DeSean turned off the monitor in disgust as he watched the last moments of the PPV again, his eyes narrowed in disgust.

"What a crock. Daniels gets a few lucky wins in FWRFed and he suddenly thinks he's hot shit. He ain't nothing."

Reaching for his Singapore Cane, he stood up and stormed towards the door.

There was a knock.

"Gee, I wonder who that could be..." DeSean said sarcastically, pulling open the door. "It's my favorite annoying Japanese wrestler, isn't it?"

Sure enough, Izumi was standing there. Despite having the Aftershock belt slung over her shoulder, she looked rather unhappy.

"Forget all I said before about vampires and stuff. I was drunk," she blatantly lied.

"...Whatever," DeSean said, deciding to let it go. "I really don't care. You must really be nuts, constantly talking to your opponents. We're in a match together at the next show..."

"I know," Izumi said, leaning against the door frame slightly. "But opponents don't have to be enemies, either."

"That's true. What are you getting at?"

Izumi stepped inside, DeSean letting her despite a small disapproving gaze. "We've had a bit of a rivalry over the past year or so, but I want to put that aside. I don't actually hate you or anything, you know. You've pissed me off before, but that's just how it is. When it comes down to it, I'd rather stick with you than the -other- guys in the lockerroom."

"If you're talking about Darkness and Freya, amen," DeSean declared. "Their precense is killing TCW slowly. Bit by bit each day. Look at our goddamn roster. We're barely staying afloat. And we have these stupid-ass FWRFedders claiming they're here to kill us off because we're a promotion of freaks. It's Darkness and Freya that gave this company that perception."

"Maybe so...I distrust Darkness and Freya for my own reasons," she said. "But I think there's something greater at hand here."

"How so?"

Izumi plopped down on DeSean's bed.

"Think about it. The first clue is in Daniels' appearance. His entrance video played. If the whole thing was unplanned...then who had his entrance cued up?"

"Heh. You're saying it's a conpsiracy."

"Why? Ratings. Think about it this way: TCW is in jeapordy. Deng's reasons for the tournament weren't to keep order, it was to get the belts off the undefeated Darkness and Freya, to restore competition. Even if they just win again, the fans will pay to see them fight through the tournaments to reclaim their titles. In addition, he has this whole 'order' pretext, but suprise! The order breaks down when FWRFed invades!" Izumi said. "He signed FWRFedders to 'invade' and cause chaos. Fans will be tuning in to see what happens next. Why else do you think Daniels just waltzed in and got a title shot? Same with Washington?"

"You just confirmed what I already suspected," DeSean said. "But it's a shit plan. Deng's too confident."

"Why?"

"Because if Daniels and Washington win, TCW is fucked. They'll just throw the belts in the trash on FWRFed and that's that."

"I never said it was a foolproof plan. It's more of a gamble than anything else. The odds are in his favor. But I wouldn't be surprised if Deng didn't have a backup plan in case that happens. Depends on how smart he is. I don't know the guy, but I'm going on a tangent. I have an offer to make-"

"You want to ally with me," DeSean cut her off.

"Correct-"

"Not doing it. Don't think I don't know you. You're not the most trustworthy person yourself. Look at what happened at Breakdown. I know it was you who had Inferno interfere in the match. You don't care about alliances, you only care about the belt. You even tried a sneak attack on me earlier in that match..."

"That was the nature of the game. That wasn't when FWRFed was threatening our existance. And...I can't control Inferno. He does what he wants. I haven't even spoken to him about it yet."

"That's all hearsay from you. What can you give me that will let me know you're really on my side and not your own?"

Izumi didn't have a bluff up her sleeve. "Nothing. Just my word that while I like this belt, I care more about the survival of this company. I'm not going to let any crazy corporate plans or FWRFedders take this belt away from the company again. If you ally with me, we can gang up on Nike Washington, and then we settle it between the two of us. For real this time. No sneak pins or submissions, we take him out."

"Why wait until the match?" DeSean said. "We can go after him right now."

"You mean...attack him? Before the match? But that's..."

"This business gets ugly. Sometimes you have to do what it takes to survive."

"I've never done that before," Izumi noted. It was true, she hadn't ever seriously considered the idea. She once bluffed it a few months ago against DeSean himself, but couldn't bring herself to do it....

"Well now's a good as time as any. If you're serious about this alliance, you're going to do this with me."

"I don't know about this," she mused, fidgiting on the bed. "I usually hate fighting dirty."

"This is wrestling. Everyone gets their hands dirty sooner or later."

"Well..." Izumi paused. "Alright. I'll do this with you, for the greater good."

He pointed an accusatory finger at her. "Take note I still don't trust you fully. Hopefully you can change that."

"Nike! How's it going? Having fun with Izumi and Blackwell? Awesome. Do give them my regards. Listen, I have to tell you about what I just heard because it's just too delicious and nauseating in equal measure not to share. See, I was waaaaaaay off trying to drive Darkness and Freya apart by playing on their competitive urges. I totally misread their relationship – just shows you can't trust TV, eh? – but I have a new plan. A glorious, horrifying plan. See, I happened to overhear them having a very sweet little conversation in a trash-filled alley, and it turns out – get this – that they're secretly in love with each other! And...no, no let me finish...and the best part is that I don't think even they know it! Isn't that just incredible? Doesn't that just fill you with a kind of gooey warmth? Doesn't it make you just light up like a Christmas tree to think of how monstrously, disgustingly, epically vulnerable to the kind of prick that I am that makes them?"

Click.

After going over his voicemail, the newest acquisition and bodyguard of Woodrow Daniels hung up his cell phone. He remembered the old days in the NFL, before his ban from the sport. He remembered how much of a thrill he got in his earlier years as any opposing quarterback's nightmare. Now all of that was gone, and here he was as Daniels' bodyguard.

He didn't really mind the job too much because he was still able to do what he loved best: laying out anybody who got in his way. That was the main reason he'd been hired to be the Heavyweight Champion's bodyguard, after all. He and Daniels had been having discussions right after his final ban from the NFL with Daniels telling him not to worry about his future, as everything would be straightened out. Daniels told him there wasn't really anything he could do about playing football anymore as Nike had grown quite the negative reputation in the sport, but Daniels told him he had another opportunity up in line for him. When Nike first found out that would be in the lines of wrestling, naturally, he declined almost immediately – before listening to Daniels' explanation of how it would benefit the linebacker and Nike was impressed at how much the explanation made sense. After getting some legal issues settled, he would be clear to be the bodyguard of Daniels and wrestle at the same time.

Nike Washington grinned at this thought. Woodrow Daniels, however much he was hated as a wrestler in both FWR and TCW, was the one who opened up this opportunity to him, and he would repay his debt. Normally, Nike's ego told him that he didn't ever owe anybody anything, but these were different circumstances. After having even possible discussions of going to jail for who knows how long, Daniels stepped in and brought him to a new light: wrestling.

In his time with DeSean and Izumi, Daniels told him he was free to act according on his own volition, as Daniels added that he didn't care about Nike's reputation as there was a reason he was hired as his bodyguard. Whatever the reason was, Daniels didn't really go into too much detail, but Nike knew that he had another chance and he wouldn't disappoint.

The sound of something tapping against the walls outside drove him out of his thoughts. He walked over to the hotel windows and looked out.

Seeing that there was nothing there, Nike just shrugged and closed his window, heading out the door.

* * *

“DeSean? Maybe we should re-think this strategy,” Izumi whispered.
“There's nothing to rethink about. I already told you, if you want the company to survive, you have to do what's necessary in order for that to happene. And what did I say about keeping it quiet? The window right over there is wide open. We just jump in, take Nike out, and TCW's saved.”

“But still-”

“I really don't get what's so hard about this, or why I have to explain this more than once. It's dirty work. It needs to get done for the better of TCW. If this is so hard for you to understand, then I'll just take this into my own hands,” DeSean said, ever so lightly knocking his singapore cane on the walls on the outside of Nike's hotel room.

Yes, the two were currently waiting for their sneak attack on Nike, behind the bodyguard's room – DeSean holding his trusty singapore cane and Izumi holding a bat with her shaking hands, still not liking the plan to jump Nike from behind. They had been silently waiting for the right time to attack him. The tension between the two was too obvious, and Izumi still didn't like what was about to happen.

“I think he heard that, it looks like he's getting up and walking over here.”

“Did you really need to hit the singapore cane against the wall? What happened to-”

“Just shut up and we gotta find some way to hide.”

From the balcony of a nearby hotel room, DeSean and Izumi ducked down there and crouched, looking on to Nike Washington's room as they saw the big man look out. Good, he wasn't looking there way. The bad part was that he had closed the window, leaving DeSean and Izumi to stare at each other, wondering what to do next.

"I feel like a criminal, you know?" Izumi said. "It's one thing to jump someone backstage, it's another to jump him in his hotel room."

"I don't see the difference," DeSean said. "He struck first, he drew first blood, this is nothing but fair. Are you going to debate the morality of this to me the whole way through or are we going to just do it?"

"Fine," Izumi said.

"Alright, here's the plan," DeSean said. "We both climb over there, carefully, I'll tap the cane against the glass door, he should come out to investigate, and then we crack him over the head."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Izumi said, before doing a running jump, straight onto the edge of their balcony and then bounding off, hands stretched out...

...before catching the edge of the other one, and swinging her legs up, grunting a bit as she did so. She stood on the oither side, wiping sweat from her brow and waving.

"You're crazy!" DeSean exclaimed. "If you'd have missed..."

"I didn't miss though, did I?" Izumi said.

"You're just a showoff."

"No. It was just another way of getting across. This is dangerous no matter what method you use."

DeSean used a different method, carefully shimmeying across a really small part that acted as a ledge, just barely holding him up. Izumi could see the sweat forming on his face as he did so, eyes fighting, trying not to look down.

At last, he made it the rest of the way. "My way was easier," he declared. "Now..." He tapped on the glass and quickly crouched to the side. "Wait."

Izumi and DeSean laid in wait. They drew in nervous breaths as they awaited his appearance. A few moments later...

"GAH!"

The sound of a bat striking human flesh was heard.

But it wasn't Nike.

It was DeSean, blocking a bat strike with his arm, barely avoiding it's connection with his skull.

Izumi recoiled, drawing in a deep breath as she moved in for another swing.

"You little bitch! I knew you'd pull this!"

"Shut up, DeSean," Izumi said in a low voice. "I'm not some thug that jumps people in their hotel room."

Another swing, the bat smashing against the wall. DeSean took his chance and swung at Izumi with his cane, a glancing blow striking her across the face. She yelped, rubbing it, before glaring at him and swinging again.

"Don't you preach the high road on me!" DeSean retorted, stepping back from a bat swing. "You're a traitor! What were you going to do, knock me out and leave Nike to find me?"

"Well..." Izumi said, a guilty, sheepish look on her face... "...Yeah. Is that a problem?"

"You're damn right that's a problem!" DeSean said, taking another swing at her. Suddenly...

"What the fuck is going on here?"

The two stopped, seeing Nike. A cordless phone in hand...

"It's his fault," Izumi said.

"Bitch! I'm not taking the fall for you! You came with me, you're just as guilty!"

"It was your idea!"

"The way I see it, you're both criminals. Enjoy jail," Nike said, dialing '110' deftly on the phone. "Hello, operator? I'd like to report tresspassers on my hotel room, attempting to asault me..."

"Fuckin' prick!" DeSean said, swinging at him, but Izumi grabbed him from behind in a chokehold, dragging them back, back...

And straight over the railing.

"Oh! Holy..." Nike ran over to the railing, looking down, seeing two bodies disappear into trees below. "...That's not going to be good for them."

Eventually, DeSean and Izumi would pull themselves from the trees, plopping painfully on the ground, only to hear the sound of sirens in the distance....

Inside the jail cell...

"Do you even think?" DeSean said. "I swear, you are the dumbest bitch I've ever met."

"Of course. I think everything through."

"Including nearly falling to our deaths?"

"It was part of the planned escape. Unfortunately the trees didn't soften our fall quite as much as I thought..." Izumi noted.

"I respected you, once, even just a little. You're still a rookie, but you've g-"

"Oh no, don't you dare call me a rookie. I've grown by leaps and bounds since a year ago. I can keep up with you."

"If I were serious you'd tap out in 5 minutes, Izumi," DeSean said.

"So when you going to get serious?"

"You know when. Next show, you are so getting embarrassed. I'll take both Nike and you out."

Izumi sighed. "You want to know why I turned on you? Because I think you're rotten. You wanted to jump someone for the sake of a match. Now, I believe in desperate measures when necessary. Not in this case."

"I already told you ,he gets that belt and he'll toss it in the trash on live TV-"

Izumi shrugged. "That guy? He doesn't even know how to wrestle. I think I know how to keep my title, thank you. Also, this isn't the first time you've jumped someone. A show or so back you did it. I wanted to give you a little taste of your own medicine."

"You're being quite candid for someone who's stuck in a jail cell with me. I could beat you to a pulp."

"Do that, and you'll be stuck here for a very long time."

"You can stop fighting now, children."

The last voice was Nike's. He stared at them with folded arms through the jail bars.

"I know what you're thinking. No, I'm not going to press charges."

They both breathed sighs of relief.

"But know that I could have. You tried to get the advantage on me and you failed miserably. And now it's turned on you. I could press charges and you'd miss the show, making me the winner by default. The only reason I haven't done so is because I want the satisfaction of beating you both for the title."

"Yeah, sit there and brag while there's bars seperating us. We'll see how big you talk when we're face to face," DeSean said.