A successful defense of his championship later, the man (or the monster, as some would say) known as Inferno was returning to his locker room. His walk was stiff and close to robotic, no external stimuli diverting his attention, none of the other wrestlers...

His trance was broken when the door to his locker room was blocked...by a girl, eating pocky.

"Yo."

She was very obviously of Japanese descent, mid-20s, pale skinned, and had small, but beautiful violet eyes that peered through oval, clear eyeglasses. Her hair was black, tied back and covered by a blue baseball cap. Dressed in a T-shirt and shorts in addition to stockings and sneakers, she bit into the Japanese snackfood, not really looking at Inferno, and she was leaning in an odd posture against the door.

"Move." He stared her down, but she kept eating, unintimidated, even though he was at least two heads taller than her.

"Good match," she said, in her accented voice, somewhat deeper than a normal Japanese female's voice but still effeminate.

"What do you want, girl?" Inferno said in his low, annoyed voice.

"Your autograph, to start!" she said, smiling.

"I don't carry a pen on me."

"Neither do I," she said, disappointed. "Ok, let's get down to business! I've been watching your matches for a while now, saw some of your indy stuff. Your second match against Chi," she said, taking another bite out of her pocky, "good stuff! I especially liked-"

"You dare mention HER in front of me?!" Inferno punched the wall in a fury of anger.

"Apparantly that subject's a bit touchy still. In any case, I've been following your career up til now and I can't quite read you. I've a few questions of curiosity to start, Inferno," she said. "Why do you wrestle?"

"None of your business."

"I thought you'd say that," she said, crossing her legs. "Well, what I've gathered so far is that you seem to enjoy causing pain...at least, that appeared was your sole purpose for a while, but after your first match with Chi, you started seeking more difficult opponents. You appeared in this federation and had an incredible showing against the brand's top champion. Since then you've had nothing but challenges, when arguably before then you were having...squash matches. But at least they were entertaining!"

"Get to the point."

"I'm saying that you're a bit of a puzzle. You want to inflict pain and punishment, and yet you seek an opponent far stronger than you. What's your motivation? Why exactly are you wrestling?"

Inferno stared at her. "Fine. It gives me purpose. Something to do."

"A purpose?"

"Something to do...other than...no, that's none of your business," he said.

"Why did you suddenly start seeking competition?"

"It's much more satisfying to destroy potentially stronger opponents," he said.

"What about the crowd?"

"I could care less," Inferno said coldly. "As long as I get a reaction."

"So you want a reaction, even if they hate your guts," she said, still eating her pocky. The whole time she still hadn't bothered to make eye contact with Inferno. "I suspect you have more motivation for wanting competition. In fact, I suspect not everything you've told me at the moment has all of the truth in it. But we can get to that another time, friend. You wish to become the World Champion, correct?"

"Perhaps."

"It's no easy feat to get a title shot, let alone beat the Champion in a high profile match," the girl said. "You want to become champion, I'd assume for similar reasons as to why you wrestle. Competition, and the crowd reaction."

"Perhaps," he said again, looking away.

"This is going to be great on my website," she mused.

"What?"

"Anyway, let's get something straight. I think you have what it takes...but you're not ready."

Inferno pressed her against the door, the eyes of his mask staring into hers. "What did you say to me?!"

"I said, you're weak. Comparatively. You may be a monster, but so is everyone else. I did my research!" she said, tapping her head.

"Look at the roster. This entire fed is filled with them, everyone's got secrets to hide, everyone's got hidden potential. You've made a habit of attacking people between matches and that isn't very smart," she says, sighing. "I'm all for backstage assaults, but it's reckless, you're going to attack the wrong person and get killed, probably."

"WHAT THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?!" He squeezed her shoulders tightly, tight enough that it brought a visible wince from her. For the first time, she looked up at him, making an odd, lazy eye contact.

"I just know you're not up to your full potential."

"Do you think you're stronger than me?" he growled.

"No, but..."

"You stand there and talk about me like you know everything, and then you dare insult me. If you can claim such a thing about my strength, then fight me," he growled.

"Oh, if you insist..." she said, sliding her pocky into her breast pocket. "How troublesome. Your move."

Immediately he brought several knees to her chest. Angrily, he threw her from that position, into the wall. She smashed into it and crumpled into a heap on the floor, upon which Inferno continued his attack.

Not one to let up on his opponent, he was able to spear her to the ground with a crash, and deliver punches and knees directly to her. Though each was able to connect, she made subtle motions with her head to avoid taking the full force.

Then she wrapped her legs around Inferno's body in a body scissors and rolled right on top of him, much to his surprise. Before she could do much, he grasped her by the throat and managed to force her off.

Inferno stood and grappled with her directly at this point, and the two of them traded positions a lot. Every time one of them would move in a dominant position the other would count almost immediately, and for Inferno's size, he was quick.

"Not bad!" she said, and smiled a little at him. He answered with a punch straight to her face, sending her crashing to the ground. "ENOUGH!"

"OWIE!" she cried, clutching her face. It seemed only now she was feeling the effects of the attacks.

"Stop fucking around with me!" he growled.

"You're the one who started the fight," she reminded him, rubbing her nose.

"What's the point of all this shit, woman?" Inferno growled. "I should kill you where you stand..."

"Aww, let's not do that," she sighed. "I only want to help you."

"I don't need your help."

"It's in your best interest to accept," she said. She stood up, suddenly with a dead serious look on her face. "Who knows what secrets we'll discover...about the man behind the mask, stuff that even you don't know...perhaps some abilities that are...beyond human."

"What?"

And then she walked away, leaving Inferno alone once more.

--------------------

Freya had no regrets about the (somewhat controversial) end of her match at Retribution. Although she did not take Darkness' belts, she didn't really mind. It was even between them, and he had his points, his reasons for staying in the fed...then again, so did she.

But either way, it was past them. Retribution was past them and it didn't matter anymore. It was time to look towards the-

"Freya Green," said a voice.

Freya whirled around to look straight into the Comissioner's face.

"What do you want, Stern?"

"Commissioner Stern," she reminded her, "and how dare you take that tone with me. I don't appreciate it, and I deserve more respect than that. If you must know, I'm only here to...congratulate you, on both you and Darkness managing to retain your belts. For at least a little while longer, you remain in TCW. How much longer though, I wonder?" she smirked.

Freya folded her arms, seemingly wanting no part of the Commissioner's blathering.

"Don't ever forget that I own your future here in TCW, and if you cross me-cross me JUST once, Freya-I'll strip you of your title and you'll be fired."

"Are you finished yet?" Freya spat, eyes turning away from Stern. Something was off...she smelled someone else with them...

"Look at me when I speak to you, you insolent brat," Stern demanded. "I can make you or break you AND Darkness, but you seem to not care. You need a reminder of the power I have...Next show, you'll be facing none other than Inferno. Have a pleasant day," she finished sarcastically, and proceeded to walk away.

The scent had suddenly disappeared, but it wasn't enough to make her give up finding the source. She was in a backstage hallway, there couldn't have been many places for them to go, if someone had been watching. But why would anyone be listening in? There wasn't any particularly sensitive information in that conversation...still, the scent was enough to make her cautious.

She went into her locker room to find Gwen sitting there.

"You smelled it too?" she asked.

Freya nodded. "Someone was definitely watching."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Gwen asked, shifting in the small sofa.

"Nothing." Freya ripped off the plaster the EMT had stuck on and ran a finger over the now-smooth skin.

"Nothing?"

"Nope." Freya fiddled with the oversized buckle on the Bleeder Title.

"Why not?"

"Oh come off it. I know your nose is good, but even you couldn't follow that scent through all these people." She placed the belt on the table. "So what are you in here for anyway? Checking on the fall out of our match?"

Gwen shrugged. There was no point in lying.

"Well we're back to truce." Freya picked up an innocuous brown package from the top of her bag, ripped open one end and pulled out a purple t-shirt.

"Just a truce?"

"It's always just a truce." Freya paused to change her top for the one she'd just taken out. "Or at least that's what it feels like." She turned to Gwen, "What do you think?"

"It's got your name on it."

"I know, it's the new t-shirt. The marketing people wanted me to wear it to meet the fans after the show." She turned around, modelling it for her companion. "You like it then?"

"‘Hungry like the wolf'? That's a bit...close to home, isn't it? How did they come up with it?"

"I dunno," Freya said as she pulled a brush through her hair, "you know what humans are like; they're always picking up on things like that without realising it."

"I guess so."

Freya picked up her title belt again and secured it about her middle. "Well, I've got to get back to work. No rest for the wicked, eh?" She paused as she opened the door, "You'll get back to the hotel alright, yeah?"

Gwen nodded. "I got here; I'm sure I can find my way back."

Freya nodded back before stepping into the corridor and shutting the door behind her.

"Ms. Green?"

"Yup." Freya turned and found a man standing in front of her.

"The Commissioner asked me to accompany you when you meet some of the fans."

"How thoughtful of her..."

"How good is your Spanish?" he asked as they started to walk.

"Uh...non-existent..."

The man looked panicked for a second. "Um...then we may have a problem..."

Freya blinked, but recovered her wits before he did. "Don't worry - I have someone who can help." She turned around and opened the door to her locker room again.

"Gwen? I need a favour..."

**

"So what are we doing?" Gwen stood behind Freya, wearing a hastily borrowed TCW shirt.

"Well, we're going to wander down that line of people there," Freya pointed through the plate glass window of the arena's front doors, "and we'll smile and talk to them," she looked up at Gwen, "with your help obviously...and then we leave."

"And you owe me a huge favour."

"Yes, and I owe you a huge favour."

"Are you the only one doing this?"

"No, but they stagger the appearances, so I doubt we'll see anyone else on the roster." Freya tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Ready?"

The pair exited the building and started down the line, with Freya pausing every now and then to exchange words and sign autographs.

"He thinks you should have won," Gwen translated for one nervous looking teenager.

"That's sweet, but it was third time lucky for Darkness," Freya said, unconsciously raising her voice and enunciating every word more carefully, as if it would allow her to cross the language barrier more effectively. Gwen repeated her words in Spanish and shot Freya a withering look before they both moved on.

"I'm very envious you know," Freya said conversationally, "I always wanted to speak another language."

"Well learn one then. If I can manage to speak...as many as I do...it shouldn't be hard for you to pick up a few words of one."

"Hey...I've been busy! I know how to ask for coffee in Spanish and French."

"You don't really believe what you said to that boy, do you?" Gwen asked, changing the subject.

Freya shrugged. "Just wrestling talk."

They continued down the line, listening as some people expressed similar sentiments as the first fan, some actually telling her they were glad she wasn't the World Champion and even a few who seemed to think she shouldn't even have the belt she wore (and these people were told, in a sharp tone that lost something in the translation, that they were welcome to try and take it from her when the cameras were running, as per the rules).

"Hey," Freya said to a Japanese girl, taking a notepad and pen from her.

"You're not going to beat Inferno," the girl said simply.

"And how do you know what the matches at Friction are going to be?" Freya asked with a raised eyebrow.

The girl tapped the side of her small nose.

"Well you'll just have to wait and see the show then, won't you?" Freya handed back the pad and pen and went to move on.

"Don't you want to know how I know he'll beat you?"

Freya folded her arms and paused to listen. "Alright then..."

"His size. You might have beaten Darkness, who beat Inferno, but there's a big jump between the two of them. And you rely on your speed, which is fine against the likes of Darkness, but once Inferno gets his hands on you, that's it." The girl had a smug look on her face like she'd just figured out a difficult maths equation.

"What about that Mexican wrestler? Rey...Myst...Mysterious? The one with the mask in WW-whatever. He beat big guys - he was World Champion, wasn't he?"

The girl smiled, as if she'd anticipated just this argument. "Mysterio. And he didn't beat guys as big as Inferno. Look what happened against the Great Khali or Mark Henry."

"Yeah, well what about Acolyte? He's big, and I beat him."

"But what's he done since? Or before, for that matter. Acolyte is a JTTS."

"A what?"

"A jobber to the stars. He wouldn't have hurt you anyway - Inferno on the other hand..."

Freya lowered her voice. "This is wrestling. People don't really get hurt in wrestling."

She leant over the barriers and lowered her voice to match Freya's. "We all know it doesn't work quite the same way in TCW."

Freya didn't break eye contact with the strange young woman. "What do you mean?"

She gave Freya a conspiratorial wink. "What happened to your head?"

Freya raised a hand to her forehead and ran her fingers over it. "Nothing, why?"

"It was bleeding. Remember, it became quite important for the outcome of your match?"

"Oh..." Freya looked at Gwen for help.

"Make up," she said firmly, "really...good make up."

"What she said."

The girl looked at the white-haired woman who was standing a full head and shoulders above Freya. "What are you?"

"She's my translator. And if you're quite finished telling me how I'm going to lose my next match, I should move on."

The girl was just about to retort, when a commotion down the line drew Freya's attention away from her.

"What's going on?" she asked Gwen.

"A woman seems to be trying to pull her child away."

As they drew closer, they could make out some of the mother's screeching. Freya could discern a few words.

"El Diablo means ‘The Devil', right?"

Gwen nodded. "We'll teach you another language yet..."

Freya glanced around on the off chance that Lucifer had actually appeared, and unconsciously fondled the small band of gold that was still in her pocket.

"She thinks you're a devil worshipper," Gwen explained, her brow furrowing as she tried to keep up with the frenzied woman. "She doesn't want you to steal her son's soul."

"Well tell her not to be so ridiculous. I don't want her son's soul, or worship El Diablo." The suggestion almost made her laugh.

Gwen sighed. "I'll tidy that up for the translation, shall I?" Gwen stepped towards the woman, who was now starting to draw some attention. She garbled something hastily in Spanish, until the woman started pointing and screeching at her.

"What did you say?" Freya hissed.

"Nothing. We should get out of here."

"Why? What's she saying now?"

"She's calling us lobos..."

"What?"

Gwen looked around at the people, who were now looking uncomfortably from the raving woman to them. "You probably don't want to know. We should leave."

"I...alright then..."

Freya looked back over her shoulder as they headed to the parking lot, ignoring the rest of the fans. She made out the pale face of the strange Japanese girl who was still hanging over the barrier, still staring at her. As Freya frowned, she seemed to give her a knowing look, before disappearing.

"Commissioner Stern, there's someone here to see you."

"Tell them to come back another time, I'm busy." the commissioner said, her face practically buried in paperwork.

"Uh...she seems really insistant. She's jumping up and down and squealing-"

Suddenly the door swung open to reveal a Japanese girl slipping free of the grip of a disgruntled security guard. She proceeded to shut the door right on the guard's hand, before standing right in front of Stern's desk.

"Comissioner Stern, Konban wa!" She bowed low and formally.

"Uh, Konban wa..." she said, pausing for a few moments. Then, "What the hell do you think you're doing in my office?!"

"I'm here to conduct very important business...and it starts with autographs!" She handed Stern and Bruce a photo of themselves. "Sign it to Izumi!"

Stern quickly scribbled her name on in a very sloppy manner and threw it at the girl dismissively. "There. Now get the fuck out."

But Izumi wasn't listening.

She was just fawning over Bruce.

"Bruce 666...member of the Original Hellfire Club...you were my favorite apart from Bleeder," she said, smiling. "Know where I can get HIS autograph?"

"No," he said flatly.

"A-HEM."

Izumi's ear twitched and she turned to Stern. "Yes?"

"Gee-Tee-Eff-Oh." she said, pointing at the door. "There, in language you can understand. Get the fuck out-oh screw it," she said, pressing a button on an intercom. "Security, do your damn job."

"I want a job," she said, in a more serious tone.

"A job." Stern repeated. She chuckled mockingly. "You walk in here, against my wishes, practically FORCE us to give you autographs, and you want a job. Well, I've given it careful consideration, and made a decision most suitable for the situation. NO!" she shouted. "THERE IS NO ROOM IN TCW FOR CRAZY FANGIRL MARKS LIKE YOU! WHERE IS MY SECURITY!?"

The security guards stormed in the door. "Okay, Missy, it's time to leave."

"I'll be BACK," she said, giving her a wink. And then she walked out on her own, appearing to take out a pen and pad and scribble somethings in it...

-----------------------------------

"Shit."

"What?"

"They're following," Gwen pointed.

Sure enough, the group was actually heading TOWARDS them, led by that old woman. As they approached, calls of "¡Largate, demonio!" and "¡Lobos!" grew louder and louder. They charged with no sign of stopping.

"They don't look friendly," Freya said.

"No shit."

"They want a fight, I'll give them a fight." Freya said, lifting up her fists.

"¡Quemarse en el infernio, lobos!" the old Hispanic woman declared, and the swarm overtook them.

"You asked for this, 'ese'!" Freya shouted, as she began handing out knuckle sandwiches left and right in addition to the occasional headbutt. The angry men and women grasped at her, some punching, some throwing debris...

Gwen was simply pushing them away with a hand, shoving them to the ground while trying to back out of the crowd. Admist the chaos, there was an occasional camera flash or two.

"¡Te voy a matar!"

"¡Deseo su cabeza!"

"SILENCIO!" That last one came from Freya, who punctuated it by laying out a Hispanic man.

Out of the corner of her eye, Freya caught a gleam. It was the old woman, holding a silver crucifix up to her lips. She kissed it and moved in close...

Freya's instinct brought her to grab the nearest person, and throw them against her. They crashed to the ground. Before she could follow up with further pounding, a hand gripped her shoulder and yanked her away.

"We better leave," Gwen said in her ear, importantly.

The two of them pulled from the clawing Hispanics and sprinted away, cameras still snapping away at them...

Her teeth, shattering at the strike of my fist...

Her forehead, crushed, split in two from the contact of steel...

Her ribs, fractured into deadly splinters that pierce her body...

Her back, pressed, and broken over my knee...

Her body, a rag doll, defeated, tossed aside...

Her fans, opening their mouths to howl in agony as I break thier beloved Freya...

"What are you doing?"

Inferno's head suddenly jerked, as if he were pulled from a deep trance, and for a moment he was surprised by his surroundings. "It's you..."

Izumi gave him a friendly wave. She was sitting in a seat across from him...though sitting was the wrong term. She was more like sitting ON the seat in a funny, slouched position, as she idly played with a can of soda in her hands.

"You were staring ahead, like a statue," Izumi said. "I wondered for a second if you'd turned into one. Where were you, lost in thought?"

"Our match." he said, coldly. "I can't stop thinking about what I could do to her..."

"Well, despite whatever's going on in your head, you need to listen up." Izumi flicked his mask.

The monster growled at her, eyes narrowing from behind the mask. "Giving me orders?!"

"Listen. In your match with Freya, I need you to do something. I need you to be observant." Izumi said. With a loud hiss, she popped open the soda and took a sip.

Inferno sat up straight, grumbling. "What the hell do you mean, observant?"

The Japanese girl just stared at him, her expression completely serious. "I need you to watch her for any unusual behavior or signs. Any unusual markings on her body, and tell me after the match if you saw anything."

"And why should I?" he growled.

"It's important," Izumi said, wagging a finger. "She's exhibited unusual behavior. She's worth investigation. Even the locals can tell something is up with her." She took another sip of her drink, with a gentle slurp. "Want some?"

The monster stared at her, gaze unbroken.

"Oh, yes," she said. "Why YOU should-because if you help me, I'll help you. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours...I'll be your manager."

"I need no manager," he declared, pointing to himself importantly, "I need no man or woman. Give this up. I've allowed you to frolick around me long enough."

"For one, I blend in a lot better than you. I'm better in social situations than you. You can only go so far without me," she said, winking. "Ever hear of a mouthpiece?"

"A sports item..."

"No, it's a backstage term. It means I do the talking for you."

Inferno tilted his head and then flicked his hair back. "I'm not mute, foolish girl."

"You're not, but not many people are going to respond well to a near seven-foot masked man talking in an ominous scary voice," Izumi explained, her last words a humorous impression of Inferno's very own voice. "Masked man-that reminds me-what is behind your mask?"

The eyes of his mask stared through her, and immediately, she could feel an intense heat...it wasn't there at all, but still, she felt it...his emotions, as he replied slowly, "Never ask me that again. No man, woman, or child can ever see my face. Is that understood?!"

Izumi didn't nod. "You're going to have to come out of your shell sometime."

"Don't even think of trying to remove this from my face. If you do, your suffering will be an unspeakable legend."

Izumi cracked a laugh. "Where do you come up with this stuff?"

She looked at her watch. "Ah, I've gotten off track," she said, hopping off the seat. "My point was, you will need me, and I will need you. And with that, it's time for me to go. I have somewhere to be."

And then she left the monster alone to his horrific fantasies.

-------------------------------

"What's for breakfast here, anyway?" Lir asked.

"Well, it's actually not all that different from a traditional breakfast," Freya explained. "Coffee, milk, bread, and jam, sometimes ham and cheese, or papaya

A figure in the morning light.

It was as if he had stepped out of the light itself.

"Good morning...Freya Green."

The man stood at an enormous stature, a towering 6 foot 9. His masked face was covered further by long, black hair, which blew easily in the wind. A bare, muscular chest exposed to them, covered in countless tattoos, the patterns of which brought memories back to Freya...

"...Vindicator?"

Freya stared at the man that had appeared. She couldn't believe the man that had apparently dropped off the face of the earth after her debut match two and a half years ago was standing in front of her. His hair was darker than she remembered, and the tattoos...

"You're not my Vindicator, are you?" she finally asked.

"No." The voice had the same metallic distortion she remembered.

"What's going on?" Lir hissed.

"This is..." she paused, "a Vindicator, I suppose."

"You're brave to walk with your brethren where humans can see." Vindicator was looking at Lir, red eyes glowing, but the comment was directed at Freya.

"When no one thinks you exist you can walk where, and with whom, you like."

"Is there somewhere we can talk?" He asked, looking at Freya. "Alone."

"Sure." She pulled a handful of notes out of a pocket and handed them to her cousin. "Go have breakfast, I'll find you later."

Lir stepped close to her, "Are you sure you want me to go?" he whispered, "I don't trust him."

"Well I do."

"Fine." Lir stalked off after shooting the Vindicator a dark look.

"So where did you want to go?" Freya asked the tall man as soon as Lir was out of sight.

"Follow me."

The Vindicator's pace was quick and Freya had to jog every now and then to keep up.
He moved gracefully for his size. Freya couldn't help noticing how he practically floated, flowing between shapes and shadows.

"So what do I call you?" she asked, once again trying to keep up. "I can't call you Vindicator, I have one of those."

"I am Vindicator."

"You don't have a name?"

"It is what I am."

"Oh."

"This will do." He stopped and turned to face Freya.

"So what is all this about?" She asked, looking around. Before she got any reply, Vindicator had put his hand over her collarbone and squeezed. Freya fell silently to the floor. He looked around to make sure he hadn't been observed before picking Freya up and hastily leaving.

**

Freya stirred. There was a sweet smell in the air. Something tickled her stomach. She went to brush off whatever it was away but found herself unable to move her hand. Or her other one.

Her eyes shot open. Vindicator stood over her, his mask making quiet noises as it breathed for him.

"What are you doing?!" She demanded, pulling at her wrist restraints.

"Don't struggle," the metallic voice told her, "you'll hurt yourself."

Freya lifted her head to try and see what he was doing. He held a sharp instrument, something like a scalpel, in his hand and sliced downward. There wasn't any pain, but Freya could feel the pressure on her abdomen.

"What are you doing?"

"You are part of the balance, I am marking you as such."

"What do you mean marking me?!" her voice grew high-pitched as Vindicator lifted away a strip of skin. Freya strained to free herself. She was on some kind of table, in what looked like an abandoned warehouse. There was no one around besides herself and the Vindicator.

"Your heritage does you a favour; the healing process has started already," he observed, placing the instrument back down.

"It would do: my body doesn't want me hurt when I kick your ass for skinning me!"

She could almost feel the implied raised eyebrow as he looked at her.

"If you are going to be confrontational," he said putting a marked hand on her shoulder, "I will have to subdue you again."

"Let me go!"

"Very well. I am finished anyway."

He released the bonds that were around Freya's wrists. Immediately she tried to jump to her feet, but she stumbled as she hit the ground, her legs giving way beneath her. With a surprised noise, she tumbled into the Vindicator's arms. He leant her back against the table.

"Your lower body is still numbed," he explained, "you will not be able to stand for several minutes."

Freya breathed heavily. She still felt white-hot anger running through her, but she realised she couldn't fight the man who had violated her, and the fact that he had released her probably meant he wasn't planning any more mutilating for today.

"I guess if you were going to kill me you'd have done it by now," she grunted. Freya lifted her t-shirt slightly to see the damage done to her stomach. A symbol had been carved into her pale flesh above her left hip, coloured red by the scar tissue already forming. It was an odd, sinuous shape, not looking like any lettering she'd seen before. It wasn't unattractive as body art went - she'd just rather have had a say in the matter. "So what does this mean?"

"It means nothing. It simply is what it is." He gestured to the markings on his own body, "Like these. They have no translation into a tongue used by men."

"Well I'm not a man. By either definition..."

"Or werewolves," he added.

She looked back down at the little symbol. "Hm. So what was this...balance...thing you mentioned?" She looked up, but there was no one there. Open mouthed, she stared around at the huge expanse of the empty warehouse, but there was no Vindicator in sight.

"Bastard," she hissed, "why does he...they...whatever... always disappear like that?"

**

Izumi sat in a café alone. She'd received an email on her Blackberry a few moments before, no email address of a sender, and only one line of text: ‘the operation needs to move faster.'

She knew where it had come from and was contemplating her next step. She sipped from the coffee she'd ordered when the bell above the door tinkled. A young man with long brown hair entered and sat at a nearby table. Izumi nearly paid no attention to him, except something caught her eye. He had the same odd facial features as the woman that had been with Freya at the arena.

She quickly picked up her coffee and moved to his table.

"Hi," she said, placing her coffee down. "Mind if I join you?" Before he had a chance to respond, she sat down, smiling broadly.

Another show, another match, but without the chains of order to bind him.

It was all fine for Inferno. He could do enough damage within the confines of the rules, but the blood was what he really lived for.

The opponent placed in front of him was Freya, Inferno's second female opponent. Like Chi before her, Freya was something rarely seen in a woman. Strong, determined, a competitor in the ring that let no man stand in her way. She had even pinned the current world champion before.

Was this just another opponent?

No.

Freya was going to test his mind and body.

The first time he had faced a woman, a second's hesitation led to his demise.

This time, he would be mentally ready. He would destroy without hesitation. He had to, if he wanted to face Chi ever again. The first loss still tormented him...it made him feel helpless.

Splitting Freya open would be the beginning of his own healing, and the beginning of his journey towards a new reign of blood, in TCW.

----------------

"Uhm..." The young man didn't make eye contact, he simply continued to examine his menu. "Who are you?"

"Oh," She looked as if she were a child deprived of candy. "You don't know me? I'm Izumi. I have my own website?"

Lir still didn't look at her.

"You know, for Twisted Championship Wrestling? I have complete bios on most of the wrestlers. Do you know Freya Green, by chance?"

He finally gave her an idle glance. "Yes. How did you know?"

"Ah. My intuition was right after all." She tapped her head and winked. "I notice these things."

"What do you want?" he asked, flatly.

Before Izumi was able to answer, a waitress greeted them.

"Hello!" she said, in a thick Brazilian accent. "How are you today?" Each syllable was pronounced slowly and carefully, with very little confidence behind her voice. She looked to be around Izumi's age, with short dark hair, and a well-tanned face.

"I'm fine, how are you?" replied Izumi, quickly.

"I am good. What would you like to order?"

"Just bread and jam, and coffee, for both of us," Izumi replied quickly again. The waitress wrote it down, while Lir gave her a dirty look.

"I am able to speak for myself," he said, plainly. "I have a mouth."

"A rather funny one, if I do say so myself." Izumi smiled, wagging her finger. "I've seen someone exactly like you before. She was in the paper recently-" She pulled out the newspaper and showed her the picture of both Freya and Gwen.

"Oh, that's Gwen," he answered.

"Gotcha," she said. "Freya certainly does have strange friends, eh?"

Lir retained his gaze on her. "Is there something you wanted? Speak or leave me be."

Izumi shrugged, and smiled at him. "What can you tell me about Freya Green?"

"She's the Bleeder Champion of TCW," came his answer.

The girl shook her head, as the waitress arrived quickly with the coffee. Izumi took a sip, saying, "No, no, I know all that kayfabe stuff, like I said. I meant I want to know HER. The real her. What does she do behind the curtain?"

"Why do you want to know?" Lir gave her a quizzical look. "It is not your place to intrude into her personal life."

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Izumi said, her violet eyes locked onto him with an ice cold gaze.

Then she burst out laughing.

"Hehe, just kidding," Izumi said, taking a sip. She couldn't stop giggling, which caused the coffee to come right out of her nose. "Oops!" She wiped her nose, and then continued quickly, "Oh, erm, well, it's kinda important. Haven't you ever noticed anything..."

"Like what?"

"Anything...strange or unusual?" Izumi lowered her voice.

"No." he answered.

"Don't fib to me." The ice cold gaze returned, and there was no joke behind it this time. "You know something. Don't play the kayfabe games with me. I know that backstage in TCW there is something deadly brewing. Everyone has secrets to hide...including that woman. If you know something, dish it out."

"I don't know anything," he said, dismissing her again.

"Bullshit. Normal people don't get their heads cut open and healed within minutes."

Lir looked at her, and spoke again, but slowly. "I don't...know anything about that...okay?" He looked very arkward as he spoke.

"Absolutely certain?"

He nodded, again arkwardly.

Izumi looked into his eyes, then paused. "I don't think he's going to tell me anything, and I'm not likely to be able to force it out of him. I'd better leave before I really start to seem suspicious..."

She then stood up out of her seat. "Okay then! Sorry to waste your time. I hope you don't mind getting the bill for me."

The girl left before he could protest.

"At the very least, I know there's some very strange people around here I haven't seen before..." she mused. "They're not on television, but they seem to have something to do with that Freya girl after all."

Izumi walked along, her face screwed up in thought. As she pondered over Inferno's opponent, a dreadful feeling overcame her...

"A deadly wound healed...but...can it really be a woman?"

----------------

"You definitely don't look good. What happened?"

Freya hobbled slowly into the hotel room, her legs filled with pins and needles, a pissed expression on her face.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all, just received some unwilling body art from a surgeon's knife." She sat down and kicked her feet up on the seat.

Gwen looked concerned. "What?"

"An old friend called...well, close to one...knocked me out, bound me to a table in a warehouse MILES away, said some stuff about a balance, and gave me this," she said, showing Gwen the scars.

The other werewolf examined it, her eyes narrowing as she tried to make sense of this marking. "What the hell does this mean?"

"Oh, it's apparently 'too advanced' for me to understand," Freya said, punctuating it with quotation fingers. "The bastard marked me with this, and then didn't stick around to answer my questions about this balance he mentioned. In any case, if Vindicator's around, something must be up. I wish he wasn't so damned elusive about it."

"Vindicator?"

"We have a history, but he's not the same one..."

"Whoever he is, he must have some reason for being secretive," Gwen noted. "What are you going to do now?"

"What else? I've got a no DQ match versus a gorilla soon and my legs are numb as hell. I'm going to sit here and rest up." Freya said, lying back and musing on the day's events.