face?"

Malaki nodded again.

"Yeah, I think we met in the Road to Glory. She seemed kind of a ditz."

The FWRFed World Champion barked a laugh. "Yeah, she is a bit. She and I didn't exactly get off on the right foot when we had a match. I didn't want to be the guy who doesn't learn from his mistakes though."

"Is that why you're here?"

"Yeah." Malaki leant on the sink and gave Freya a playful smile. "I figure, just because we're opponents, doesn't mean we can't be friends."

Freya clasped her hands to her chest and let out an extravagant sigh. "You've know idea how refreshing it is to meet a man who doesn't treat me like a damsel in distress or a bitch."

"Well, like I said, I know how hard it is for a young woman on the road."

"It is hard. Lonely too."

"Yeah, I bet."

"Sometimes, all I want to do is just have a normal relationship with someone. Go for a coffee, get some food, maybe a few drinks. And just let my hair down, you know?"

Malaki wetted his lips slightly as he watched Freya step towards him. "Yeah...let your hair down..."

"Because no one takes me seriously, Malaki."

"There's no danger of that from me, I promise..."

"Really? You really and truly promise to take me seriously?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Malaki blinked. "You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

"Yeah, of course I am, dickhead," Freya snapped, her stance suddenly changing back to her traditional fists on hips pose. "What the fuck do you think you're doing coming here and trying to be my friend?"

Malaki held up his hands. "Hey, I don't have an ulterior motive, toots - I'm trying to be the nice guy here, that's all."

"Even though everyone knows your were brought here to get rid of Darkness? My friend Darkness?"

"I didn't know you guys were that close."

"We're not close," Freya snarled, "but if it's a choice between him and a slimy creep like you, I pick the lesser of two evils."

"Slimy...?"

"Word to the wise, Moon Knight - here in TCW, we can't just smell your fear."

"What?"

Freya gave Malaki a small smirk. "Just keep it in your pants, and you and I won't have to fall out, alright?"

"I..."

"Now," Freya said, talking right over him, "I don't like you. I think you're an asshole and the fact that you're apparently set on running one of my friends out of the fed is not helping your case. So you probably ought to drop the buddy-buddy act and say what you mean, because it really is no use lying to me."

"Jesus...you really are a bitch aren't you?"

Freya flashed him a wide grin, letting him take in the sight of her teeth which seemed just a little bit too long and numerous for someone her size and gender. "You'd better believe it."

Malaki snorted as he stepped away from the basin and back towards the door. "Whatever. I tried to be the bigger man, but you TCW freaks are apparently living in some fantasy comic book world. I've had my share of people who couldn't wait till the match to kick my ass, but you just about take the cake. I'm trying to be the good guy here."

"This place already has a hero," Freya told him, flinging open the door and gesturing for him to leave, "don't try to rip him off anymore than you are already."

Malaki just shook his head and stepped out into the hall. He turned to look at Freya. "You know I'm going to have no compunctions about beating you up now, right?"

Freya's lip trembled and her eyes went wide. "You're...you're not going to beat up a widdle girl like me, are you, mister?"

"Fuck off."

"Yeah, same to you, dick."

She slammed the door in his face.

Freya knocked on the hotel room door and waited, tapping her foot impatiently. When the door finally opened, she barged in, throwing her duffel bag and Bleeder Title on the floor before dropping onto one of the several sofas in the room.

"Come in..." Darkness said, closing the door after her.

"Guess which FWR puppet just paid me a visit?" Freya asked, ignoring Darkness's comment.

"Malaki?"

"You're no fun," Freya sighed. "He was trying to be all friendly," she said, kicking off her trainers, "arsehole."

"He's an arsehole for being nice? You might want to reconsider your criteria for judging people."

Freya narrowed her eyes at him. "Alright then, Buffy, next time the guy who's been sent to usurp you shows up, I'll take him out for a drink shall I?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Then quit judging me!" She tucked her feet underneath her. "He's an arsehole for trying to get between us."

"Us?"

"Yeah." Freya picked up a magazine that had been discarded. "You...me...the NHFC..."

"Darkness?" Revenant poked her head ‘round one of the doors leading off the large living room. She nodded a greeting to Freya.

"Sorry, I'll be there in a minute," the World Champion replied. He turned to Freya. "We're just training."

"I don't mind. Carry on." She flicked through some of the pages in the magazine.

"They're practicing their Slayer Sense." He gave her a significant look and she smelt his tone.

Freya blinked at him. "With a hotel full of people? Is my presence here really going to make that much difference?"

"It's just..."

"No no, it's okay." Freya got up and pulled on her shoes. "I understand if one more person on top of the hundreds already in this hotel is too much of a distraction."

She picked up her bag and belt and headed for the door.

"Freya, it's not that..."

She stopped at the door and turned to him. "I'm just playing with you," she smiled, "I'll see you in a few hours for the flight to..." She paused, trying to remember where the next show was.

"Venezuela." Darkness caught the blank look on Freya's face. "South America. North coast."

"I knew that."

"Of course you did." He gave her a wry smile.

Freya returned it and pulled open the door, only to find the space occupied by the massive shape of The Big Bamlicious, one hand raised ready to knock at the door.

Freya raised her fist likewise. "Power to the people!"

Bam blinked at her. "What?"

"Nothing. What do you want?" The smile disappeared from her face.

"I want to talk to the champ."

"I'm here, what do you want?"

"No...I mean...the other champ..."

She rolled her eyes. "Typical. What do you want to talk to him about?" She leant on the door she was still holding open.

"It's between me and him," Bam said, catching Darkness's eye over her shoulder.

"This should be interesting then." She dropped her bag and belt and folded her arms.

"This is a private conversation," Bam growled.

Freya snorted. "You really think I'm going to leave you alone with him?"

Bam looked at Darkness again. "Will you call her off?"

Freya laughed at that and didn't budge.

"What do you want?" Darkness asked, walking across the room towards Bam.

The large man looked from one champion to the other. "Fine, if this is how you want to play it." He stepped forward, but Freya moved in front of him, blocking his way. She smiled as he glared at her.

"Darkness; you may think you can hide behind this gimmick of yours, but you can't. People have been doing your schtick for years. Eventually they all slip up - they make mistakes. You may think reforming the Hellfire Club makes you invincible," he looked down at Freya, "you even found yourself a Baroness I see, but you will go the same way as all the rest. There is a person behind this ‘Darkness', and I'm going to find him so we can talk about this like men." He looked down at Freya again. "And you, missy, you'll wish you'd have left."

"I don't even know what it is you want to discuss yet," Darkness told him, lifting one eyebrow slightly.

"I'll save it ‘till we're alone, champ." He turned and walked down the corridor.

"Good luck with that, Pebbles," Freya called after him before shutting the door. She turned and walked back into the room. "Looks like he was muscling for a fight. Not very wise with all The Children around." She looked around. "Where are all The Children anyway?"

"Around," Darkness smiled.

Freya headed back to the sofa and then caught herself. "Wait a second...I was leaving, wasn't I?"

"Yes."

Laughing, she gathered up her things and opened the door again. "Well, see you at the airport!"

"Goodbye."

As he got out of the cab and went up the walkway, Malaki looked at the house. It was a good size, nice neighborhood, good school system as if that mattered. It was a house he owned but never visited. Instead, he let his good friend Reed stay there, on the condition that he kept the bills paid with the money Malaki sent home.

It had been a long while since Malaki had visited, mainly due to a lack of time. However, with the FWRFed running shows in Canada, and TCW running shows in Latin America, St Louis served as a kind of midway point, and a good place to set up home base.

As he used a key he hadn't retrieved in months, and walked through the door, he looked around the living room. Gigantic TV. Video game systems. Coffee table covered in empty beer bottles. To say the least, Malaki was home.

***************
It'd been a few hours since his arrival, and they had been hours Malaki had enjoyed immensely, mainly because they had been the first hours in recent memory that he hadn't been concerned about an upcoming match. However, this visit home was as much business as it was pleasure, and after a while it became time to get to work. He and Reed were now seated at the dining room table, empty beer bottles all around. Reed was typing furiously into his laptop, as Malaki finished off another bottle.

"There's really not much about either one of them." Reed said, a defeated tone in his voice as he looked up from his laptop.

"That's impossible, they're two of the biggest stars in TCW. There has to be dirt about them somewhere." Malaki responded, returning to the table with two fresh bottles.

"But that's just it. Most wrestlers have gigantic fan sites dedicated to them, which talk about their lives in and out of the ring. Darkness and Freya just have IN the ring. Hell Darkness' page on wikipedia would only print out about a page long, and Freya has even less." Reed said, clicking away at some unknown website.

"I thought you were the king of internet wrestling geeks, can't you find anything?" Malaki asked, annoyed.

"I've looked everywhere except the wrestling forums, and those are freaking worthless man. I thought you wanted real information." Reed exclaimed, also annoyed.

"How bad could the info be?" Malaki asked.

"Well for example, this website talks about a theory that Darkness is actually some sort of Vampire Slayer, and his connection with Freya is that she's a werewolf who is related to an army of werewolves that helps to protect Darkness." Reed said with a laugh.

"Wow...ok nevermind forums then, that's just some damn fairy tale. These people are weird, but not that weird. Have you found anything out about the Congressional investigation?"

Reed typed something new in the laptop and paused for a second. "Nothing new, just that they are investigating some TCW wrestlers for possibly being involved in Satanic activities, and possibly even some murders. You think Darkness and Freya are involved in all that?"

Malaki sat back in thought. "They have to be. It was because of that investigation that Stern brought me in. Her exact words were that she wanted the title off Darkness. So if 2+2 still equals four......"

"....then darkness is a Satanist?" Reed finished the thought.

"Not necessarily, but he's at least involved in something that makes it LOOK like he is." Malaki stated factually.

Reed sat back for a moment, deep in thought. "So why'd you end up working for Stern anyways?"

Malaki shrugged. "The money was right."

Reed scowled at him. "Bullshit. I know exactly what you make as FWRFed champion. Hell we paid off this house on your merchandising alone. Money has nothing to do with it."

"It'd be more money for Marlee." Malaki responded calmly.

"Marlee won't take the money. I've got an entire damn drawer full of envelopes I'm supposed to have given her. She won't accept it!"

"She will, in time." Malaki stated coldly.

Reed switched the subject a bit, "Well whatever your motivations for working for her, there's no information on here that could help at all. Have you even met either of them?"

Malaki nodded. "Just Freya."

"And?" Reed asked.

"And she's a total bitch. There's something about her that's not right. She's got weird teeth, and talks almost in riddles."

"Riddles?" Reed asked.

"Yeah. There was one thing she said in particular that didn't make any sense."

"What?"

"' "Word to the wise, Moon Knight - here in TCW, we can't just smell your fear."" Malaki recalled.

"Moon Knight?" Reed asked, typing something into his laptop.

"Any ideas?" Malaki asked.

"Some sort of comic book guy from what I can tell. Looks pretty badass. Here take a peek."



"Wow do I really look like that?" Malaki asked, a smile on his face.

"Not quite, bud. And I don't know what that whole smell thing means. Maybe she really is a fucking werewolf."

With this Malaki and Reed both laughed, until silence fell over the room.

"Well we need to figure out something on them. Something a little less fairy tale like than the plot to a crappy Underworld movie. Maybe Bam found something." Malaki said, standing up.

"This Bam guy. What's his deal? You think you can trust him?"

"I think I'll have to."

"You didn't seem on the best of terms in the ring."

"Mainly because I can't figure out why he let Inferno pin me. It's like he just handed him the Transcontinental Championship."

"And you aren't pissed at him?"

"Who has time to be pissed? I've got other things to worry about, and a title of my own to keep."

With that, Reed closed his notebook. "Well I guess that settles it. Tomorrow you're off to find this Bam guy huh?"

"Correction...WE'RE off to find this Bam guy. You're coming too."

"REALLY?" Reed was almost standing on his chair he jumped up so quickly.

Malaki nodded. "He has an assistant named Tony. I figure you two can become friends and keep digging for dirt while Bam and I handle the muscle end of things."

"Yeah..yeah sure, whatever you say Ben."

With that Malaki smiled. "Get some sleep. We've got to get up early in the morning and find where in the world Bam is. I need to talk to him face to face."

With that the two friends retired to their separate bedrooms. Malaki's dreams were full of thoughts about Bam Teleporting, Darkness as a Slayer, and Freya as a werewolf. In the morning he decided that he really needed to quit drinking before bed, and made a call to Bam's cell phone.

Bam glanced at the phone, and did not recognize the number. His first reaction was to let it go to voicemail, then pick up the message later. His curiosity, however, would get the best of him.

Bam: Hello?

Malaki: Why, hello.

Bam: Who's this?

Malaki: Don't tell me you've forgotten already?

Bam: Of course not. You need a backrub now?

Malaki: Ha Ha. Save that for your lackeys. I just wanted to meet up with you to discuss some things one on one.

Bam: Sorry champ. That really can't happen until we hit wherever we're flyin' off to. I got some shit goin' on right now I need to deal with, no offense.

Malaki: Really?

Bam: Yeah, really. We'll catch up in Venezuela. I gotta go though, I'm waitin' on a phone call.

Malaki: Okay?

Bam hangs up as he walked down the stairs from Darkness' hotel.

He then plops himself into the limo, and slams the door before Tony could close it. Tony scurried to the driver's seat and began to drive off.

Tony: So what did you find out?

Bam: Some crazy shit, actually.

Tony: Like what.

Bam: That Freya chick is The Abominable Snow Bitch.

Tony: She kinda gives off that vibe.

Bam: Yeah? I didn't get that at all. (shakes his head slightly) ANYWAY. I swore I heard a lot of whispering while I was there.

Tony: Like a crappy a/c unit?

Bam: (Momentarily closing and opening his eyes in frustration) No. Like there were PEOPLE, somewhere nearby WHISPERING.

Tony: (Smiles with understanding) Ah, yeah?

Bam: It was weird Tone, I had that same kinda feeling I have when I get those freaky dreams.

The conversation is interrupted by Bam's cell.

Bam: Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. Really. Gotcha.

Bam slaps the phone closed and drops it into a cupholder. He massages his forehead with his left hand.

Tony: What was that?

Bam: Not good. Jay's been taken out.

Tony: Man boss, I'm sorry.

Bam: Don't be. We did it. Apparently he was talking with the Columbians. Yeah, he was lookin' to help them remove me, so he could get a bigger piece of the pie.

Tony: Jay? Really?

Bam: Yeah, and he wasn't alone.

Tony: Giacomo? Big Tony? Vito?

Bam: Nah. I would have never seen this comin'.

Bam looks behind him out the window, as they pull up to the hotel.

Tony: Oh shit boss, look.

In front of the hotel is six men with unnatural tans and some with hairstyles that draw the glances away from their Hawaiian shirts.

Bam: Yeah how about that.

One man opens the door and leads Bam out of the limo, as one climbs into the driver's seat and two replace Bam in the back.

As the door closes, Bam hears a loud "pop" come from the car, as the remaining men get into the limo, one moves into the driver's seat, and drive off, as Bam continues up the stairs to the hotel.

"DAMMIT." Bam laments for a moment. "They left with my fuckin' phone."

There is an ominous knock at the door, as one of the men in a hawaiian shirt reaches forward with Bam's phone. The man has a grin on his blood-spattered face.

Bam: Gimmee that and come in and wash yourself off. Why don't you fuckin' advertise my business on a motherfuckin' Mexican billboard.

Bam slaps him in the back of the head as he walks past to get to the sink.

A few hours later at the hotel, Bam is packing his things. Pacing, with his cell phone, back in hand.

"Yeah and I need Carmine to send me that crate to Venezuela."

Bam cocks back a nickel plated Desert Eagle and inspects it side-to-side.

"How the fuck do I know? YOU'RE the transportation guy, I'M the orders guy. You never flown nothin' before? For chrissake, this is a THIRD WORLD NATION, I think as long as you don't fly the fuck in gunnin' down people, they pretty much don't fuckin' care."

Bam inspects a duplicate of the same gun as he closes a large box of ammunition with the barrel.

"Guido-boy, listen to me. You need to tell Carmine that fuckin crate needs to be on the ground in Venezuela before I am."

[i]Bam opens a long crate to see his twin Katana sheathed, he pulls one out and watches the blade seem to come to life in the low light.

"Right. BEFORE I get there. (He pauses and puts the sword on top of the case) My flight don't leave for THREE FUCKIN HOURS. From Miami to there, you could be there before I get off the fuckin' ground."

Bam begins to pace impatiently.

"Is this a hard thing Sammy? Carmine flies box to Venezuela. He's got no more than four hours."

Bam begins to nod, as if in agreement with what is being said.

"Yeah, you got it now. (Pauses) NO. No I don't wanna fuckin' use one of my jets to get there. The fuckin' Columbians are prolly sittin' in the mountains waitin' for me. (Bam listens for a second then cuts the other person off) YOU JUST GET THAT FUCKIN' CRATE THERE BEFORE ME, AND BRING SOMEONE AND SOMETHING TO TOTE IT."

He slaps the phone closed, frustrated, again. Too bad most gangsters weren't high school educated with canine obedience.

Bam folded the two guns into a pair of pants, then put them in his carry on bag. He wasn't taking any chances on or getting off the plane. He knew he would get them on no problem, thanks to the Mexican system of "Justice". It was nice to know people could still be bought in different parts of the world.

Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. Bam replaces the sword in its sheath, then covers the crate with a blanket on the bed. He grabs one of the guns and puts it behind his back, as he makes his way to the door.

With every breath, his chest heaves as he approaches the door. He could feel the sweat drip from his brow as he neared. He put his left hand on the door knob and the his right one behind his back on the gun. As he turned the knob to open, he could feel his neck tense with anticipation...

"How's it going, Bam?"

The big man blinked at Malaki. His hand eased off the gun, but he didn't release it altogether.

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you to save it ‘till we got to Venezuela..."

Malaki snorted. "You're not the boss of me, Bam. I'm not one of your capos you can order around."

Bam was about to correct Malaki over his use of terminology, but the FWRFed World Champion had already shouldered his way into his room. He looked around at the room; the open suitcase on the bed, the sheet-covered crate. "You doing some painting, Bam?"

Bam closed the door. "What do you want, Malaki? I don't need a house call right now."

"You getting in a panic about this match or something?"

Bam tucked the desert eagle into his belt and casually untucked his shirt as Malaki glanced away so he wouldn't see the weapon. It was a conversation he could do without. He crossed the room and managed to get between Malaki and the covered crate. He leant against the bed and folded his arms. "The match?"

"Yeah. Freya and Darkness. You did get the call sheet for Friction, right?"

"Yeah I got it. I was just coming out of Darkness's hotel when you called me earlier actually."

Malaki raised his eyebrows. "Oh? And what did you and the champ have to talk about?"

"Not a lot. His pet bitch got in my way."

Malaki chuckled. "Oh, you met her too? She's quite a firecracker isn't she?"

"Something like that..."

"Look, I'll cut to the chase," Malaki began, "I was brought here to take out Darkness, and I'm guessing you have a vested interest in doing the same."

"Right."

"And I thought it might be worth figuring out how we're going to do that."

"I hit him, he falls down, referee counts the pin. Pretty simple."

"I can see you've done your research..."

It was Bam's turn to laugh. "Oh, I did my research, for all the good it did me."

"Likewise," Malaki smirked, "seems like his personal life is a bit of a mystery, but there's a pretty complete visual record of his career."

"Obviously."

"So you should know that things might not be as simple as you think."

Bam clenched his fist. "They all fall down if you hit ‘em hard enough, Mal. Maybe when you've been in this game as long as I have, you'll realise that simple truths like that are the ones that really matter."

Malaki looked unimpressed. "I'm no rookie, Bam. I know what I'm doing in that ring, and I know that Darkness might be too big a mouthful for even you to chew. There aren't many can say they've beaten him."

"I'm good at getting into exclusive clubs..."

"I don't think you're on this guest list, Bam."

The former ECF Champion held his tongue. He didn't need more enemies after what had happened today. "I think you should leave, Malaki," he said carefully.

"You're a smart man," Malaki told him as he walked towards the door, "and you know I'm telling you the truth. I'm not saying he's better than you, but you've got to realise that it isn't going to be as simple as just going in there all guns blazing. We need a plan."

"I've got a lot on my mind right now."

Malaki paused at the door. "If you're head's not in this game, Bam..."

"Goodbye, Malaki," Bam said, cutting him off. Their eyes met for a moment before Malaki titled his head slightly and left the room.

Bam watched the door for a few moments longer before reaching for his cell phone. On instinct, he started to look up Tony's number but then caught himself. He felt a pang of regret for a second as he quickly deleted his former henchman's number, but then told himself that he'd done what he had to do. There was a whispering in his head as he thought about Tony's fate, but he ignored it before settling on the number he really wanted to dial.

"Hey. That Vito? What's up, man?"

He listened for a few seconds.

"Don't talk to me about that son of a bitch. You know better than that, Vito." He held up a hand. "Shut up and listen, will you?"

He waited a few seconds for Vito's mouth to catch up with his ears on the other end of the line.

"I need you to find something for me. A cell phone number. I know you can help me."

He nodded a few times.

"Right. Do what you have to do. I don't need the details. I could get this myself, but I'm not going through Stern. I want to handle this business before I leave for Venezuela, and I don't want anyone knowing about this."

He smiled. Vito was a reliable guy - it had pissed him off that Tony had tried to implicate him.

"Okay, thanks, Vito. The number I want you to find is one belonging to a guy named Darkness. You got that? No, no other names or aliases. Just Darkness. Thanks, man."

* * *

Malaki was talking on his own phone as he walked through the hotel lobby. "I know what I'm doing, Reed."

"You sure, man?"

"Yeah. Look, worst-case scenario: Darkness beats the shit out of Bam. As far as I'm concerned, that's just another chump out of my way. But I'm willing to bet that's not what'll happen. Not with what I've got planned."

"You ain't Bathory, Ben. Are you sure you can handle this sort of thing?"

"Definitely. Like I was saying to you before, these guys are living in a fantasy world. It's all about honour and standing and making the right choices and Christ knows what else. This is a different environment to FWRFed. All I need to do is keep my feet on the ground and I can't go wrong."

"Yeah, well don't fuck things up for yourself..."

"I won't. Bam can come back from anything, and I have reason to believe that there's a certain someone who isn't going to let Darkness go too far."

"Huh?"

"I finally figured out why Freya called me Moon Knight, and who she thinks I'm ripping-off."

"I think you're ahead of me here, Ben."

"Do the math, Reed. Darkness is Batman, at least in her head - maybe his too. Bam will go to any lengths to prove he can beat him, but Darkness...Darkness is a goddamn hero... All I need to do is make sure he sticks to his code of honour, and Bam can go nuts."

"So...you're setting up who exactly?"

Malaki shrugged. He was standing in the street outside the hotel now. "Everyone. Mostly Darkness. A little bit Bam. Freya, not so much. The point is that these guys are going to kill themselves fighting because they have no idea how the real world works. And the whole reason I was brought in was to make the problem of Darkness and Freya disappear. I figure Bam is just a potential bonus."

"And what about the match?"

"Another potential bonus. But you know this is about the money, Reed. I get paid whether I win or lose."

"True."

"I have another call to make. I'll see you later, right?"

"Yeah. Okay." Reed still didn't sound convinced about Malaki's plan.

"Later, bro." Malaki hung up his cell phone without waiting for his friend's reply. Immediately he began dialling again.

"Hello? Ms. Stern?" Malaki smiled as he looked around him. It was early evening, and the weather was pretty nice. "Sorry to interrupt you, ma'am. Yes. Listen, the reason I'm calling is that I need the number for one of my opponents."

Her reply was calm, but he sensed the slight threat in her tone.

"Yeah, I want to do what I can to make things as painless as possible. No ulterior motive, I promise."

Her reply made him grin. "No not him. It's actually Freya's number I want. Yeah, if you wouldn't mind just texting it to me. Thanks."

* * *

Bam got up from his crouched position against the wall of the alley. He had dispensed with his shirt and now wore only a tightly-fitted undershirt on his upper body. His ubiquitous black pants he had decided were good enough for his purposes tonight. Despite the chill air of the Autumn night, Bam didn't shiver.

"I thought you weren't going to show," he said to the shadow at the other end of the alley.

"I decided it was best to get this over with."

Bam approached the other man. As he moved away from the wall, his face was illuminated by the light of the half moon that hung above their heads, visible between the gap in the tall buildings on either side. "You and I," he said, pointing at the other man and then directing a thumb at his own chest, "we're the same."

"How do you figure?"

"We're warriors. We care about honour. Our word is our bond and respect is something earned, not granted."

Darkness stepped into the light. "That's true. But we're not the same."

Bam smiled. "Alright, let's do this. No weapons, right?"

"I wouldn't use weapons to fight you."

"I didn't think so, but I brought some along just in case." Bam reached behind his back and drew out his desert eagle. He slid the magazine out and tossed it away. It clattered on the alley floor. He drew out a second, smaller pistol - a revolver - from his belt and spun open the chamber. He held it up, so Darkness could see it was empty. "Okay?" he asked.

"Okay."

"And yours?"

Darkness reached across his chest and unbuckled a strap. His baldric slid off his shoulder and he held it in front of him, displaying the sword. He flung it away so it was closer to Bam than him, and didn't even object as his opponent kicked it to one side so neither of them could grab it.

"Alright then," Bam said, rolling his neck, "let's get this started."

Darkness stepped towards him, and Bam immediately balled his hands together and drove his fists up into Darkness's abdomen. The axe-handle staggered the World Champion, and he didn't have time to react as Bam smashed his knee into his gut and hooked him underneath the arms.

With a bellow, Bam lifted Darkness off his feet and hurled him against the nearest wall. Brickwork crumbled as Darkness sank to the floor, and Bam watched as he slowly picked himself up.

"Had enough yet?"

"Obviously not. I just wanted to see what you could do."

Bam laughed, but Darkness was on him already. An elbow smashed into his throat, and Bam was sent back, clutching at his windpipe. He tried to defend himself as Darkness threw a flurry of kicks at him, but he was too fast. Bam reached out on instinct, and caught Darkness's foot. The Champion wavered for a second before Bam threw him up into the air. Darkness turned head over heels, but landed lightly on his feet.

"Nice..."

"Thanks."

Darkness charged again, but this time Bam got a grip around his shoulders and slammed him down to the floor. Both men were down, and Bam latched a meaty hand around his neck and drew back his fist to lay in a punch, but Darkness's left hand shot out and grabbed him by the wrist. Bam glanced down and gaped at Darkness's prosthetic. As he stared, the grip tightened and he roared in pain. Bam released his hold on Darkness's throat and punched him across the jaw. The prosthetic's grip didn't budge so he hit him again, and again, until Darkness let go.

The two men rolled apart and Bam cradled his wrist. "What the fuck, man? I said no weapons!"

"It's not a weapon," Darkness replied, dabbing at his nose where a sluggish flow of blood had started, "it's my hand."

"You have a very odd definition of ‘unarmed'," Bam growled.

"If my hand is what you're talking about, then I can assure you that the one thing it is is ‘unarmed'..."

Bam bared his teeth. "I thought you were supposed to be honourable."

"You want me to fight with one hand? Is that honourable then?"

Bam straightened. "I didn't realise you could do a death grip with it. Seems to me like either you fight with a weapon or I'm gonna batter a disabled guy."

"You think I can't beat you with one hand?" Darkness had begun to unscrew the prosthetic.

"I ain't fighting a guy with one hand."

"Then you'd better get a weapon."

"No problem." Bam reached behind him and pulled out his second desert eagle, its clip still intact.

"You're going to kill me?" Darkness asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not sure yet. Already killed one guy today. Indirectly. If the world won't miss Tony, I don't think it's gonna miss you."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Darkness flung himself across the alley as Bam let rip. Bullets rang off trashcans and dumpsters, but the World Champion managed to avoid the shots. As Bam narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on the shape of Darkness in the shadows, a ring of steel made it clear what he had been going for.

"So that's how you wanna play it, champ?"

"You're the one who drew a pistol."

"I'm a mob boss. It's what we do."

"And I'm a Shadow Slayer...this is what we do..." Darkness flew out of the shadows, bowling into Bam. The two of them hit the ground and Bam found Darkness's blade at his throat. His pistol had already been sent skittering across the floor. Darkness bared his teeth and started to speak.

"Darkness!"

Bam and Darkness both looked up. At the end of the alley, a small shape watched them.

"Freya?"

Bam didn't know how Darkness had known it was her, and he stared as she ran towards them, grabbed Darkness by the collar and hauled him off Bam. The World Champion stumbled backwards as the small woman stared daggers at him.

"You don't understand..." Darkness said.

"Good job I arrived before you killed him!"

"No..."

She pointed at his sword. "That's a weapon for killing, Hotshot. You don't have an axe there - you're not chopping down trees."

"Why would I be chopping down trees in a city?"

"Shut up!"

Bam got to his feet slowly. He frowned at the quarrelling pair as he retrieved his weapon and stuffed it back into his belt. They were ignoring him now and, with a look of contempt in the direction of his opponents, he walked away.

"I can't believe you!" Freya said, pushing Darkness.

"He started this."

"Oh, he started a fight, did he? And you fought back? You're supposed to be better than that!"

"Hey," Darkness said, squaring his shoulders, "I don't answer to you."

"No, but you do answer to your much-vaunted moral code. You know; the one that says you don't kill people."

"I wasn't going to kill him."

Freya held up her hand. "I don't care. I can't even look at you right now." She turned her back and stormed away. "I can't believe I referred to you as a ‘hero' with Malaki. You make me sick."

"Hey! Since when were you so in control of your temper?" Darkness called to her.

"I'm not," she said, turning back to face him, "that's why I don't hold myself to the same standards as you. As stupid and ignorant as you are, I always admired how you stuck to your guns. It's what makes you you."

"But..."

She turned her back on him again and walked away.

"...I am me..." Darkness finished weakly.

* * *

"She humiliated me!" Bam roared as he upended the bed.

Joe, a low-level associate of Bam's organisation who had come to deliver a message from Vito, since Bam had left his phone behind when he left to fight Darkness, cowered against the wall of the hotel room.

"This is bullshit!" He scanned around for something else to break, but everything seemed to have been destroyed already.

"Maybe you...uh...maybe you should sit down for a while, huh, Boss?"

"Sit down?" Bam eyeballed Joe, "Sit down so I can wait for that bitch to figuratively cut off my balls again?!" He made a chopping motion with his hand and Joe winced.

"C'mon, boss, you know what it's like when chicks get involved..."

"Yeah, I do. That's why I don't do business when there's a woman in the way. I got him alone so I could avoid having to hurt her because I'm a gentleman, and this is how she treats me!"

"Maybe...maybe she didn't realise..."

"She knew what she was doing," Bam snarled, "she ignored me. Like I was part of the fucking scenery!" He approached Joe and loomed over the small man, who cowered even further down the wall. "I don't like being ignored, Joe."

"O...of course, boss. I know that."

"Tomorrow I fly to Venezuela. They're going to be there too. And so is something that's going to help me solve this problem. Tell Vito that I want Freya dealt with."

Joe looked shocked. "D...dealt with...?" He made a gun with his fingers and held to his head. "You want Vito to ‘deal with' a girl?"

Bam shook his head. "No no, of course not. Just keep her out of the way so I can handle Darkness." He turned away and stalked back across the ruined room.

Joe cleared his throat.

"What?"

"What about the Colombians, boss?"

"They'll be handled too," Bam vowed as he looked out of the balcony doors into the night, "but that's just business. This thing with Darkness and Freya...this is about honour."

The air above the tarmac on the runway shimmered, the hot air making it look like strips of water. The plane on the runway looked cumbersome, like it wouldn't be able to take off. Stairs led up to the door, a smiling attendant checking tickets.

A shuttle bus arrived with more passengers from the terminal, one of whom was considerably larger than the rest. Bam stepped off the bus, looking around him with narrowed eyes. He climbed the metal stairs and handed his ticket to the Mexican woman waiting for it. It annoyed him, having to have a ticket and get it checked by someone who wouldn't earn in a year what he could in a week.

Not that he wasn't annoyed already - it just pissed him off even more. The attendant pointed in the general direction of his seat before taking the ticket for the person behind him.

The plane was darker than the bright sunshine outside, so Bam had to let his eyes adjust to the gloom. He shouldered his way through the curtain that separated first class from the rest of the plane. He stalked down the rows, checking the numbers on the seats.

"Hello, Bam."

The large man growled something inaudible as he found Malaki occupying the seat next to his own.

"How did you manage this?" Bam asked.

"Magic," Malaki replied simply, fiddling with the clasp which held the fold down table up. He caught Bam's annoyed look out of the corner of his eye and smiled. "Okay, the lovely Ms. Stern organised this for me."

"I booked both these seats..."

"I think you'll find there was a booking error and you in fact have this seat and..." Malaki looked down the rows, "...that one over there." He pointed to an empty seat between a fat woman and a sweaty, overweight man whose coughing punctuated the plane's background noise.

"You don't want to do that," Malaki said, seeing Bam eyeing up the empty seat.

"Why not?"

"Because I think you and I should talk about this match."

Bam sighed. He looked at the small gap with distaste as the fat man started to have a coughing fit.

"Fine." Bam sat down next to Malaki. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Our opponents." Malaki pulled out some sheets of paper. One of them Bam recognised - Darkness's Wikipedia page, and the other seemed to be Freya's. Both pages bore additions in Malaki's scruffy handwriting. "These two are much more similar than they look. Did you know they both won their debut matches by making their opponents tap? They both had tag partners with no past who both disappeared without a trace." Malaki handed two more sheets of paper to Bam, one with ‘John Doe' at the top and the other with ‘Stephen Hawthorne'.

Bam read over the two short pages as the plan began to take off. "These don't help," he said, handing them back to Malaki.

"I didn't say they would." The FWRFed Champion pulled out a portable DVD player, "but this might." He fired up the machine. "You know, they're almost flawless in the ring - on their own and as a team."

"They're not perfect though."

"No..."

"People have beaten them before. What did they do right?"

Malaki looked down at the annotated paper in his hand. "Well, to beat Darkness you'd probably have to be willing to cheat."

"And Freya?"

Malaki looked down again. "Again, cheating might be the best idea. Oh, and hope Darkness doesn't show up....no, hang on...that won't work..."

The DVD player was already showing Darkness clips, and Malaki skipped through them with a few button presses. Bam caught sight of many Darkness DDTs, opponents being slammed into the mat with various moves and even one shot of the Black Mist. There seemed to be a lot of clips of Darkness having his hand raised.

The images changed suddenly, and Bam bristled as the shots of Darkness winning became ones of Freya winning instead.

"Don't worry," Malaki assured his companion, "I'm sure if they had a DVD of you, our opponents would be watching it."

"I don't have a DVD?"

"They haven't got through the VHS transfer backlog yet, I guess." Malaki stopped the DVD and then started it playing as the match at Friction against Bleeder began. Malaki watched the large man's reaction. Bam's eyes were glued to the screen as the demon was pinned by Freya. Malaki smiled slightly as he saw Bam's fists clench and his face harden.

**

"Why are we using these, boss?" The suited man held up the baseball bat in his hand, looking along its length with an unconvinced expression.

"Because there's not to be any accidents." Vito looked around the group, all of whom were wearing the same non-descript black suits and holding various blunt implements.

"Why can't we just do this the normal way?" another soldier asked.

"Because Big Boss don't want us to, alright?"

"But..."

Vito spun around and grabbed the henchman by the lapels of his jacket and pushed him up against the wall. "You do as your told," he growled, "not as you want. You know better than to give me backtalk."

"What about neighbours and security, boss?" another soldier asked, hefting a crowbar.

Vito released the other goon and dusted his hands as he turned around. "These guys have the floor to themselves, so there ain't no neighbours." Vito straightened his jacket. "And security has been seen to. Don't you worry about that, Joe."

"What we up against anyway?"

There was a general shifting, shuffling of feet and an air of uncomfortable silence.

"You just need to keep them busy," Vito said.

"And who is them?"

It was the first henchman again, and Vito shot him a look. "Darkness's bodyguard."

"They gonna be armed?"

"We'll soon find out." Vito walked towards the door of the office. "Now listen to me - the hotel staff are all bought and paid for, but we keep a low profile going in, okay? Word is there's up to a dozen of these guys, and the girl is gonna be with them."


"Girl?" Joe looked concerned.

"That's why we do the dirty work, Joe. So Big Boss don't have to."

**

Darkness sat in the departure lounge alone. There was a last call for his flight.

"Sir, the plane is about to leave."

"I know." Darkness stood up and took one more look around. "My friends haven't arrived, that's all."

"Then they'll have to take a later flight." The attendant gave him an apologetic look.

Darkness nodded to her and picked up his bag before walking towards the gate.

"Be safe on your travels." Gwen said, looking upon Freya, Revenant and Llenlleawg as they prepared to depart the training grounds for the airport.

"Oh we will. We should probably be going though, you know how Darkness hates to wait." Freya responded.

"Always has been the demanding sort hasn't he?" Gawain said, stepping in behind his sister.

The group had a laugh, but it was short lived. Soon everyone in the room had ceased making noise and was focused on the door. Everyone except for Revenant that is, who had a look of confusion on her face but was used to the odd actions of the lycanthropes.

Galadd stepped towards the door, inhaling the air deeply through his nose. "All humans" he concluded aloud. "A group of them. With both fear and adrenaline pursing through them."

"Why is a group of humans outside?" Tilpin asked, walking next to Galadd and looking minuscule next to his size, even though she was larger than most human women (other than those with basketball aspirations).

"But we have to be going..." Freya began to protest.

"Wait." Gwen commanded, throwing up a had.

"But Darkness..."

"I said wait!"

******************
Outside the entrance to the top floor of the hotel, the group of men and their blunt objects began to prepare themselves.

Vito looked at the crew. Ten men, all in suits, all wielding various and assorted instruments of the clubbing variety. It was a more primitive setup than he was used to, but it was what the boss wanted.

"So what's the plan?" Joe asked.

"Simple. You all keep the bodyguards busy, while I deal with the girl." Vito responded, going over the scenario in his head as he prepared himself.

"It's just a girl, why is everyone so uptight. Just whack her in the head!" one of the nameless soldiers offered, to a shushed round of cheers from the others.

"Because that's not what the boss said to do! Don't you idiots have any experience as henchmen before?" Vito snapped.

The soldiers all looked dejected and nodded their heads as if to say they understood.

Vito motioned to two of the larger men to come to the front.

"Ok on the count of three, you kick these doors in and the rest of us charge, got it?"

Nods.

1

2







3...
***********
Malaki stopped the DVD and then started it playing as the match at Friction against Bleeder began. Malaki watched the large man's reaction. Bam's eyes were glued to the screen as the demon was pinned by Freya. Malaki smiled slightly as he saw Bam's fists clench and his face harden.

"What was it you just said it took to beat Freya?" Bam asked.

"Well, first of all cheat, just like Darkness. And, hope that Darkness doesn't show up." Malaki replied with a grin, pushing a finger on the bone near the opening to his ear, showing his uneasiness on airplanes freely.

"She beat Bleeder." Bam said, not looking off the screen which he had now paused, looking at her with her arm raised.

"Yes well, there's ANOTER character with no background information, so you might have to let me in on what that means."

Bam shook his head and started talking almost absent-mindedly, "Bleeder...Bleeder is..."

Bam stopped. Malaki looked at him.

Looking at Malaki, Bam had a quick decision to make. His voice almost changed as he began talking again.

"He's just the most sadistic pro wrestler ever bro. For real man, he could take a hardcore beating."

Malaki rolled his eyes. "Yes, I've obviously become accustomed to Wikipedia, and I wouldn't even call that lie factual. Now what is it you aren't telling me?"

"Nothing."

"Ok so Bleeder's just some wrestler everyone just happens to get all frightened of every time his name is said, right?"

Bam said nothing.

"And Freya's just some girl who happens to be able to take on and beat said wrestler, and have a belt named after him."

Bam said nothing.

"While Darkness is just some normal guy who happens to be almost unstoppable in the ring, and have absolutely no accessible past?"

Bam's brow began to curl, but still he said nothing.

"And Inferno..."

"..no one ever did really explain that one to me."

Bam remained silent but appeared to be growing angry expecting the upcoming line.

"And you, you can take my hardest shot, drop down a row of chairs, fall flat on your back and disappear."

Bam quickly turned right into Malaki's face. "Let's get one thing straight me and you. I don't know a damn thing more about Darkness or Freya than you do." He said, his voice almost a hushed growl.

"And Bleeder......and yourself?"

"It doesn't concern you."

"I think it does." Now Malaki was leaned in to Bam's face. "I didn't sign on for this shit. I can't figure you out. You seem really apprehensive about Bleeder. Freya beat Bleeder. Darkness seems to somehow outrank Freya. I'm at the low end of the fucking totem pole and don't have a clue what I've gotten myself into, but I don't like it."

Bam looked at him, shook his head, and then looked back towards the front of the plane.

"To beat them we'll have to isolate Freya. Make sure darkness doesn't make it to the match."

Malaki pursed his lips and shook his head, almost indignant that Bam had changed the subject.

"I said that 30 minutes ago."

"Well then how the hell do you suggest we do it, smart guy?" Bam asked, his tone sounding annoyed.

"Sneak up behind him and hit him with a blunt object? Fuck I don't know Bam! I'm a wrestler, I say we get some boys and hit him with a steel chair!" Malaki threw up his hands.

Bam looked at him, silent.

"I'm a wrestler. Not a hero. Not a villain. A fucking wrestler. I need to know from you if that's going to be enough though." Malaki said, staring a hole through Bam.

Bam nodded.

"Good, because if....just know I'm taking you to hell or wherever you came from with me."

They sat silently for a while, each mired in his own thoughts. Finally, Bam spoke.

"So who or what do you got that we could use to make sure Darkness doesn't make the show?"

"Well..." Malaki started.

"I've got a buddy who can use the internet really well.."

Bam looked at him, his mouth opening to talk...

"Oh..." Malaki said, reaching under the seat in front of him. "And this black duffel bag"

Bam looked even more confused.

"The bag will be of more use." Malaki said, nodding his head.

"So basically nothing" Bam responded.

"Well what do you got? Where's your henchmen?"

Bam shook his head, well aware that was a very good question.

"We'll come up with a plan when we land. You'll need to call Stern and find out what their flight arrangements are, I've already borrowed information from her once." Bam said, the wheels spinning in his head.

"He's 45 minutes behind us. I already checked." Malaki said calmly.

"It's enough time to set up homebase I guess." Bam said.

Malaki nodded agreement and the two both looked forward, their plane beginning to descend.

*****************
Darkness had a completely uneventful flight, in which he spent most of his time wondering what uneventful thing had delayed the arrival of his "friends".

However, the fact that for once something in his life was uneventful wasn't completely lost on him. He decided he preferred the opposite.

"Oh, you said wait, did you?" Freya's eyebrow was raised at Gwen, and the platinum-haired werewolf didn't have to smell the air to sense her tone.

"Yes, I did." Gwen answered matter-of-factly.

"Well that's nice, but Darkness never listens to you, and I never listen to him, so you'll forgive me if I decide not to take orders from you."

Gwen narrowed her eyes at Freya, but the Bleeder Champion ignored her and walked towards the door of the suite. As her hand reached for the knob, however, it flew towards her, and the room was suddenly filled with men in dark suits.

"Oh right, those people who were outside..."

The leader of the group stared blankly at Freya, then seemed to realise what he was doing. He lifted a cosh and made to swing it at her, but then fell to his knees cradling his arm before he could bring the weapon down. Freya released the grip that had dislocated his shoulder and turned to the next assailant.

As the mobsters filled the room, the werewolves fanned out. They moved instinctively, communicating by scent at Gwen's direction. The attackers gaped in horror at those who slunk down into their lupine forms and padded towards them.

Freya took advantage of the distraction and slammed the palm of her hand into one of the men's sternums, winding him and sending him staggering back against the wall. Across the room, Gwen spun her spear-stave into her hand and slashed at the nearest man to her. He jumped back, his shirt and jacket now bisected by ragged cuts and tried to lift his baseball bat. Gawain was already behind him though, wrenching the weapon from his hand and wrapping a muscular arm around his throat.

Within seconds, the intruders were unconscious or otherwise subdued. Galadd drove one massive fist into the stomach of one of them for good measure, propelling the victim in a steep parabola through the air to land in a crumpled heap on the plush carpet.

"Who are these men?" Gwen asked.

Revenant kicked at the one Galadd had taken out of action. Even she, fast as she was, had barely had time to get involved in the fight in the short time it had taken the werewolves to end it. "They look like gangsters."

"They're Mafioso," Freya summarised.

Gawain looked over the fallen men. "How do you know?"

"I've seen men like these before."

"Do you know who sent them?" Gwen was already rifling through the jacket pockets of the one her brother had taken down.

"Probably not Kermit. Check if their ID identifies them as Fraggles or Sesame Street characters though..."

"Fraggles?" Galadd rumbled.

"Never mind."

Gwen produced a wallet from the jacket. She flicked through it. "His name is Joseph Moretti." She glanced at him. "What is the significance of his last name being in a different language than his first?"

"They're Italian," Freya explained.

"Moretti...it could be derived from ‘maurus', which means ‘dark-skinned', though he looks fairly pale to me, or ‘morro' which means ‘rock'. I have no idea why he would be called that though."

"Human surnames aren't as important as ours," Freya told her as she stepped over a groaning form. She gestured for the wallet and fanned through the cards in the plastic pockets. "There's a New Jersey driving license in here..."

"So?"

"So he comes from New Jersey."

"Do we know anyone from New Jersey?" Revenant asked as she hopped on top of a desk and crossed her legs beneath her.

Freya stroked her chin. "Strikmore?"

Revenant paled slightly at the mention of the man's name, but there was no other reaction from the werewolves.

"We could always, you know, ask them," Lir suggested. He pointed at the floor. "Look, this one's waking up."

Freya yanked the goon up by his collar. It was the leader. He yelped as she roughly grabbed his shoulder. "Hey," she began, jabbing a finger in his chest, "who sent you?"

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you anything?"

"I'll pull out your other arm?"

The mobster smiled. "You ain't the first person who's busted my arm, sweetie, an' I doubt you gonna be the last."

"But I am the only one that's here right now..."

This time he laughed. "Trust me - you ain't got nothin' on my boss. People like me, we take a vow not to betray our leaders. We're men of honour."

"Who like to beat up girls," Tilpin added.

"Who's your boss?" Freya asked.

"I told you, I ain't..."

"Is it Kermit?"

"The muppet?"

"Okay...is it Strikmore?"

"Who?"

"Ummm...is it Valerie Stern?"

The man scoffed. "No."

"Is it...uh...Malaki?"

"No."

"Is it Bam?"

"No."

His lie was perfect, his face not moving even a millimetre, but Freya was already standing as the werewolves gathered their things. "See," she said, "all you have to do is ask the right questions."

"So is Bamlicious from New Jersey?" Llenlleawg asked.

"Could be," Freya shrugged.

The leader of the mobsters was looking around in confusion. "Where are you going?"

"I'm not sure." Freya looked at Gwen, "should we just get on the plane for Venezuela and take this out on Bam when we find him, or go to the cops?"

"I think it may be difficult to prosecute these men..."

"You're probably right. Venezuela it is."

Freya, The Children and Revenant filed out of the room, leaving the groaning gangsters in various states of disarray on the carpet and slumped against the walls. Joe started to come ‘round and pawed at his chest. He frowned at his open wallet and then looked at Vito through bleary eyes. "Boss? What the hell just happened?"

"I have no idea," Vito mumbled, rubbing his shoulder gently, "but I ain't goin' into a fight with those guys with anythin' less than a fuckin' shotgun next time."

* * *

The warehouse was almost totally empty except for the large crate in the centre of the bare expanse of concrete floor. Two men in overalls stood poised with crowbars as Bam stepped through the door of the building. He was framed in bright sunlight for a moment and, as the door slammed shut behind him he took off his shades so his eyes could adjust to the gloom.

"You guys speak-a de English?"

One of the workmen eyed him. "Sí..." he said dryly.

"Great," Bam grinned, "open her up."

The two men set about the crate with their tools and, after a few minutes, the front of it fell open, hitting the floor with a thunderous crash. They both stared inside at the seamless silver cube that was within.

"That'll be all, thank you, gentlemen."

The two workers didn't move.

"Gentlemen."

They turned around with a start and saw Bam with his arms folded, tapping his feet. Sheepishly, they walked towards him as he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a handful of bills. "Needless to say," he said to them as he handed over the payment, "you don't speak about this to anyone. Comprendé?"

"Sí, señor," one of them mumbled.

"Graci...whatever..."

He waited ‘till he heard the door close and then walked towards the open crate. He placed his hands against the featureless metal of the interior case and moved them around for a moment. He frowned until, with a slight application of pressure, a panel slid open and revealed a set of buttons. He typed quickly and then stepped back.

Silently, a seam appeared down the length of the silver object and opened up like a oyster revealing its pearly treasure. Steam billowed out from the glowing interior and Bam donned his shades once again. With a smile, he stepped forward into the chamber that had now opened before him in which was suspended a familiar object.

"Let's see how you do now, Darkness. No girl to save you and me with an equaliser up my sleeve."

He grinned as his finger brushed against the surface of his most prized possession. "Or perhaps I should say, an equaliser that is my sleeve..."