Pure Rules Match.

Last time they stepped into the ring together, it ended in disappointment. Now, Strikmore has taken the steps he believes are necessary to finish this feud once and for all. Dante, far from home, separated from his family, seems to be veering far from the straight and narrow of late - will he unleash his hellish fury upon Matt Strikmore? Perhaps a more pertinent question: should he?

**Just after Havoc has gone off the air.**

“Just what the FUCK was that?!” Dante screams at The man a group of officials are holding back right across the corridor from him. “What the fuck do you think your doing?”

Strikmore grins at his pale opponent.

“Call it pay back for PD, just be glad that his brain is still intact or you would be sued for every damn penny you own, Dante!”

“Fuck off, Strikmore. Just fuck off! This was between me and “PD” not you and your lackey, Desean!”

“Lackey?!” Desean Blackwell yells and tries to charge the irate Dante, but thankfully he gets retsrained by two large men acting as TCW security.

Dante stares at Desean Blackwell and Matt Strikmore and shakes his head.

“You two assholes don't have a fucking clue what you are dealing with, have you? He has actually wrapped you around his little fucking finger that badly already, huh?”

At this point, PD joins the “fun”.

“Come off it, Dante...you can't play us, we just don't buy the circus act you and Darkness put on. Hell, I didn't buy it when Bleeder and Bruce-666 held you hand and walked you trough the old fed, Dante...and I sure as hell don't buy it now.”

Dante tries to gets free from his muscled restraints but fail.

“Circus act! Circus acts?! You piece of hellbred puke...I'll...”

“YOU WILL DO NOTHING!”

The voice is slightly broken english stopped the fight dead in it's tracks. Everyones gaze in the corridor turned to Deng who stood with his arms crossed.

“None of you will do anything at all. Mr. Strikmore, Mr. Blackwell and Mr. Jones you will all return to your dressing rooms. As I see it this mess is on everyone's conscience and I will deal with you one at a time.”

Deng turned to the still irate Dante.

“You, come with me.”

Dante ignored Deng as he was still hot due to the attack on Freya that Desean and Strikmore had (in his mind) orchestrated.

“Mr. Dante...you WILL come with me...NOW!”

Dante turned to Deng and gave him an unfriendly stare, but in the end he relented and followed the irate owner of the TCW to his office. As Deng slammed the door shut behind him, he seemed to relax and shook his head.

“Mr. Dante I have to be honest with you, you just like your friends are popular with TCW fans, your merchandise sell and to be blunt I do not wish to fire you.”

“Fine, don't fire me then!” Dante shot back.

“You don't understand, the last few shows you have gotten into confrontations with Strikmore, Blackwell and Cameron Jones. I have to be fair to the other wrestlers too, as much as I want to avoid this I have to warn you that the next time you cause an uproar like this I will have you suspended.”

Dante's reaction wasn't the one Deng had expected.

“You want to give me some time off if I screw up again? Really? Where is Strikmore, I can give him the punch in the face the smug git deserves and get some paid vacation.”

Deng sighed and shook his head again.

“We are both businessmen, Mr. Dante...we both know what it takes to work and function in the world of business. We both know that we need to cooperate to get results, so why won't you cooperate with me?”

“Let's start with the “flats”...to be blunt they are cockroach infested hellholes...”

“I am aware of this, they are a temporary solution.”

“Temporary? One night sharing the bed with bugs is one night too many for me.”

“You ARE free to find alternative accommodations...They aren't easy to find...”

“Not here, but in Hong Kong.”

“Not to be hostile, Mr. Dante but good luck affording a place in Hong Kong.”

“I have my sources...”

“Fine, I never wanted to stop anyone from finding their own homes...you will have to pay for airfare to and from Hong Kong yourself though.”

“Of course.”

“Ok, anything else?”

“Yes, actually there is. You know I have a wife back in the US?”

“I know, and a young daughter.”

“Almost one year old...I would like to see them again. Meagan is soon going to turn one and...”

“Out of the question, you are wanted in the US. If you show up in the US you will be arrested.”

“There is an expression where I come from, the referee can only calla penalty if he sees your infringment. Get me to the US and I'll get to Chicago and back in a week.”

“No, I will not help you with that.”

“Fine, don't I'll go there myself and maybe be back in a month...hell, Strikmore will like that. He can brag about beating me without risking me handing him his useless Jersey-hide.”

“He made the match pure rules, you can't...”

“That's your mistake...and his, you and Strikmore both see the business in terms of win-loss records, I wrestle to prove a point, and if I need to bash that point into his head with a steel chair, again...the ref can only DQ me if he sees it.”

“You are one very uncomfortable man, Mr. Dante.”

“Finally you notice!” Dante said with a wolf's grin. “Now about the trip to the US?”

“I know of a ship that leaves for a port in Washington tomorrow night, the captain is a friend of mine...He can sneak you on...But once your in the US, you are on your own, you understand?”

“I understand, I'll be back in a week...” Dante said while getting up. “...after all, I have a penthouse suite in Hong Kong to get back to.” He concluded with a grin.

As the door shut behind Dante, Deng stared at the closed door.

“Penthouse suite?”

*****

As this was going on, Matt Strikmore was pacing back and forth in his locker-room steaming. As he paced back and forth in a display of anger and rage that was very uncommon for him, Desean Blackwell observed his partner and ally.

“You may need to calm down a bit, Matt...Deng has probably suspended Dante, if he's lucky...You don't want Deng to fire you, do you?”

Strikmore shot Desean a hostile stare, then he tried to calm down.

“Of course not...it's just that...he...annoys me so much, everything he does pisses me off!”

“Dante or Deng?”

“DANTE!”

“Sorry!”

“I mean, how hard did you and I both had work work to get where we are today? We spent years training and paying dues, we wrestled in front of crowds of 20 people! We built our skills and formed our craft by bleeding and learning...and then we have Dante and his friends!”

Desean looked at Strikmore and decided to calm his friend down a bit.

“You know, Dante spent a few years as a JTTS in the old ECF, he trained under some guy called Cypheré in Chicago and did a lot of small shows too. He actually paid his dues too.”

Strikmore stared at Desean and at first had the inclination to bark “Who's damn side are you on Desean?!” instead he calmed down.

“I...I know...there is just something about him and Darkness that sets my blood a boil. Dante is the worst to be honest...he just knows...”

As Strikmore had been ranting, the door had opened and a man wearing a suit and carrying a TCW clipboard had entered.

“...exactly which buttons to push?” The man asked.

“Yeah!” Strikmore replied sounding very surprised that the TCW official had entered the locker room so quietly.

“He pushes buttons on everyone he meets, Mr. Strikmore...truth be told most of the staff hopes he loses his job asap...”

“We can only hope that that is exactly what Deng is doing at the moment...” Desean mused.

“Unfortunatly, that's unlikely...I've been told he has offered Dante a chance to go to the US to meet his wife and kid...”

“What? He can't be that stupid! He'll get arrested on sight!”

“That's what he said too, Mr. Deng has some connections though. Dante is heading for home to meet his family.”

The word family triggered something in Strikmore's mind.

Family...friends...home...He had been robbed of all that and now...the man he saw as responsible for his exile would get to go and see his family. Unfair was the least it could be called. Strikmore shot the TCW official a sly glance.

“Could you get me to the US too?”

The Official rubbed his chin.

“Not on the same boat...I'll have to poke around a bit and get back to you...I think I can come up with something.”