After the show

Kinsen's first experience in TCW was certainly an interesting one, to say the least. Just from the pre-match 'proceedings' of sorts, he'd discovered that TCW was not a normal federation. Not to mention, the fact that this fed was now officially a Chinese one thanks to government involvement. He sighed and shook his head.

Why him? He signed with this company to show off his skills in the West, not to be in the middle of some crazy occult crap. And then there was that cat person...they weren't supposed to be -real- were they? Maybe it was just a really convincing disguise...

He really should have done the research on this damn company. This wasn't what he signed up for.

As he began to pack up his things and get ready to head to his new apartment, the locker room door swung open, making him jump.

"I almost had him..." a panting voice said. "Almost..."

Izumi stumbled into the locker room and collapsed onto the bench next to Kinsen, covered in sweat and breathing heavily.

"You alright?" Kinsen said.

"Yeah," Izumi replied. "I was THIS close!" She held up a pair of fingers a centimeter apart in front of Kinsen's face to demonstrate her point. "But even in loss, I proved one thing...Darkness isn't an unstoppable juggernaut. He was 9/10ths of a second away from a pinfall. I had him...and then suddenly I didn't. But I won't make that mistake next time. He's as every bit as tough as they say, I'll have to train even harder-"

"Yeah, that was a good match." Kinsen said. "How long have you been wrestling?"

"Under a year," she said.

"You're joking," Kinsen said.

"Well, admittingly I had -some- martial arts experience before I started, so I could apply them to wrestling. I fully expected to be total shit in the ring when I started. I've come farther than I ever dreamed...I'm the Aftershock champion. But let's not talk about me, let's talk about you. You..you've got pretty nice moves."

"Thanks..." he said. "But I guess they weren't enough this week."

"Oh, you did fine. I employ some high-risk moves, but you are much better at them. You might even be faster than me...maybe -you'll- be the one to beat Darkness."

"Maybe," he replied. "I don't know if I'm ready for that yet, but I know what I am ready for...a title match. Not World championship..." He grinned. "Stern gave me the official word after my match. I'm one of the challengers for your belt at Enter the Dragon."

"Aww!" She sat up, grabbing her bag. "I wanted to be the first to know! Oh well. We'll just have to see how good I really am. I heard you trained under Ultimo Dragon, so this is likely to be a tough match. May the best wrestler win, of course."

"You're like, the first wrestler on this damn roster I've actually been able to talk -normally- with. It's such a breath of fresh air. What the hell is up with this place anyway?"

"Well, to name a few, Dante is some kind of Infernal, Freya is a werewolf, and Darkness is the Antichrist. You'll be hard pressed to find anyone normal around here." Izumi said, as if it were no big deal.

"What the hell are you going on about?" Kinsen looked at her strangely.

"Nothing!" Izumi giggled. "Don't worry about it. I'm just messing with you. Let's just say those three have their secrets. I think everyone has someone to hide here. Try not to let it get to you. Personally, I'm hoping there's a change soon. I mean, Darkness has been World champion for over a year. Somebody's got to beat him. I'm hoping it's me, but it's DeSean's turn for now. I don't really care for DeSean too much...he called me a 'midcarder' in his promo and he's just a jackass in general. I'd like to know who's the midcarder when I beat him for this belt," she said, slinging her belt over her shoulder. "But I guess I hope he wins. I don't have anything too big against Darkness either, but I strongly resent him and his friends reforming their little 'clique' and being all over the show. It's what got us into this mess in the first place. Did he really need to reform the New Hellfire Club? I mean, it's like-"

Kinsen sighed to himself as he listened to Izumi talk. He knew where she was coming from, but it was annoying to listen to her rant endlessly like this. Eventually, he spoke up.

"Okay, okay, that's enough! You can tell me all about it later. Why don't we go spar with each other or something? A sort of pre-match training session to feel each other out?" he suggested.

"Sure!" she said.

"Don't forget me!"

A voice muffled. A clanging, over and over, from one of the lockers.

"Who's in there?!" Izumi ran over to the door and swung it open quickly.

Out fell a guy with cat ears and tail...Oreo.

"Oy, thanks..." he said. "There weren't any other dark spots in this room, so I had to pop up there."

"Oh boy, it's him again..." Kinsen said.

"I'm not even going to ask how...but couldn't you just have used the door, anyway?" Izumi said.

"Oh," he said, grinning sheepishly and rubbing his head. "Right..."

Ivan walked down a hallway, surrounded by stone walls with torches for light. It was not unlike the passageway of a medieval castle. He continued down the hallway, until he reached a small room with an elevator. He entered the elevator and headed down into a large stone room, largely undecorated, with the only exception being a computer off to the side on a desk with videos. These videos contained almost all footage for TCW captured on video. Also on the desk was a printer, paper, and various documented facts about the federation. He glanced over there, and then walked toward a door outside. He stopped in his tracks, and walked over to the computer. After getting it out of standby, he looked up TCW fixtures. He looked at his match and checked his opponents.

"Izumi, and... Oreo? Hmm..."

He thought, then looked up the bios.

"So... I guess seeing for myself would be prudent..."

Meanwhile...
--------------
After resolving the odd issue, the three of them prepared to leave for their training session. However, the door out of the locker room was locked for some reason, and would not budge at all.

Kinsen: "Who locked the--"

He stopped when the locker room door swung open. When a curious Oreo took a look, there was no one there. The others followed, and also found nothing.

Kinsen: "I don't get it. Who locked the door?"

From Ivan's position, he could only hear their speech as whispers. Being on top of the buildings roof, this was actually somewhat superhuman. He then thought:

"Hmm... Standard human reaction to unexplainable occurrences. But... The third doesn't serve me any purpose. But... It would be prudent to let them continue their sparring session, and then see their reactions to more dangerous occurrences."

Oreo: "I don't understand what happened..."

They headed for the sparring room, but it's door was locked too. Until, before anyone could say anything, it swung open, with no apparent reason.

Kinsen: "This is getting even stranger..."

After having to run around with a part cat human, this didn't seem something to stress all that much. They sparred for awhile, but then the lights went out.

Kinsen: "Huh?"

They hear footsteps, and turn around in confusion, but they can't see anything because of the lights. They hear a voice:

"Greetings. I will be one of your opponents at the TCW PPV. Unfortunately for you,"

The person points at Kinsen:

"You will not be needed here. Goodbye."

They hear some kind of explosion, then hear Kinsen going through the wall. The lights suddenly come on. Oreo and Izumi are on the left and right of the sparring room, and there is a gaping hole in the wall. A knocked out Kinsen is laying on the sidewalk outside the arena, and Ivan is at the entrance to the room. Izumi and Oreo turn around to see him.

Ivan: "Greetings."

Izumi and Oreo tried to charge him, but for some reason, the stopped moving after reaching a certain point, and ended up running in place.

Ivan: "Okay. First things first."

Izumi and Oreo are knocked into a sitting down position.

Ivan: "If I wanted to fight, you could tell by being dead already."

Izumi scoffs, but then Ivan points at the hole in the wall.

Ivan: "I've seen people accidentally fall out a window if they can't see anything, but you can't casually fall out a solid wall."

Izumi gets up and walks toward it, and sees Kinsen, laid out on the sidewalk.

Ivan: "I just wanted him out of the way. If I wanted him dead, there wouldn't be a body to find. I'm here to meet my future adversaries in person. And now that I've done that, it is time for adios and good day. I'll see you around."

Ivan teleports away.

"Hey, he stole my favorite trick! He didn't even do it right!" Oreo protests.

"...that's not important right now, Oreo."

"No no no, teleporting away mysteriously is MY gimmick! And I won't tolerate it!" Oreo grunted, kicking a wall. "Boy do I wanna whip his keester."

"Does anyone even say 'Keester' anymore?" she said.

"Nevermind..."

"I don't believe this...I just don't believe this..." Izumi groaned. "More weird people with crazy new powers... I've been trying to get used to it all, but..."

Oreo pats her on the head. "Aww, don't worry, sweetheart. I'll keep you safe from him."

"I didn't ask for protecting."

"Nevertheless! I do have a sense of honour. So, if he comes to us again...I will step forward and engage him in combat!" He stiffened his body and posed, flexing his muscles.

"How are you going to fight him! He's a demon or something! Not that it's too uncommon around here..." She ran outside the wall, over to the unconcious Kinsen. "Look what he did to Kinsen! We're going to have to call an ambulance. You can do that, right?"

"Sure!"

He ran away to find a phone, while Izumi tended to Kinsen.

"K...Kinsen?"

She leaned in, listening to his chest...

"Good, he's still breathing. Just hang in there..."

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

Later that day...

"I'm afraid there's been a change in your Aftershock Title match. I've received news that Kinsen is injured and the doctors have not given him medical clearance..."

"Aw, no..."

"Therefore, Ivan Darkwatch will be replacing him in your match." Stern said, scribbling something down in a book.

"That's completely outrageous!" Izumi said. "He was the one who attacked Kinsen! And you're going to reward him by giving him a shot at my championship!?"

"Look, I don't like this any more than you do..." Stern muttered. "But the rules are the rules. We've already promoted the championship match. And since the match -must- be a triple threat, I had to find a replacement, and he was the only other one. Besides, we have no concrete proof Ivan is at fault..."

"I saw him with my own eyes!" Izumi said.

"Me too!" Oreo said, nodding.

"Which is another reason I'm doing this. I figure you can both take out your issues with him in the match. Fair enough, right? In TCW, we settle things in the ring."

"You're burying me!" Oreo said.

"I'm w-"

"I'm being buried by the boss! Lawsuit! Lawsuit!" Oreo cried.

"Oreo, it doesn't work that way here!" Izumi said.

"Right. I wasn't serious anyway." he muttered.

"Okay, fine. Me vs. Oreo vs. Ivan."

"As if you had a choice in the matter," Stern said. "Now get out and make it snappy, I have a lot of crap on my plate."

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

"I'll be getting my payback in the ring, then..." Izum said. She and Oreo were walking back to the apartments that had been assigned to them.

"Assuming I cooperate with you..." Oreo gave her a sly wink.

"You'd better...you saw what he did."

"Don't forget, the match is a 3 way. It's any man-" Izumi gave him a stern glare "-or woman for themselves..." Oreo muttered, purring at her strangely. "You know how much I'd love championship gold, baby."

"I suppose I don't expect you to just let me win, but at least help me get payback on this guy. We've got to show him...if he doesn't murder us before then."

"I don't know what kind of powers he has...but I know a few tricks myself. I don't think he'll outright murder us, or he would have already. But at any rate, sure, we take him out, then we fight it out for the belt..."

Somewhere atop a building, Ivan listened to their plans, smiling...

"It's time to play a little game."

Before they knew it, Ivan was standing before them again.

"What do you want?" Izumi spat.

"Why so hostile?" Ivan retorted. "I'm only paying you a visit..."

"Well, you're some kind of demon who attacked one of my co-workers. And now you're in the match against me instead of him."

"What did I tell you? Just as planned." Ivan folded his arms. "He had no business being in that match. I did him a favor."

A chill in the air. The moon seemed to shine a little less brighter with Ivan's precense...they stared each other down, before one finally spoke.

"It would be boring for me to just wait and do nothing before my match, so I want a warm-up."

"Are you one of those freaks who attacks people backstage before the match for no reason?" Oreo said.

"Yeah, that's Inferno's gimmick." Izumi chimed in.

"Watch your tongue, or I will turn your lights right out and send you straight to Hell..."

"Buddy, I've been to Hell, and it's a whole lot of nothing."

"Really?" Oreo said, eyes wide.

"Yes. Despite reports, Hell isn't fire and brimstone. It's actually a lot of sand."

A wave of psychic energy knocked them backwards.

"ENOUGH!" Ivan glared. "I want to fight one of you, hand to hand."

"No problem," Oreo said. "I've got you..."

"No, I've definitely decided. The girl will."

"Just me?" Izumi meeped. "But I don't have any special powers..."

"I won't use mine...much." Ivan said. "The rules are simple: There are no rules!" He cracked his knuckles.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Oreo said. "He's 7 feet tall!"

"I don't have much choice, do I? This is going down one way or another. Why should I let size scare me?" Izumi tightened her gloves. "Besides, this story wouldn't be complete without a big pointless over-the-top fight scene."

"Whatever you say," Ivan said.

Izumi ran straight at Ivan and started to throw punches. Ivan stepped backwards out of range, laughing.

"Catch me if you can!"

Izumi ran right at him, charging in before finally catching Ivan across the face. She moved in and delivered a series of strikes to his reeling body, punching and kicking, trying to chop the big guy down. Ivan responded with a punch of his own, a big fist sending her on her ass.

"What's the matter, can't hurt me?!"

Izumi kipped-up and delivered a jumping kick to his chest. Seeing a sewer cover, she shrugged, and grabbed it off the hole, grunting a bit at it's weight before wielding it at Ivan, cracking him across the head.

"Well, that hurt you!"

Ivan stumbled back, but soon started to approach again.

"What are you, Kane?"

"No, I'm much worse..." Ivan walked up to her and grabbed her by the throat. He lifted her into the air and let her drop on the harsh sidewalk below with a sickening thud. Izumi groaned, clutching at her back.

"Now I'm going to discombobulate you..." He reached down and started to pummel at her, big fists crashing against her face as she tried to cover up.

A thumb to the eye and Ivan stumbled back. He growled, as Izumi slowly stood up.

"Well, you said no rules. "

"That's enough playing around. Now we get ser-"

Before he could recover from the temporary blindness, Izumi kicked him, causing him to stumble into the street-

BANG!

A car screeched and then impacted into Ivan's side, causing him to fly back several feet, on his back.

He ceased moving.

"Oh god, Izumi..." Oreo said, "you killed him!"

"No I didn't! I better not have!" Izumi said, holding her head in shock. "H-he started it..."

The car driver got out, and started to say something in Chinese...

Before Ivan sat straight up, and shoved him out of the way.

"...okay, now that's just ridiculous."

Ivan slowly walked a few feet towards Oreo and Izumi, cracking his neck as he walked. The driver of the car, a cab, continued to yell at Ivan, who again shoved him several feet Ivan grabbed Izumi around the throat, lifting her several inches into the air, holding her as she struggled to breath.

“As I was saying, now it is time for you to end.” Ivan growled, tightening his grip. Izumi’s color began to turn bluer as Ivan cut off her air supply. Oreo kicked at the knees of Ivan, but it seemed to have no effect. Izumi struggled less now, eyes closed.

Suddenly, a gloved hand appeared between the legs of Ivan, making an upward punch to his groin that caused Izumi to drop to the ground. The hand retracted as Ivan groaned in pain, and was met with a boot to the same area.

Ivan dropped to his knees, having been hit twice in the place no man should ever be hit. With Ivan on his knees, his attacker could be seen, and Kinsen stepped around the kneeling man. He looked at Ivan, still moaning in pain.

“That hurt?” Kinsen said, mocking the big man. “Hey, uh……cat guy…..Oreo! Wanna help me with this?”

Kinsen wrapped his arm around the neck of Ivan as Oreo did the same on the other side, and the two DDT’d Ivan onto the manhole cover Izumi had used earlier. Oreo and Kinsen then hurried back over to Izumi, who was coughing, but had regained most of her color. The two helped her to her feet, where she brushed herself off.

“You ok?” Oreo asked during a break in her sputtering.

“Yeah…..thanks to you guys. How did you know that hitting him in the……”

“Every guy knows that’s a weak point” Kinsen replied, smiling back at her.

“And you knew where we were fighting him because-“

“My cab hit him” Kinsen said, nodding towards the cab that now displayed a large dent where Ivan had made contact with the car. “Now if I remember correctly before the tall bastard put me in the hospital, I think we were on our way to spar a little.”

Ivan bursts out of the manhole, taking several meters of sewage along with him.

Ivan: "Okay. THAT was actually annoying."

Kinsen turned around.

Kinsen: "What?"

Ivan: "Alright, BOY, IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO DIE."

Kinsen was lifted into the air, then slammed down again, then repeat. Then repeated again. Kinsen became a blood-stained mess. Kinsen grunted, then tried to low blow Ivan again.

Ivan: "FOOL! Okay, first of all, you aren't medically cleared to be in your match, so even if I didn't pummel you, your sparring session wouldn't matter, and secondly, you won't be medically cleared TO LIVE once I'm through with you."

Ivan grabs Kinsen by the throat, and all of a sudden, he bursts up in flames.

Kinsen: "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Kinsen screams as he bolts for a fire hydrant before triggering it. He is no longer on fire, but he has lots some low degree burns. Ivan appears and knees him in the gut.

Izumi: "Kinsen!"

Ivan teleports Kinsen over to Izumi.

Ivan teleports away as Izumi gasps, and then rushes to get Kinsen back inside.

Later on...

----------

"Are you telling me that after this you're STILL giving him a shot at my title?"

Izumi was furious with Stern as they walked outside the hospital room.

Stern: "We don't have any proof against him for these actions, but Kinsen will be in the match, making it a 4 way."

Izumi: "More then enough people should have seen it."

Stern: "No, they didn't, supposedly."

Izumi: "What?!"

Stern: "Supposedly, a few people WERE questioned, but they said they can't remember anything about Ivan. They remember everything else, but Ivan was totally not in their memory."

Izumi: "What, he altered their memory?"

Oreo: "Or was only visible to us."

Izumi: "Great. So he can limit his visibility. That makes it impossible to get any proof against him."

Oreo: "Come on, let's go spar for a little bit."

Ivan was invisible on the roof.

Ivan: "Your efforts are in vain."

Ivan is visible only to Kinsen now, and he enters through the hospital door. He panics slightly, trying to leave, only he's rendered immobile.

Ivan: "You are to deliver this message to Izumi and Oreo. They won't listen to me, but I'm willing to bet they WILL listen to you, and also that you WILL listen to me."

Kinsen: "What makes--"

Ivan: "Let me finish. Tell them, I won't be bothering them anymore. They're not who I'm looking for. Who I'm looking for would have more power. On the same token, it means that if they go sniffing for trouble, they are GOING TO DIE. Deliver this message if you care about them."

Ivan teleports away, leaving Kinsen to think about what he's just heard.