Aired - May 31, 2026
The screen is black.
No music.
Only the sound of wind moving through stone.
A single torch ignites.
Then another.
Then another.
The camera glides through the outer halls of Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum, where banners hang from black iron hooks and ripple in the cold draft. The banners carry the sigils of the Mythic Division: crowns, blades, flames, forests, serpents, monsters, and broken kingdoms.
A low voice begins.
Narrator: “Every myth has a night it cannot escape.”
The torchlight flickers.
The first image cuts across the screen.
King Arthur stands in the center of the ring, battered but unbowed, Excalibur’s symbol glowing behind him on the entrance screen.
Narrator: “A king who carries the weight of a kingdom.”
The image fractures.
Frankenstein’s Monster rises from the shadows, the Mythic Crown title over his shoulder, his stitched face unreadable, his eyes filled with something deeper than rage.
Narrator: “A monster who no longer asks permission to exist.”
The music begins now.
Low strings.
War drums.
A choir beneath the sound, distant and cold.
Quick cuts follow.
Dr. Frankenstein standing behind Frankenstein’s Monster, one hand resting against the title belt as if it were proof of his genius.
King Arthur driving forward with desperate royal fury.
Frankenstein’s Monster throwing an opponent through the air with terrible force.
The Mythic Crown title gleams in torchlight.
Narrator: “Tonight, the crown is not defended.”
A pause.
Narrator: “It is judged.”
The screen cuts to the Sherwood Forest conflict.
Green torchlight.
Broken branches.
Steel in the dark.
Robin Hood pulls back a bowstring.
Little John stands like a living wall.
Will Scarlet spins a blade through his fingers.
Friar Tuck raises his fists with holy defiance.
Across from them, The King’s Hand advances.
Sheriff of Nottingham smiles beneath the shadow of authority.
Brute Bailiff cracks his knuckles.
Ledger Knight adjusts his gauntlets with cold precision.
Prince John appears behind them, smug and protected, watching others enforce his will.
Narrator: “In Sherwood, justice wears green.”
A hard cut.
Sheriff of Nottingham drives Robin Hood into a barricade.
Little John hurls Brute Bailiff against the ropes.
Ledger Knight smashes a forearm across Will Scarlet.
Friar Tuck stands between Prince John and the fallen.
Narrator: “But power has never surrendered because justice asked politely.”
The music sharpens.
The screen burns from green to red.
Prioress Malveil stands beneath a stained-glass image warped by shadow. Her hands are folded. Her expression is serene in the cruelest possible way.
Maid Marion steps into view, eyes steady, shoulders squared, refusing to bend.
Narrator: “Faith can shelter.”
A flash of Prioress Malveil raking her hand across Maid Marion’s face.
Narrator: “Faith can wound.”
Maid Marion fires back with a strike that snaps Prioress Malveil’s head aside.
Narrator: “And tonight, one woman finds out whether mercy can survive a hand that calls cruelty holy.”
The screen tears into black and silver.
The Convergent Championship fills the frame.
Jack Lumber stands with the title held high, broad-shouldered, battle-tested, a champion who looks like he was carved out of labor, grit, and defiance.
Then Mordred appears.
Cold eyes.
Dark armor.
The expression of a man who believes every throne is only waiting to be stolen.
Narrator: “A champion from beyond the borders of the Mythic Division enters hostile ground.”
Jack Lumber drops an opponent with raw force.
Mordred drives a knee into a fallen enemy’s ribs.
Jack Lumber turns toward Mordred.
Mordred smiles.
Narrator: “But ambition does not recognize borders.”
The Convergent Championship flashes again.
Narrator: “And betrayal has always known how to cross kingdoms.”
The music rises.
The screen shifts to gold fire.
The Eternal Flame Championship burns in the center of the frame.
Sinbad stands tall, ribs taped, the title resting against him like treasure won through storms.
Sir Lancelot kneels in a shaft of white light, then rises with the stillness of a knight who understands the cost of honor.
Narrator: “The flame belongs to the one who can carry it.”
Sinbad launches into motion, quick and daring.
Sir Lancelot catches an opponent with clean, devastating precision.
Sinbad clutches his taped ribs but refuses to fall.
Sir Lancelot looks at the Eternal Flame title with solemn focus.
Narrator: “But fire does not care whether the hand that holds it is noble.”
A burst of violet darkness overtakes the screen.
The Queen of the North Championship appears.
Lilith stands beneath a blood-red spotlight, the title gleaming at her waist, her smile calm and poisonous.
Across from her, Morgana Le Faye lifts her chin, ancient pride in her eyes, sorcery and strategy wrapped in royal contempt.
Narrator: “A queen of demons.”
Lilith drags an opponent down with merciless grace.
Narrator: “A sorceress of shadows.”
Morgana Le Faye raises one hand as the lights flicker around her.
Narrator: “Two women who do not seek validation.”
Lilith steps forward.
Morgana Le Faye steps forward.
The screen pulses.
Narrator: “They seek dominion.”
The North Star Tag Team Titles appear next.
Dorothy and Alice stand together, battle-worn but defiant, their eyes locked forward.
Across from them, the looming silhouettes of the champions are shown only in flashes: serpentine motion, cold gold, championship plates, and the green haze of danger.
Narrator: “Some stories are not finished when the heroes fall.”
Dorothy reaches for Alice.
Alice pulls herself up.
Dorothy points toward the title belts.
Alice nods.
Narrator: “Some stories become more dangerous when the heroes remember why they stood up the first time.”
The music cuts.
Silence.
Then the final images come faster.
King Arthur staring at the Mythic Crown.
Frankenstein’s Monster tightening his grip around the title.
Mordred looking toward a championship that does not belong to him.
Jack Lumber stepping into enemy territory.
Lilith laughing softly.
Morgana Le Faye whispering something unheard.
Sinbad pressing a hand to his taped ribs.
Sir Lancelot lowering his gaze.
Robin Hood and Sheriff of Nottingham standing nose-to-nose.
Maid Marion refusing to kneel before Prioress Malveil.
The drums stop.
The black screen returns.
The words appear in cold silver:
NPCW THE LONG NIGHT
LIVE FROM SCROOGE’S CAMELOT COLISEUM
MAY 31, 2026
The final voice returns.
Narrator: “Tonight, no kingdom sleeps.”
A last burst of fire.
A last flash of steel.
A last image of the Mythic Crown title.
Narrator: “Tonight, every story pays its debt.”
The screen cuts hard to the arena.
The roar is immediate.
Thousands fill Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum, the crowd bathed in torchlight and gold. The stage is massive, built like the entrance to an ancient fortress. Stone towers rise on each side. Iron braziers burn with blue and orange flame. A great drawbridge ramp stretches toward the ring.
Fans hold signs throughout the coliseum.
“ARTHUR WILL RECLAIM THE MYTH”
“MONSTERS DON’T NEED MERCY”
“SHERWOOD NEVER BOWS”
“MORDRED BETRAYS EVERYONE”
“LILITH FEARS NO QUEEN”
“LANCELOT CHASES THE FLAME”
“DOROTHY & ALICE: ONE MORE STORY”
The camera sweeps over the crowd as the music pounds.
Then the lights dim.
A single gold spotlight hits center stage.
A flourish of trumpets plays over the sound system.
Not noble trumpets.
Overproduced trumpets.
A little too bright.
A little too self-satisfied.
Gold confetti pops from both sides of the stage.
The crowd reacts with a mix of cheers, boos, laughter, and immediate suspicion.
Ebeneezer Scrooge steps onto the stage in a lavish dark green coat with gold trim. He carries a polished cane, wears a smug smile, and waves as if the entire coliseum has gathered to personally thank him for charging them admission.
Behind him, two attendants wheel out a velvet-covered presentation stand.
Scrooge stops at the top of the ramp and spreads his arms wide.
Scrooge: “Welcome, welcome, welcome to the greatest coliseum ever purchased, renovated, branded, monetized, and legally protected under the full authority of Scrooge Global Enterprises!”
The crowd boos and cheers at the same time.
Scrooge places one hand to his chest, pretending to be moved.
Scrooge: “Ah, listen to that. The sound of appreciation. Or resentment. Hard to tell from this distance, but both are excellent for engagement.”
He begins walking down the ramp.
The attendants follow with the covered stand.
Scrooge: “Tonight, you are not merely attending a professional wrestling event. No, no, no. You are participating in history. A very expensive history. A history that will be commemorated properly.”
Scrooge reaches ringside and climbs the steps with careful dignity. He enters the ring and gestures for the attendants to place the stand beside him.
A spotlight hits the velvet cloth.
Scrooge slowly removes it.
Beneath it sits a shining gold-like plated coin inside a clear display case. One side shows the outline of Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum. The other shows Scrooge’s face in profile, looking considerably more heroic than reality allows.
The crowd boos louder.
Scrooge beams.
Scrooge: “Behold! The official commemorative Long Night gold-like plated collector’s coin!”
He lifts the case carefully.
Scrooge: “Notice the craftsmanship. Notice the shimmer. Notice the way it suggests wealth without necessarily containing any legally binding promise of precious metal value.”
The crowd boos again.
Scrooge: “Each coin is individually numbered, unless demand exceeds expectations, at which point additional numbering solutions may be implemented.”
He turns the display toward the hard camera.
Scrooge: “For the astonishingly reasonable price of only ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents, plus shipping, handling, tax, convenience surcharge, preservation fee, coliseum improvement contribution, and a modest emotional processing charge, this treasure can be yours.”
A chant begins in the lower bowl.
“RIP-OFF! RIP-OFF! RIP-OFF!”
Scrooge points toward the crowd.
Scrooge: “That chant is not included with purchase, though I am considering licensing it.”
The chant grows louder.
Scrooge continues as if receiving a standing ovation.
Scrooge: “And remember, supplies are limited to the number we are able to sell.”
He lowers the case and leans toward the camera.
Scrooge: “Order now. Order twice. Order for loved ones. Order for enemies. Order for people who still owe you money and need a reminder of excellence.”
The lights flicker slightly.
The crowd noise changes.
The commercial absurdity begins to sink beneath the atmosphere of the night.
Scrooge feels it and glances upward, irritated that the building itself seems to be stealing his spotlight.
Scrooge: “Yes, yes, very dramatic. The shadows are lovely. The fire is ominous. The myths are restless. I paid for all of that.”
A darker blue light washes over the ring.
The camera catches the Mythic Division banners hanging high above the arena.
Scrooge clears his throat.
Scrooge: “But since some of you insist on treating tonight as a matter of destiny rather than merchandise, allow me to say this.”
The crowd settles slightly.
Scrooge lowers his voice, and for one brief moment, the businessman gives way to the owner of a coliseum built for violence.
Scrooge: “Tonight, this arena belongs to the Mythic Division. Tonight, kings, monsters, thieves, witches, knights, champions, and fools will walk through my gates and discover whether their stories are worth what they cost.”
He smiles again, sharper now.
Scrooge: “And fortunately, all of you paid to watch.”
The crowd erupts.
Scrooge lifts the coin one more time.
Scrooge: “Ninety-nine ninety-nine. Do not pretend you will not look it up during the first video package.”
He hands the display case back to an attendant, adjusts his coat, and exits the ring to a loud mixture of boos and amused applause.
As Scrooge makes his way up the ramp, the camera cuts to the announce desk.
Julian Ward sits composed behind the Dark Fable broadcast desk, dressed in a dark suit, his expression steady and serious. Beside him, Brick Brody leans back with arms folded, already scowling like the night has personally insulted him.
The desk is trimmed in black iron and dark wood. Behind them, the crowd rages beneath torchlight.
Julian Ward: “Good evening, everyone. We are live from Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum, and this is NPCW The Long Night. I am Julian Ward, joined as always by Brick Brody, and tonight the Mythic Division steps into a night built on consequence.”
Brick Brody: “Yeah, and on top of that, Scrooge just tried to sell everyone a coin that sounds like it comes with seven hidden fees and a curse. I respect the hustle, but I would respect it more if he charged extra for bloodstains.”
Julian Ward: “There may be no shortage of those before this night is finished. We open with the Sherwood Forest Fight, as The Merry Band collide with The King’s Hand in a battle that has become more than rebellion against authority. It has become a test of whether justice can survive when power stops pretending to be fair.”
Brick Brody: “That is the problem with Robin Hood and his boys. Too much justice, not enough finishing the job. The King’s Hand understands something simple. You do not win kingdoms with speeches. You win them by smashing people until the songs stop.”
Julian Ward: “We will also see Prioress Malveil meet Maid Marion. Prioress Malveil has wrapped cruelty in the language of sacred duty, while Maid Marion has refused to let fear become obedience.”
Brick Brody: “Maid Marion better bring more than courage. Courage is nice on a banner. It does not stop elbows, knees, or somebody who thinks hurting you is a holy assignment.”
Julian Ward: “The Convergent Championship will be defended on Mythic soil tonight. Jack Lumber arrives as champion, but waiting for him is Mordred, a man whose entire existence is built around betrayal, ambition, and the belief that every crown can be stolen.”
Brick Brody: “Now that one has my attention. Jack Lumber is tough. He is rugged. He is exactly the kind of man who thinks hard work protects you from a knife in the ribs. Mordred is going to test that theory.”
Julian Ward: “The Eternal Flame Championship will be at stake as Sinbad, still carrying the damage of recent battles, defends against Sir Lancelot. The champion has survived storms, monsters, and wounds that would have stopped lesser men. But Sir Lancelot may be the most disciplined challenge he has faced.”
Brick Brody: “Disciplined, noble, polished, all those nice pretty knight words. But Sinbad has taped ribs, and if Sir Lancelot is half as smart as people say he is, he will turn those ribs into kindling.”
Julian Ward: “The Queen of the North Championship will also be defended. Lilith, champion, demon queen, and one of the most dangerous forces in NPCW, meets Morgana Le Faye, whose ambition may be every bit as cold and consuming.”
Brick Brody: “That is not a match. That is a throne room with ropes around it. Lilith does not fear anybody. Morgana Le Faye does not respect anybody. I hope they tear each other apart and leave enough left for a rematch.”
Julian Ward: “And before the main event, we will hear from the Mythic Crown Champion, Frankenstein’s Monster, and Dr. Frankenstein. Then, in tonight’s final battle, Frankenstein’s Monster defends the Mythic Crown against King Arthur.”
The crowd surges at the mention of the main event.
A chant begins.
“AR-THUR! AR-THUR! AR-THUR!”
It is quickly met by another.
“MON-STER! MON-STER! MON-STER!”
The two chants collide in the arena.
Julian Ward: “Listen to this place. Divided between a king and a monster. Between symbol and survival. Between the old promise of Camelot and the living consequence of creation.”
Brick Brody: “I will tell you what I hear, Julian. I hear a crowd that better decide what it actually wants. They cheer King Arthur because he looks like a legend. They cheer Frankenstein’s Monster because deep down, people love something that can walk through punishment and keep coming. One of them leaves with the crown. The other leaves with a story about why he failed.”
Julian Ward: “Tonight, every championship carries weight. Every rivalry carries history. Every victory will demand a cost. This is not merely a pay-per-view. This is the longest shadow the Mythic Division has cast this year.”
Brick Brody: “Good. Shadows are where the smart fighters do their best work.”
The camera pulls back from the announce desk and sweeps across the coliseum again.
The torches flare.
The ring lights dim.
A deep horn sounds through the arena.
Julian Ward: “The talking is nearly finished. The first trial is upon us.”
Brick Brody: “And mercy better stay in the locker room.”
The screen fades into a dark green wash.
The words appear:
SHERWOOD FOREST FIGHT
THE MERRY BAND
VS
THE KING’S HAND
The broadcast does not return to the ring inside Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum.
Instead, the camera cuts outside.
Night has fully fallen.
Beyond the walls of the coliseum, beneath a cold and clouded sky, a narrow path leads into a forested stretch of land carved out beside the arena grounds. Tall trees surround a small clearing. Lanterns hang from branches. Old wooden carts sit near the perimeter. A tavern table has been placed near ringside. A crooked tree with a heavy rope hanging from one of its branches looms beyond the far corner.
At the center of the clearing stands a wrestling ring.
No LED boards.
No clean stage lights.
Only torchlight.
Only shadows.
Only the sound of the crowd from the coliseum in the distance, mixed with the live audience gathered around the clearing behind wooden barricades.
A graphic fills the screen.
SHERWOOD FOREST FIGHT
NO TIME LIMIT
NO DISQUALIFICATION
NO COUNTOUT
SPECIAL REFEREE: HONEST ALAN
The camera finds Honest Alan already standing inside the ring. He wears a referee shirt that looks slightly too formal for the setting, his face alert, nervous, and determined to appear impartial. He looks around the forest clearing as if every tree might submit an objection.
At ringside, several guards stand watch near the barricades.
But Prince John is nowhere to be seen.
The camera cuts back briefly to the commentary position inside the coliseum, where Julian Ward and Brick Brody watch the feed from their desk.
Julian Ward: “We have moved outside the walls of Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum, into a forest clearing constructed for one purpose only: to settle the war between The Merry Band and The King’s Hand under conditions where authority has very few places to hide.”
Brick Brody: “Except Prince John found one anyway. Smart man. He stayed in the coliseum where the chairs are softer, the food is warmer, and nobody can cave his head in with a tree branch.”
Julian Ward: “No time limit. No disqualification. No countout. This is a fight shaped by Sherwood itself.”
Brick Brody: “Which means all that heroic nonsense from The Merry Band better come with a good right hand, because trees do not care about honor, tables do not care about justice, and The King’s Hand sure does not care about rules.”
A low drumbeat begins.
Torches flare along the forest path.
The King’s Hand Entrance
The first to emerge from the darkness is Ledger Knight.
He walks with cold precision, armor plates glinting beneath his dark gear, every movement measured like a sentence being recorded in a punishment ledger. He does not look at the crowd. He studies the ring, the trees, the carts, the table, every object as if calculating its use before the bell even rings.
Behind him comes Brute Bailiff.
Massive.
Heavy.
Merciless.
He rolls his shoulders as he walks, breathing through his nose, fists opening and closing. He slaps one hand against a wooden cart at ringside, testing its weight with a grim smile.
Then comes Sheriff of Nottingham.
He steps out last, calm and cruel, dressed like a man who believes the law is whatever he can enforce. His expression is satisfied even before the fight begins. He pauses at the edge of the clearing and looks toward the ring like a landlord inspecting property he intends to seize.
The three members of The King’s Hand move together toward the ring.
No Prince John.
No royal shield at ringside.
Only enforcers.
Brick Brody: “Look at that. No pageantry. No pretending. Just three men who understand force. I love a team that walks into the woods and immediately starts looking for things to throw people into.”
Julian Ward: “Without Prince John at ringside, The King’s Hand may not have the luxury of political protection tonight. But they still bring brutality, discipline, and a willingness to use the forest itself as a weapon.”
Sheriff of Nottingham enters first, then Ledger Knight, then Brute Bailiff steps over the middle rope with a slow, threatening glare toward Honest Alan.
Honest Alan immediately points to his referee patch as if reminding everyone that he has legal standing.
Brute Bailiff looks unimpressed.
The Merry Band Entrance
The drums shift.
A wooden flute cuts through the air.
The crowd around the clearing rises.
From the opposite path, Friar Tuck emerges first.
He walks with broad shoulders, fists wrapped, his expression unusually severe. There is warmth in him, but tonight it has been buried beneath purpose. He taps one fist against his chest, then points toward The King’s Hand.
Behind him comes Little John.
The largest man of The Merry Band moves through the trees like the forest made room for him. He carries no weapon, but he does not need one. He places one hand on the top rope and stares across at Brute Bailiff, the clearing immediately feeling too small for both men.
Then the crowd erupts as Robin Hood appears.
Hood drawn low.
Eyes sharp.
He steps from the shadows with controlled defiance, walking not like a rebel hiding from authority, but like a man returning to land that never stopped belonging to the people. He looks toward the crooked tree near ringside, then toward the tavern table, then toward Sheriff of Nottingham.
The two men lock eyes from across the ring.
Julian Ward: “There is Robin Hood, and in this setting, his presence carries a different weight. This is not a ring dressed as a forest. This is a forest being asked to witness judgment.”
Brick Brody: “Judgment does not pin anybody, Julian. If Robin Hood wants to win tonight, he better stop acting like Sherwood is going to reach down and save him. Woods are full of graves.”
Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, and Little John enter the ring together.
The two teams stand across from each other.
Honest Alan moves to the center and begins issuing instructions.
Nobody listens.
Ring Introductions
Louie Linville stands at ringside near a small wooden platform, microphone in hand, framed by torchlight and the black outline of the trees.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, this opening contest of NPCW The Long Night is the Sherwood Forest Fight. There is no time limit. There are no disqualifications. There are no countouts. The match will end only by pinfall or submission inside the ring.”
The crowd cheers.
Louie Linville: “Serving as special referee, charged with maintaining order where order may not survive, Honest Alan.”
Honest Alan raises one hand with forced confidence.
Louie Linville: “Introducing first, representing the authority of Prince John, the collectors of punishment, the keepers of forced order, The King’s Hand: Ledger Knight, Brute Bailiff, and the Sheriff of Nottingham.”
Sheriff of Nottingham smirks.
Ledger Knight remains still.
Brute Bailiff cracks his neck.
Louie Linville: “And their opponents, fighting in the name of Sherwood, rebellion, and those who refuse to kneel to stolen power, Friar Tuck, Little John, and Robin Hood… The Merry Band.”
The crowd around the clearing roars.
Robin Hood steps forward.
Sheriff of Nottingham steps forward.
Honest Alan gets between them and calls for the bell.
The bell sounds.
Minute 1
The match begins with control collapsing immediately.
Robin Hood and Brute Bailiff start as the legal men, but within seconds all six wrestlers flood the ring. Honest Alan tries to point toward the aprons, but the no-disqualification environment turns the opening into a full collision.
Robin Hood ducks under Brute Bailiff’s first swing and snaps him down with a DDT that spikes the big man into the canvas. Friar Tuck surges in beside him and takes Ledger Knight over with a rolling scissors, using surprising speed to send the armored enforcer tumbling across the mat.
Little John meets Sheriff of Nottingham near the ropes and drives a heavy punch into his midsection, folding the Sheriff forward. But Brute Bailiff rises fast enough to catch Friar Tuck and launch him with a flapjack, sending him crashing face-first.
Ledger Knight recovers and grabs Little John from the side, forcing him backward before throwing him with a backdrop into the wooden cart positioned near the apron. The cart shudders from the impact as Little John spills hard to the ground.
Sheriff of Nottingham capitalizes by blasting Robin Hood with a lariat that turns the rebel leader inside out.
Honest Alan throws both arms out and shouts for order.
Nobody gives it to him.
Julian Ward: “The opening minute has become exactly what the stipulation promised: unrestrained contact, all six bodies entering the fight, and the forest itself already being used as part of the battlefield.”
Brick Brody: “That is what I am talking about. Forget tags. Forget clean breaks. Ledger Knight just introduced Little John to a wooden cart like it owed back taxes. That is enforcement.”
Julian Ward: “Robin Hood struck first with the DDT, but The King’s Hand answered with immediate violence. The environment may favor The Merry Band symbolically, but physically, The King’s Hand came prepared.”
Brick Brody: “Symbols do not stop lariats. That is the first lesson of the night.”
Honest Alan finally forces the illegal men back toward their corners, though both teams do so reluctantly.
Robin Hood and Brute Bailiff remain legal.
Minute 2
Robin Hood wastes no time.
As Brute Bailiff pushes to his feet, Robin Hood darts in, turns sharply, and drops him with Arrow’d End, snapping the big man’s jaw against his shoulder with a sudden stunner.
Brute Bailiff staggers backward, arms loose, eyes glassed over.
Robin Hood pulls him down and hooks the leg.
Honest Alan drops to count, but Brute Bailiff kicks out before danger fully sets in.
Robin Hood does not argue. He rises quickly and tags Friar Tuck.
Across the ring, Brute Bailiff rolls toward his corner and tags Sheriff of Nottingham.
The crowd tightens as Friar Tuck and Sheriff of Nottingham step in.
Julian Ward: “There is Arrow’d End from Robin Hood, and in a match this chaotic, even one clean opening can matter. He tags out before Brute Bailiff can recover.”
Brick Brody: “Smartest thing Robin Hood has done so far. Hit the big man, get out, and let somebody else deal with the consequences.”
Julian Ward: “Now Friar Tuck meets the Sheriff of Nottingham, and this is a very different emotional conflict. Friar Tuck has seen what power wrapped in law can do to the people of Sherwood.”
Brick Brody: “Then he better stop preaching and start squeezing. The Sheriff is not going to confess because a friar looks disappointed.”
Friar Tuck steps forward with his fists raised.
Sheriff of Nottingham circles slowly, smiling like he already knows where the weakness is.
Minute 3
Both men hesitate at first, each measuring the other.
Friar Tuck feints with a right hand. Sheriff of Nottingham slips back.
Sheriff of Nottingham reaches for a collar tie, but Friar Tuck blocks it.
They reset.
Then Friar Tuck lunges in, wraps both arms around Sheriff of Nottingham, and locks in the Keg Crusher, a crushing bear hug that lifts the Sheriff off his feet.
The crowd roars as Sheriff of Nottingham’s smug expression vanishes.
Friar Tuck squeezes harder, planting his stance in the center of the ring. Sheriff of Nottingham claws at the shoulders, then at the face, but Friar Tuck keeps the hold cinched.
Honest Alan moves in close.
Sheriff of Nottingham refuses to submit.
Friar Tuck tightens the hold again.
The Sheriff’s boots kick uselessly.
Just as Honest Alan asks again, Ledger Knight charges in and drives a shot into Friar Tuck’s back, forcing the break.
The crowd boos as Honest Alan shouts at Ledger Knight, who simply retreats without concern.
Friar Tuck releases the hold and stumbles forward, frustration flashing across his face.
He tags Robin Hood back in.
Julian Ward: “Friar Tuck had the Sheriff of Nottingham trapped in the Keg Crusher, and for a moment, the Sheriff had nowhere to go.”
Brick Brody: “Wrong. He had a partner. That is where he had to go. Ledger Knight made the save because that is what useful teammates do. They break ribs, break holds, and break momentum.”
Julian Ward: “Legal or not, Ledger Knight’s intervention prevented a submission threat very early in this fight.”
Brick Brody: “There is no disqualification, Julian. Legal is whatever Honest Alan survives long enough to count.”
Robin Hood enters as Sheriff of Nottingham clutches his ribs and drags himself upright.
The stare between them sharpens.
Minute 4
Robin Hood charges.
He grabs Sheriff of Nottingham by the head and tries to drive him toward the crooked tree outside the ring, clearly looking to smash him into the rough bark of the hangman’s tree and draw blood.
But Sheriff of Nottingham plants his boot against the lower rope and reverses the momentum, yanking Robin Hood backward by the hood and neck.
Sheriff of Nottingham slips behind him and clamps on a sleeper.
The crowd boos as Robin Hood reaches for the ropes, body dropping slightly under the pressure.
Honest Alan checks the arm.
Robin Hood fights his way back up.
He twists his hips, breaks the grip, and reverses out, throwing Sheriff of Nottingham forward.
Robin Hood turns and fires a superkick.
Sheriff of Nottingham catches enough of it on his forearms to neutralize the blow, stumbling but staying upright.
The exchange leaves both men breathing hard.
Sheriff of Nottingham backs toward his corner and tags Brute Bailiff.
Julian Ward: “Robin Hood attempted to use the hangman’s tree, perhaps to make the Sheriff answer to the very symbol of fear he has used against Sherwood. But Sheriff of Nottingham reversed it and nearly trapped him in the sleeper.”
Brick Brody: “That was beautiful. Robin Hood tried to get poetic, and the Sheriff choked the poetry out of him.”
Julian Ward: “The superkick was blocked, and now Brute Bailiff returns. Robin Hood has spent much of this match absorbing the pressure of every member of The King’s Hand.”
Brick Brody: “That is what happens when you call yourself a leader. Everybody wants to hit you first.”
Brute Bailiff steps over the ropes again.
He looks fresh enough.
Robin Hood does not.
Minute 5
Robin Hood braces himself.
Brute Bailiff does not come alone.
Ledger Knight enters.
Sheriff of Nottingham enters behind him.
Honest Alan waves both arms, shouting that only one man should be in the ring, but the no-disqualification rule leaves him with no real authority to stop the attack.
Brute Bailiff grabs Robin Hood by the wrist and yanks him into a short-arm lariat that crashes across the chest.
Before Robin Hood can fall cleanly, Ledger Knight steps in and hammers him with backhand chops, each one landing with sharp, cracking precision.
Sheriff of Nottingham finishes the sequence by hooking Robin Hood and driving him down with a Russian legsweep.
Robin Hood hits the canvas hard.
Friar Tuck and Little John try to enter, but Honest Alan instinctively moves to hold them back, creating just enough hesitation for The King’s Hand to complete the damage.
The crowd roars in anger.
Robin Hood rolls to his side, chest heaving.
Brute Bailiff stands over him.
Julian Ward: “The numbers come into play again. The King’s Hand have turned the stipulation into a license for coordinated punishment.”
Brick Brody: “That is not punishment. That is teamwork with a spine. Brute Bailiff hits you like a door slamming shut, Ledger Knight chops you like he is marking inventory, and the Sheriff puts you down like a man signing the order.”
Julian Ward: “Honest Alan is trying to maintain structure, but in this environment, his instincts may actually be hurting The Merry Band.”
Brick Brody: “Then The Merry Band should have picked a referee with worse morals and better survival skills.”
Brute Bailiff drags Robin Hood back to the center of the ring.
Honest Alan checks on Robin Hood, who pushes him away and forces himself up.
Minute 6
Robin Hood explodes from the mat.
As Brute Bailiff reaches down, Robin Hood catches his arm, twists behind him, and trips the base. He pulls the big man down and locks in a sharpshooter, sitting deep into the hold.
Brute Bailiff bellows in pain.
The crowd around the clearing comes alive.
Robin Hood leans back, wrenching the legs and lower back, trying to make the enforcer submit in the middle of Sherwood soil.
But Brute Bailiff claws at the canvas, refusing to give in.
In desperation, he pushes up just enough to swing one fist backward, hammering Robin Hood in the side with a brutal hammer fist barrage.
The shots land again and again, but Robin Hood keeps the sharpshooter applied.
Honest Alan asks Brute Bailiff if he submits.
Before the answer comes, Sheriff of Nottingham storms in and drives a boot into Robin Hood, breaking the hold.
The boos are immediate.
Brute Bailiff rolls away and tags Ledger Knight.
Julian Ward: “Robin Hood nearly had Brute Bailiff trapped. The sharpshooter was locked in deeply, and for all the punishment he has taken, Robin Hood found a way to turn the big man’s base against him.”
Brick Brody: “And then the Sheriff did exactly what I would have done. Kick the man in the head and save your partner. This is not a tournament of manners.”
Julian Ward: “Every time The Merry Band begins to build toward a decisive hold, The King’s Hand breaks the rhythm through interference.”
Brick Brody: “That is called knowing the rules. There are none.”
Ledger Knight enters as Robin Hood pushes up to one knee.
The two circle.
Minute 7
Robin Hood strikes first.
He ducks under Ledger Knight’s reaching arm, hooks him from the side, and lifts with a sudden burst of force into a pumphandle kneecap brainbuster. Ledger Knight lands violently, his body folding on impact.
But Ledger Knight does not stay down.
He rolls toward the ropes, catches himself, and as Robin Hood closes in, Ledger Knight uses both hands to shove him face-first into the turnbuckle.
The impact snaps Robin Hood’s head back.
Ledger Knight follows with a shoulder to the spine, pinning him against the corner.
Robin Hood fires an elbow backward.
Ledger Knight absorbs it and clubs him again.
Both men stagger out of the corner, damaged but still moving.
Julian Ward: “A vicious brainbuster variation from Robin Hood, but Ledger Knight answered with that cold, mechanical instinct. He does not need emotion to hurt someone.”
Brick Brody: “That is why I like him. No speeches. No rebellion. No little green hat nonsense. Just angles, impact, and somebody’s skull meeting the buckle.”
Julian Ward: “Robin Hood is carrying visible damage now. He has been isolated for long stretches, and while this is not a traditional tag match in spirit, the toll is becoming clear.”
Brick Brody: “Clear to everybody except Robin Hood, apparently. Pride keeps men standing just long enough to get planted.”
Robin Hood blinks hard, trying to refocus.
Ledger Knight advances.
Minute 8
The pace slows for a moment.
Both Robin Hood and Ledger Knight appear to be feeling the accumulation of the fight.
They lock up near the ropes.
Ledger Knight tries to drag Robin Hood down by the arm, but Robin Hood rolls through, springs up, and creates separation.
Ledger Knight steps forward.
Robin Hood snaps a superkick directly to the jaw.
This time it lands clean.
Ledger Knight drops backward and hits the mat.
The crowd erupts.
Robin Hood falls into the cover.
Honest Alan counts.
One.
Two.
Ledger Knight kicks out.
Robin Hood sits up, jaw tight, frustration controlled but visible.
Ledger Knight crawls toward his corner and tags Sheriff of Nottingham.
The crowd boos as the Sheriff steps through the ropes again, fully aware that Robin Hood has been worn down.
Julian Ward: “The superkick lands clean on Ledger Knight, and Robin Hood nearly steals back momentum for The Merry Band.”
Brick Brody: “Nearly. That is the most useless word in wrestling. Nearly won. Nearly escaped. Nearly had him. You know what nearly gets you? Another opponent.”
Julian Ward: “And now it is Sheriff of Nottingham returning at the moment Robin Hood may be most vulnerable.”
Brick Brody: “That is not luck. That is timing. The Sheriff waited until the rebel was tired enough to hang.”
Sheriff of Nottingham enters slowly.
He does not rush.
He wants Robin Hood to stand.
Minute 9
Robin Hood pulls himself up near the center of the ring.
Sheriff of Nottingham steps in and drives a knee into the midsection. He grabs Robin Hood by the back of the head and drags him toward the ropes, then hauls him out toward the tavern table set near ringside.
Honest Alan follows, shouting that the fall must happen inside the ring, but he cannot stop what comes before it.
Sheriff of Nottingham clears the table with one sweep of his arm.
Wooden mugs and metal plates scatter into the dirt.
He hooks Robin Hood for the piledriver.
The crowd rises in alarm.
Friar Tuck starts around the ring.
Little John moves from the apron.
Then, from the tree line, Will Scarlet appears.
For one impossible moment, the crowd cheers, believing help has arrived.
Robin Hood struggles in Sheriff of Nottingham’s grip.
Will Scarlet steps closer, quarterstaff in hand.
Sheriff of Nottingham holds Robin Hood in position.
Will Scarlet raises the staff.
And strikes Robin Hood.
The blow cracks across Robin Hood’s back and shoulder.
The clearing freezes.
Friar Tuck stops dead.
Little John’s eyes widen.
Julian Ward: “What…”
Brick Brody: “Oh, no.”
Robin Hood buckles.
Sheriff of Nottingham smiles.
He lifts Robin Hood and drives him down with a piledriver through the tavern table.
The table explodes beneath them.
Wood splinters across the dirt.
The crowd erupts into shocked noise as Robin Hood lies motionless in the wreckage.
Sheriff of Nottingham drags him up with both hands, shoves him under the bottom rope, and slides in after him.
He covers Robin Hood.
Honest Alan drops to the mat.
One.
Two.
Three.
The bell rings.
For a moment, nobody moves.
Will Scarlet stands at ringside with the quarterstaff lowered.
Friar Tuck looks at him as if the world has shifted beneath his feet.
Little John steps down from the apron, fury building in his face.
Sheriff of Nottingham rolls away from the cover, laughing under his breath.
Ledger Knight and Brute Bailiff enter the ring, standing behind him like walls of authority restored.
Julian Ward: “Will Scarlet struck Robin Hood. The quarterstaff blow came from Robin Hood’s own ally, and it opened the door for Sheriff of Nottingham to drive him through that tavern table with the piledriver.”
Brick Brody: “That was not a door, Julian. That was a trapdoor. And Robin Hood just fell through it.”
Julian Ward: “This was not merely a defeat for The Merry Band. This was betrayal in the heart of Sherwood.”
Brick Brody: “Everybody wants to sing about loyalty until somebody offers them a better ending. I do not know why Will Scarlet did it, but I know this: he picked the moment perfectly.”
Honest Alan checks on Robin Hood, still shaken by what he just counted.
Sheriff of Nottingham rises and demands his hand be raised.
Honest Alan hesitates.
Sheriff of Nottingham steps closer.
Honest Alan raises his hand.
The crowd boos hard.
Brute Bailiff raises both fists.
Ledger Knight looks toward Will Scarlet, expression unreadable.
Will Scarlet does not enter the ring.
He backs slowly into the shadows of the forest path, quarterstaff still in hand.
Friar Tuck kneels beside Robin Hood.
Little John watches Will Scarlet disappear, torn between chasing him and protecting his fallen friend.
Inside the ring, Sheriff of Nottingham stands tall over the wreckage of the opening match.
Julian Ward: “The King’s Hand have won the Sherwood Forest Fight, but the victory may not be the lasting image. The lasting image may be Will Scarlet raising that quarterstaff against Robin Hood.”
Brick Brody: “That is because betrayal hits harder than any piledriver. But do not take credit away from the Sheriff. He saw the moment, he used the moment, and he finished the job like a man who understands power.”
Julian Ward: “Tonight began with a war between rebellion and authority. It has now become something darker. The Merry Band have not only lost the fight. They may have lost trust in one of their own.”
THE KING’S HAND DEFEATED THE MERRY BAND WHEN SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM PINNED ROBIN HOOD AFTER A PILEDRIVER THROUGH THE TAVERN TABLE, FOLLOWING INTERFERENCE FROM WILL SCARLET.
The broadcast returns from the forest clearing in silence.
Not full silence.
The distant crowd can still be heard.
But the energy has changed.
The betrayal of Will Scarlet lingers over the show like smoke that refuses to clear.
The camera cuts backstage inside Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum.
The corridor is built of dark stone and polished black iron. Torchlight moves across the walls in uneven waves. Banners bearing the sigil of Camelot hang along the passage, but tonight they do not look decorative.
They look like witnesses.
Hana Nakamura stands near a carved stone archway, microphone in hand. Her expression is composed, but the weight of the night is visible in her eyes. She glances once toward the camera, then steadies herself.
Beside her stands King Arthur.
He wears his ring gear beneath a deep royal cloak trimmed in silver. His face is calm, but not relaxed. His eyes carry the burden of a man who understands that the night ahead is not only about victory.
It is about what his name is still worth.
At his side stands Merlin.
The old wizard’s hood is drawn back. His hands rest lightly atop his staff. He watches the corridor ahead with the distant expression of someone listening to thunder before anyone else can hear it.
Hana Nakamura: “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my guests at this time… Merlin, and the challenger in tonight’s main event for the Mythic Crown Championship… King Arthur.”
A strong reaction rises from inside the arena.
The chant comes faintly through the stone.
“AR-THUR! AR-THUR! AR-THUR!”
Hana Nakamura turns toward him.
Hana Nakamura: “King Arthur, tonight you face Frankenstein’s Monster for the Mythic Crown title. The Mythic Crown represents the highest honor in this division, but tonight feels like something larger than a championship match. After everything that has happened on the road to The Long Night, what does this opportunity mean to you?”
King Arthur looks down for a moment.
He does not rush to answer.
When he speaks, his voice is steady.
King Arthur: “A crown is often mistaken for possession.”
He lifts his eyes.
King Arthur: “Men see gold, metal, jewels, and they believe the crown belongs to the one strong enough to seize it. That is the oldest lie power ever told.”
Hana Nakamura listens closely.
King Arthur: “A crown is not owned. It is answered to.”
The crowd inside the coliseum reacts.
King Arthur: “The Mythic Crown has passed into the hands of a being who was made, abandoned, feared, wounded, and taught by cruelty that strength may be the only language the world understands.”
He pauses.
King Arthur: “I do not deny Frankenstein’s Monster his pain. I do not deny his strength. I do not deny that he has earned the fear he inspires.”
Merlin watches him with quiet approval.
King Arthur: “But fear cannot be the law of this division.”
Hana Nakamura: “There are many who believe Frankenstein’s Monster is not simply a champion, but a force that cannot be reasoned with. A force that may not even care about legacy or honor the way you do. How do you prepare for someone like that?”
King Arthur turns slightly, looking toward the unseen arena.
King Arthur: “By telling the truth.”
He looks back to Hana Nakamura.
King Arthur: “I cannot match his burden. I cannot feel the stitches that hold him together. I cannot know the horror of waking into a world that looked upon me and called me a mistake.”
His expression hardens.
King Arthur: “But I can meet him in the ring.”
He steps closer to the camera, still controlled, still regal, but with iron beneath the words.
King Arthur: “I can stand before him not as a scientist, not as a judge, not as a frightened villager with a torch in his hand… but as a king.”
A louder cheer rolls through the building.
King Arthur: “And a true king does not run from what the world has wounded.”
Merlin lowers his gaze for a moment, then speaks for the first time.
Merlin: “There are monsters born of darkness.”
His voice is low and ancient.
Merlin: “There are monsters born of men.”
He turns his eyes toward Hana Nakamura.
Merlin: “And there are monsters born when men refuse responsibility for what they have created.”
A slight shadow moves across the torchlit wall behind them.
Merlin: “Frankenstein’s Monster is not a simple creature of rage. That would make him easier to defeat. He carries memory. He carries rejection. He carries the terrible clarity of one who has been denied humanity and has survived anyway.”
Hana Nakamura: “Then do you believe King Arthur is walking into more than a physical fight tonight?”
Merlin: “He is walking into the question beneath the Mythic Crown.”
Hana Nakamura: “What question is that?”
Merlin looks to King Arthur.
Merlin: “Who has the right to lead a world filled with the broken?”
The words hang in the corridor.
King Arthur absorbs them.
Hana Nakamura turns back toward him, her voice softer now.
Hana Nakamura: “King Arthur, earlier tonight we saw betrayal strike Robin Hood in the heart of Sherwood. We saw what happens when trust breaks in a legend. Does that weigh on you as you prepare for your own battle?”
King Arthur exhales slowly.
King Arthur: “It does.”
He looks toward the floor, then back up.
King Arthur: “Because legends are not protected from betrayal. They are tested by it.”
The crowd noise swells again, quieter than before but deeply present.
King Arthur: “Camelot was not perfect. No kingdom is. No brotherhood is. No court is free of envy, pride, weakness, or ambition. I know betrayal. I know the sound of a blade drawn by a familiar hand.”
His jaw tightens.
King Arthur: “But betrayal does not end a legend unless the legend surrenders to it.”
Hana Nakamura: “And tonight?”
King Arthur: “Tonight, I do not surrender.”
The words are simple.
The camera holds on him.
King Arthur: “Tonight, I fight Frankenstein’s Monster not because I hate him. Not because I think he is unworthy. Not because the Mythic Crown must be rescued from him as though he were some beast in a tale told to frighten children.”
He steps forward.
King Arthur: “I fight him because the crown must mean more than survival.”
The reaction inside the arena grows louder.
King Arthur: “It must mean restraint when rage would be easier. Duty when loneliness would excuse cruelty. Mercy when vengeance begs to be called justice.”
Merlin closes his eyes briefly, as if hearing an old oath spoken in a new age.
King Arthur: “If Frankenstein’s Monster wishes to prove that pain gives him the right to rule, then I will answer him. If Dr. Frankenstein believes creation is ownership, then I will answer him. If this division believes the strongest hand alone deserves the crown, then I will answer that as well.”
Hana Nakamura: “How?”
King Arthur looks directly into the camera.
King Arthur: “With every breath I have.”
The crowd erupts.
“AR-THUR! AR-THUR! AR-THUR!”
King Arthur: “Tonight, I walk into The Long Night knowing the monster across from me may break my body.”
A pause.
King Arthur: “But he will not break what the crown demands.”
Merlin places one hand on King Arthur’s shoulder.
Merlin: “Remember this, Arthur. The night is long because men fear the dark. But dawn does not come to those who merely wait for it.”
King Arthur nods.
King Arthur: “Then I will bring it with me.”
Hana Nakamura lowers the microphone slightly, visibly moved, then raises it again.
Hana Nakamura: “King Arthur, Merlin, thank you. Tonight, in the main event of The Long Night, King Arthur challenges Frankenstein’s Monster for the Mythic Crown Championship.”
King Arthur gives one final look into the camera.
King Arthur: “To Frankenstein’s Monster… I say this with respect, and with no fear.”
He takes a measured breath.
King Arthur: “Bring all that you are.”
The torchlight behind him flares.
King Arthur: “I will do the same.”
Merlin and King Arthur turn and walk down the stone corridor together.
Hana Nakamura remains in frame for a moment, watching them go.
The chant from the arena continues to bleed through the walls.
“AR-THUR! AR-THUR! AR-THUR!”
The camera slowly fades back toward ringside.
The broadcast returns from the backstage corridor to the interior of Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum.
The arena lights dim.
The aftermath of King Arthur’s words still hangs over the crowd, but the mood shifts quickly. The gold and torchlight of Camelot darkens into stained-glass color across the entrance stage. Deep crimson. Cold white. Bruised violet.
A bell tolls once.
Then again.
Then a third time.
Julian Ward: “We move now from the promise of kingship to the corruption of authority. Maid Marion steps into the ring against Prioress Malveil, and Prince John has chosen to accompany Prioress Malveil tonight.”
Brick Brody: “Chosen to accompany her? That is a polite way of saying Prince John found another person to hide behind while somebody else does the hurting.”
Julian Ward: “The official for this contest is Honest Abe, and after what we saw in the opening match, every official on this show may find themselves tested.”
Brick Brody: “Especially with Prince John at ringside. That little weasel could cheat in an empty room and still blame the furniture.”
The entrance screen fills with the image of a ruined abbey.
Prioress Malveil Entrance
A line of hooded attendants steps onto the stage, each carrying a black candle.
The crowd boos.
The candles do not flicker.
They burn with pale, unnatural light.
Prioress Malveil emerges behind them.
She walks slowly, hands folded at her waist, her expression serene in a way that feels more like judgment than peace. Her ring gear is black and ivory, cut with sharp ecclesiastical lines, like a holy robe remade for violence.
Beside her walks Prince John.
He wears rich colors and a smug expression, one hand tucked inside his coat, the other waving lazily at the crowd as if their hatred is proof of his importance.
Julian Ward: “There is a disturbing calm to Prioress Malveil. She does not carry herself as someone entering competition. She carries herself as someone entering a sentence already passed.”
Brick Brody: “That is because she believes she is right. Dangerous people are bad. Dangerous people who think heaven cosigned their paperwork are worse.”
Prince John sneers at the front row, then points toward the ring as if ordering Prioress Malveil forward.
Prioress Malveil never looks at him.
She enters the ring, kneels briefly in the center, then rises with her eyes fixed on the entrance.
Maid Marion Entrance
The lights shift.
The dark stained-glass glow gives way to forest green and gold.
A single flute melody rises, not bright, but brave.
Maid Marion steps onto the stage.
The crowd cheers immediately.
She wears deep green and silver, her posture upright, her eyes locked on the ring. There is no fear in her walk, but there is understanding. She knows she is entering a trap dressed as a match.
She pauses at the top of the ramp as the crowd chants her name.
“MAR-I-ON! MAR-I-ON! MAR-I-ON!”
Maid Marion looks toward Prince John, then toward Prioress Malveil.
She starts down the ramp.
Julian Ward: “Maid Marion has never needed a crown to show courage. Tonight, she stands against a woman who has turned faith into a weapon and a prince who treats people as possessions.”
Brick Brody: “Courage is pretty until somebody kicks your teeth loose. Maid Marion better bring something meaner than moral clarity.”
Maid Marion enters the ring and immediately steps toward Prioress Malveil.
Honest Abe moves between them.
Prince John climbs onto the apron, whispering something to Prioress Malveil.
Maid Marion points at him.
Honest Abe orders Prince John down.
Prince John smiles, drops to ringside, and adjusts his cuffs.
Ring Introductions
Louie Linville stands at center ring, microphone in hand, framed beneath the torchlight.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall.”
The crowd reacts.
Louie Linville: “Introducing first, accompanied to the ring by Prince John… she is the hand of sanctified punishment, the voice of cold devotion, Prioress Malveil.”
Prioress Malveil lowers her head slightly, accepting the introduction like a prayer.
Louie Linville: “And her opponent… standing for Sherwood, for defiance, and for every soul who refuses to bow beneath corrupted power… Maid Marion.”
The crowd cheers loudly.
Maid Marion steps forward, never taking her eyes off Prioress Malveil.
Honest Abe checks both competitors, then calls for the bell.
The bell rings.
Minute 1
Prioress Malveil opens with sudden speed.
She catches Maid Marion before Maid Marion can settle into stance, hooks her forward, and drives her down with a wheelbarrow bulldog. Maid Marion’s face hits the canvas hard, and Prioress Malveil rolls smoothly to one knee, hands still composed, as if the attack required no effort.
Maid Marion pushes to her elbows, absorbing the punishment but clearly shaken by the impact.
At ringside, Prince John applauds with exaggerated dignity.
Julian Ward: “A brutal opening from Prioress Malveil. She attacked without hesitation and drove Maid Marion down hard with the wheelbarrow bulldog.”
Brick Brody: “That is how you start a fight. Do not let the brave one get comfortable. Put her face-first into the mat and see how much courage leaks out.”
Julian Ward: “Maid Marion is already being forced to fight from underneath, and with Prince John at ringside, she cannot afford to lose track of the wider danger.”
Brick Brody: “She has two problems. One in the ring and one outside it. That is how princes like Prince John like the math.”
Minute 2
Maid Marion rises more carefully this time.
Prioress Malveil steps in again, but Maid Marion refuses to retreat. The two clash near the center. Prioress Malveil rebounds off the ropes and comes forward with a rolling thunder front dropkick, striking Maid Marion squarely and knocking her backward.
But Maid Marion traps the leg as they hit the mat.
She turns through the impact, catches Prioress Malveil’s arm, and cinches in the cross STF.
The crowd erupts.
Prioress Malveil reaches out, fingers clawing at the mat, her serene expression cracking for the first time.
Honest Abe drops beside her.
Honest Abe asks if she submits.
Prioress Malveil refuses.
Maid Marion pulls back harder, trying to wrench submission out of the prioress.
Prince John moves closer to the apron, shouting for Prioress Malveil to hold on.
Julian Ward: “Excellent counter-wrestling from Maid Marion. She absorbed the front dropkick and turned the collision into the cross STF.”
Brick Brody: “That is the kind of nasty I wanted to see. Twist the neck, trap the arm, make the holy woman crawl.”
Julian Ward: “Prioress Malveil does not submit, but Maid Marion has shown early that she can answer punishment with technique.”
Brick Brody: “And Prince John already looks nervous, which is usually when rodents start chewing through the walls.”
Minute 3
Prioress Malveil reaches the ropes and forces the break.
Maid Marion releases cleanly, but Prioress Malveil turns from the ropes with a sharp palm strike, the Divine Palm catching Maid Marion high across the cheek and jaw.
The sound cracks through the arena.
Maid Marion staggers, but instead of falling, she launches herself forward with a Lou Thesz press, taking Prioress Malveil down and raining strikes.
The crowd roars as Maid Marion unloads.
Honest Abe warns her to open the fists, though the warning is mostly swallowed by the noise.
Prioress Malveil covers up and rolls to the side.
Julian Ward: “The Divine Palm landed flush, but Maid Marion answered with raw emotion, taking Prioress Malveil down with the Lou Thesz press.”
Brick Brody: “There it is. That is not courtly. That is not proper. That is a woman getting slapped and deciding to beat the sermon out of somebody.”
Julian Ward: “This match is already becoming a collision between composure and defiance.”
Brick Brody: “Composure is nice until somebody starts punching holes in it.”
Minute 4
Maid Marion keeps pressure on, but Prince John begins circling closer.
As Maid Marion pulls Prioress Malveil up, Prince John slips something into Prioress Malveil’s hand from ringside.
Honest Abe is screened by Maid Marion’s body.
Prioress Malveil swings with the hidden object, striking Maid Marion across the ribs.
Maid Marion gasps, but still fires back with another Lou Thesz press, forcing Prioress Malveil down again.
The damage from the foreign object lingers.
Prioress Malveil shifts her weight, rolls through the scramble, and hooks both legs.
Honest Abe drops.
One.
Two.
Maid Marion kicks out.
The crowd boos loudly at Prince John, who spreads his arms in mock innocence.
Julian Ward: “There was something passed from Prince John to Prioress Malveil. Honest Abe did not see it, and Maid Marion paid the price.”
Brick Brody: “Of course Prince John had something hidden. That man probably brings a foreign object to breakfast.”
Julian Ward: “And still Maid Marion kicked out. She endured the shortcut and refused to let it end the match.”
Brick Brody: “That is good. But now her ribs know what kind of night this is.”
Minute 5
Prioress Malveil rises first and strikes again with the Divine Palm.
Maid Marion absorbs the sharp shot, stumbles back, then catches Prioress Malveil coming in and twists her down with an arm-trap neckbreaker.
The move lands clean.
Prioress Malveil rolls onto her side, clutching her neck.
Maid Marion stays on one knee for a moment, holding her ribs from the earlier illegal shot.
Prince John slaps the mat from the outside, shouting at Prioress Malveil to get up.
Julian Ward: “The arm-trap neckbreaker from Maid Marion creates separation, but the damage from Prince John’s interference is beginning to matter.”
Brick Brody: “It should matter. That is why you cheat. You do not cheat for decoration. You cheat to make every clean move after it harder.”
Julian Ward: “Maid Marion is still answering every strike with something of her own.”
Brick Brody: “For now. But answering is not the same as winning.”
Minute 6
Maid Marion tries to regain control, but Prince John moves again.
This time he steps behind Honest Abe as the referee shifts toward the ropes and yanks him backward into the apron edge.
Honest Abe goes down awkwardly, stunned.
The crowd erupts in boos.
Maid Marion turns toward the commotion, and that moment of concern costs her. Prioress Malveil closes in and helps shield Prince John’s involvement from the official’s view.
Honest Abe is slow to recover.
Prince John backs away, hands raised, pretending outrage at the accusation before anyone even makes one.
Julian Ward: “Prince John just took out Honest Abe from behind. That was deliberate, and again Prioress Malveil benefits from the chaos.”
Brick Brody: “That was not chaos. That was administration. Ugly, cowardly administration, but administration.”
Julian Ward: “Maid Marion attempted to defend against it, but she could not prevent the interference, and there is no disqualification because the referee did not see enough to act.”
Brick Brody: “Or because Honest Abe was busy getting folded into the apron. Hard to call what you cannot stand up through.”
Minute 7
With Honest Abe recovering, Prioress Malveil presses forward.
Maid Marion turns back into the fight and eats a superkick directly under the jaw.
The impact snaps her backward and drops her to the canvas.
Prioress Malveil stands over her, expression calm again, as if the illegal help restored the order she believes should exist.
Prince John points down at Maid Marion and laughs.
The crowd chants against him.
“PRINCE JOHN SUCKS! PRINCE JOHN SUCKS!”
Julian Ward: “That superkick may have shifted the match. Maid Marion was distracted by the damage to Honest Abe, and Prioress Malveil punished her for looking away.”
Brick Brody: “That is the cruel lesson. Never care about anybody else during a fight. It gives people like Prioress Malveil a clean target.”
Julian Ward: “Maid Marion’s compassion has repeatedly been turned against her.”
Brick Brody: “Compassion is a handle. Mean people grab it and throw you.”
Minute 8
Prioress Malveil drags Maid Marion up and hooks for the Rite of Silence, the headlock driver that could end the match.
But Maid Marion shifts her hips, turns through the grip, and reverses.
She pulls Prioress Malveil down and traps her again in the cross STF.
The crowd surges back to life.
Prioress Malveil reaches desperately for the ropes.
Maid Marion has the hold locked tighter this time, face strained, ribs hurting, but grip secure.
Honest Abe checks closely.
Prioress Malveil refuses to submit.
Prince John pounds the apron in panic.
Julian Ward: “Again the cross STF. Maid Marion had the Rite of Silence scouted and turned Prioress Malveil’s own finishing attempt into another submission threat.”
Brick Brody: “That is a good reversal. That is mean, clean, and useful. I still do not like all the nobility, but Maid Marion can fight.”
Julian Ward: “Prioress Malveil survives again, but each escape costs her.”
Brick Brody: “So does every second Maid Marion spends with those ribs breathing fire.”
Minute 9
Prioress Malveil makes the ropes.
Maid Marion breaks.
Both women rise slower now.
Prioress Malveil catches Maid Marion in another headlock driver attempt, finally landing the Rite of Silence enough to drive her down.
But Maid Marion kicks out through the motion, throwing her legs up and striking Prioress Malveil with a low-angle front dropkick as they separate.
Both women hit the mat.
The crowd applauds the exchange.
Honest Abe begins checking both competitors.
Julian Ward: “Both women scored in that exchange. Prioress Malveil found the Rite of Silence, but Maid Marion answered with the low-angle front dropkick.”
Brick Brody: “They are hitting each other in layers now. First impact, second impact, no clean breath between them. That is when matches get dangerous.”
Julian Ward: “Neither woman is able to fully separate. Every attack is being answered, but the accumulated damage is growing.”
Brick Brody: “Good. Accumulated damage is just storytelling with bruises.”
Minute 10
Prioress Malveil rises and fires another superkick.
Maid Marion takes the shot but spins with the momentum and lashes back with the Kiss Goodnight roundhouse kick.
Both strikes land almost simultaneously.
Prioress Malveil stumbles to the ropes.
Maid Marion drops to one knee.
Prince John screams for Prioress Malveil to finish her.
The crowd chants for Maid Marion.
Julian Ward: “Superkick from Prioress Malveil, Kiss Goodnight roundhouse from Maid Marion. Both landed, and both women are feeling the cost.”
Brick Brody: “That is the kind of exchange that rearranges a face and a strategy. Maid Marion is still firing back, but she is not getting enough time to recover.”
Julian Ward: “Nor is Prioress Malveil. The challenger’s resistance is becoming a problem.”
Brick Brody: “Then the prioress better solve it before Prince John starts sweating through that expensive coward costume.”
Minute 11
Maid Marion charges again with another Lou Thesz press.
This time Prioress Malveil braces, catches the forward rush, and neutralizes it, twisting Maid Marion down and preventing the follow-up strikes.
Maid Marion tries to roll through, but Prioress Malveil keeps control just long enough to slow her.
The crowd groans as the momentum stalls.
Julian Ward: “Maid Marion tried to return to the Lou Thesz press, but Prioress Malveil had it read that time.”
Brick Brody: “You go to the same well too often, somebody poisons it. Prioress Malveil saw it coming.”
Julian Ward: “That counter may matter. Maid Marion has relied on sudden bursts of defiance, and now Prioress Malveil is starting to anticipate them.”
Brick Brody: “That is the difference between emotion and cruelty. Emotion repeats. Cruelty adapts.”
Minute 12
Prioress Malveil takes control again.
She hooks Maid Marion, lifts her vertically, and drops her hard with the Faithbreaker suplex.
Maid Marion lands heavily on her back and ribs.
Prioress Malveil floats into the cover.
Honest Abe counts.
One.
Two.
Maid Marion kicks out.
Prince John throws both hands up and demands a faster count.
Honest Abe points at his own eyes and insists it was fair.
Julian Ward: “Faithbreaker suplex from Prioress Malveil, and that landed across the same body Maid Marion has been protecting since the foreign object shot.”
Brick Brody: “That is good targeting. Hurt the ribs, suplex the ribs, make every kickout feel like punishment.”
Julian Ward: “Still, Maid Marion kicks out again.”
Brick Brody: “That makes Prince John mad, which is fun for everyone except the referee.”
Minute 13
Prioress Malveil looks for the Sanctified End, trying to turn Maid Marion into the inverted STF.
Maid Marion fights the grip and snaps back with Robin’s Arrow, the superkick aimed cleanly at the head.
But neither woman fully lands with control.
The exchange collapses into a scramble with both attacks partially smothered.
They separate to opposite knees, breathing hard.
Julian Ward: “Both women went for major offense and neither could fully complete it. Prioress Malveil wanted the Sanctified End. Maid Marion wanted Robin’s Arrow.”
Brick Brody: “That was exhaustion showing up. The mind knows what it wants, but the body starts filing complaints.”
Julian Ward: “We are past the early rhythm now. This match is becoming a test of who can still execute under damage.”
Brick Brody: “And who has the dirtier helper at ringside. Do not forget that part.”
Minute 14
Maid Marion surges first.
She tackles Prioress Malveil with another Lou Thesz press, this time landing clean and driving the prioress back to the mat.
Maid Marion throws controlled strikes, each one fueled by the crowd.
Prioress Malveil absorbs the punishment, covering up as Honest Abe checks the fists.
Prince John climbs onto the apron, complaining.
Honest Abe turns and orders him down.
Maid Marion rises and points at Prince John, daring him to try again.
The crowd roars.
Julian Ward: “There is the Lou Thesz press again, and this time Maid Marion lands it clean. She is not letting Prioress Malveil turn this into a sermon of control.”
Brick Brody: “She is playing with fire by turning toward Prince John, though. Every second she looks at that little rat is a second Prioress Malveil gets to recover.”
Julian Ward: “But the crowd is responding to Maid Marion’s refusal to be intimidated.”
Brick Brody: “Crowds respond to all kinds of bad decisions.”
Minute 15
Maid Marion turns back into another Divine Palm.
The sharp strike catches her across the face.
She staggers but fires back low, launching a front dropkick into Prioress Malveil’s legs and midsection.
Prioress Malveil falls backward into the corner.
Maid Marion crawls away, shaking feeling back into her jaw.
Both women are slower to rise.
Julian Ward: “Divine Palm again from Prioress Malveil, but Maid Marion answers with the low-angle front dropkick.”
Brick Brody: “That palm strike is adding up. Maid Marion has been hit in the head, jaw, ribs, neck, everywhere. She is still moving, but every answer is costing more.”
Julian Ward: “So is every attack from Prioress Malveil. Her ability to maintain control has been repeatedly broken by Maid Marion’s resilience.”
Brick Brody: “Resilience is admirable. Winning is better.”
Minute 16
Prioress Malveil pulls herself from the corner and catches Maid Marion with another Rite of Silence attempt.
She drives Maid Marion downward, but Maid Marion twists through enough to pop back up and respond with a bulldog.
Prioress Malveil hits face-first.
Maid Marion rolls her over but cannot cover immediately, ribs and exhaustion delaying her.
Prince John slams the apron in frustration.
Julian Ward: “The Rite of Silence connects, but not clean enough to stop Maid Marion, who answers with the bulldog.”
Brick Brody: “That delay is killing her. Maid Marion had a chance to cover, and her own body betrayed her.”
Julian Ward: “The earlier damage to the ribs may have prevented a pin attempt there.”
Brick Brody: “Exactly. That foreign object from Prince John is still in this match whether anyone likes it or not.”
Minute 17
Both women rise again.
Prioress Malveil seeks the Sanctified End once more.
Maid Marion breaks the grip and fires Robin’s Arrow.
Again, the move does not land cleanly enough to change the match.
The two collide, stumble, and separate, neither able to capitalize.
A restless tension fills the arena.
Julian Ward: “Again, Sanctified End attempted. Again, Robin’s Arrow attempted. Again, neither woman gets the decisive connection.”
Brick Brody: “They are both reaching for the kill shot and missing by inches. That makes the next clean one even more dangerous.”
Julian Ward: “You can feel the match narrowing now. The openings are smaller. The margin is thinner.”
Brick Brody: “Good. That is where people make mistakes. That is where somebody like Prince John earns his rotten little keep.”
Minute 18
Prioress Malveil changes tactics and snaps another Divine Palm into Maid Marion’s face.
Maid Marion absorbs it, steps through the pain, traps the arm, and drives Prioress Malveil down with another arm-trap neckbreaker.
The crowd rises.
Maid Marion stays close this time, trying to make sure Prioress Malveil cannot crawl to Prince John’s side of the ring.
Julian Ward: “The arm-trap neckbreaker lands again, and Maid Marion is learning to keep the fight away from Prince John.”
Brick Brody: “Finally. Took her long enough. If there is a snake on one side of the ring, stop dragging the fight toward the snake.”
Julian Ward: “Maid Marion may be battered, but her tactical awareness is still there.”
Brick Brody: “Now she needs a finish, not awareness.”
Minute 19
Maid Marion reaches for Prioress Malveil, but Prioress Malveil fires up with another superkick.
The shot lands hard.
Maid Marion collapses.
Prioress Malveil drops into the cover.
Honest Abe counts.
One.
Two.
Maid Marion kicks out.
The arena erupts.
Prince John screams at Honest Abe, accusing him of incompetence.
Honest Abe stands and warns Prince John that he is close to being ejected.
Prince John backs off, furious.
Julian Ward: “Another superkick from Prioress Malveil, and Maid Marion still survives.”
Brick Brody: “That was close. I mean close-close. Prince John is turning purple out there, and for once it is not just his outfit.”
Julian Ward: “Honest Abe is finally warning Prince John, but the damage done may already be irreversible.”
Brick Brody: “Warnings are what referees give after the horse has left the barn and kicked somebody in the face.”
Minute 20
Prioress Malveil argues with Honest Abe for half a second too long.
Maid Marion crawls to the ropes, pulls herself up, and fires a low-angle front dropkick into Prioress Malveil as she turns.
The prioress goes down.
Maid Marion tries to follow, but her ribs seize.
She cannot cover.
The crowd groans in sympathy.
Julian Ward: “Maid Marion found the opening with the low-angle front dropkick, but again the body cannot immediately follow the will.”
Brick Brody: “That is the match right there. She has the heart, she has the opening, but she does not have enough unbroken pieces left to cash it in.”
Julian Ward: “Prince John’s interference in the fourth and sixth minutes continues to echo deep into this contest.”
Brick Brody: “Cheating early pays late. Put that on a training room wall.”
Minute 21
Maid Marion forces herself up and charges.
Prioress Malveil catches her and launches a Faithbreaker suplex, but Maid Marion twists through the landing, rolls up to one knee, and strikes with Robin’s Arrow.
The superkick lands.
Prioress Malveil drops.
Maid Marion crawls into the cover.
Honest Abe counts.
One.
Prioress Malveil kicks out.
Maid Marion sits back, stunned that the kickout came so early.
Prince John exhales in relief, then immediately begins yelling encouragement to Prioress Malveil.
Julian Ward: “Robin’s Arrow finally lands clean, but Prioress Malveil kicks out at one. That may be as much about Maid Marion’s delayed cover as Prioress Malveil’s toughness.”
Brick Brody: “Delayed cover, weak hook, bad ribs, empty tank. Pick your poison. Maid Marion hit the shot, but she could not finish the job.”
Julian Ward: “That may have been her best chance.”
Brick Brody: “Best chances do not come with refunds.”
Minute 22
Both women are exhausted now.
Prioress Malveil rises first and plants Maid Marion with a Penance DDT, driving her head into the canvas.
But Maid Marion somehow rolls with enough momentum to spring forward and hit a flying bulldog.
Both women crash down.
The crowd gives a sustained ovation.
Honest Abe begins a count, checking both competitors.
Julian Ward: “Penance DDT from Prioress Malveil. Flying bulldog from Maid Marion. This has become a fight of instinct now.”
Brick Brody: “That is when training leaves and stubbornness takes the wheel. Dangerous place to be.”
Julian Ward: “Neither competitor is able to maintain command for long.”
Brick Brody: “Because they have taken too much. At this point, winning might just mean falling in the right direction.”
Minute 23
Prioress Malveil staggers up and rushes forward with another rolling thunder front dropkick.
Maid Marion sees it coming late but still answers with a low-angle front dropkick of her own.
Both women collide in a hard exchange of legs, momentum, and impact.
Prioress Malveil gets the stronger contact, knocking Maid Marion backward.
But Maid Marion does not stay down.
She rolls to the ropes and drags herself upright.
Julian Ward: “Another collision, and Prioress Malveil lands the heavier blow, but Maid Marion continues to rise.”
Brick Brody: “That is getting annoying now. Impressive, but annoying. Prioress Malveil keeps putting her down and Maid Marion keeps acting like gravity is negotiable.”
Julian Ward: “The crowd is rallying behind that refusal.”
Brick Brody: “The crowd does not have to breathe through cracked ribs.”
Minute 24
Maid Marion reaches deep.
As Prioress Malveil closes in, Maid Marion drops, hooks the leg, catches the arm, and turns her into the cross STF for the third time.
The arena explodes.
Prioress Malveil is trapped near the center.
Prince John nearly climbs into the ring, but Honest Abe sees him and points him back down.
Maid Marion pulls with everything left in her body.
Prioress Malveil’s hand hovers.
The crowd screams for the tap.
But Prioress Malveil refuses.
She crawls inch by inch, dragging both bodies toward the ropes.
Finally, she reaches them.
Honest Abe calls for the break.
Maid Marion releases, devastated but still fighting.
Julian Ward: “The cross STF again. Maid Marion had it locked in deep, and for a moment, Prioress Malveil looked closer to submission than she has all night.”
Brick Brody: “That was survival. Ugly, desperate, dragging herself like a wounded animal survival. I will give Prioress Malveil credit. She did not quit.”
Julian Ward: “Nor did Maid Marion. After everything taken from her, she nearly forced the submission.”
Brick Brody: “Nearly again. That word is haunting her.”
Minute 25
Maid Marion tries to capitalize immediately.
She pulls Prioress Malveil up and goes again for the Lou Thesz press.
But Prioress Malveil has it scouted.
She catches Maid Marion in the forward motion and neutralizes the attack, twisting her down and smothering the momentum.
Maid Marion struggles to get free, but her body is too slow now.
Prioress Malveil rises, breathing hard, eyes colder than before.
Prince John points from ringside and shouts for the finish.
Julian Ward: “Maid Marion went back to the Lou Thesz press, perhaps looking for one last surge, but Prioress Malveil was ready.”
Brick Brody: “That might be it. When the body gets tired, it goes back to what it knows. Prioress Malveil knew it too.”
Julian Ward: “The window may be closing for Maid Marion.”
Brick Brody: “Windows close. Hands get crushed. Welcome to wrestling.”
Minute 26
Maid Marion rises on instinct.
The crowd chants her name.
Prioress Malveil steps in, but Maid Marion fires Robin’s Arrow, aiming to end it with one final superkick.
Prioress Malveil catches the motion.
She turns under it, reverses the strike, and drags Maid Marion down into the Sanctified End, the inverted STF locking across the battered body.
Maid Marion cries out but refuses to tap.
Honest Abe checks her.
Maid Marion reaches forward.
The ropes are too far.
Prince John grins at ringside.
Prioress Malveil wrenches back harder, not seeking mercy, not seeking surrender, only domination.
Maid Marion’s strength fades.
Prioress Malveil shifts the hold just enough to stack Maid Marion’s shoulders while keeping the pressure trapped.
Honest Abe counts.
One.
Two.
Three.
The bell rings.
The crowd erupts in boos.
Prioress Malveil releases the hold slowly and rises to her knees, hands folded, face composed again.
Prince John climbs onto the apron, applauding as though he orchestrated a masterpiece.
Maid Marion remains on the mat, one arm wrapped around her ribs, jaw clenched in pain and fury.
Honest Abe checks on her, then turns to raise Prioress Malveil’s hand.
Prince John insists on raising the other.
The image is ugly.
Triumphant authority.
Corrupted devotion.
A fallen rebel who would not submit but could not escape.
Julian Ward: “Maid Marion survived interference, punishment, and repeated attempts to silence her, but in the end Prioress Malveil reversed Robin’s Arrow into the Sanctified End and secured the pin.”
Brick Brody: “That was mean, smart, and dirty around the edges. Prince John chipped away early, Prioress Malveil kept her composure, and Maid Marion spent the whole match paying interest on damage she took before the halfway point.”
Julian Ward: “This victory strengthens Prince John’s campaign of control, but it does not erase what Maid Marion showed tonight. She refused to submit. She refused to break. Yet the machinery around Prioress Malveil proved too much.”
PRIORESS MALVEIL DEFEATED MAID MARION BY PINFALL AFTER REVERSING ROBIN’S ARROW INTO THE SANCTIFIED END.
The lights inside Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum dim.
The crowd settles into a low, restless buzz after the victory of Prioress Malveil and the smug presence of Prince John. The night has already seen betrayal in Sherwood. It has already seen corrupted authority rewarded.
Now the coliseum turns toward gold.
A championship graphic burns across the screen.
CONVERGENT TITLE MATCH
CHAMPION JACK LUMBER
VS
MORDRED
A deep metallic sound echoes through the arena.
Not a bell.
An axe striking wood.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Julian Ward: “For the first time tonight, championship gold is on the line. The Convergent Championship enters The Long Night, and with it comes a collision between a champion from beyond the Mythic Division’s borders and a challenger whose ambition has never respected boundaries.”
Brick Brody: “That is a fancy way of saying Mordred sees a belt that is not his and wants to make it his. I respect that. Nobody ever betrayed their way into history by politely waiting in line.”
Julian Ward: “But he faces Jack Lumber, a champion built on blunt force, endurance, and hard-earned resilience.”
Brick Brody: “Good. Let him bring all that working-man toughness. Mordred will bring spite, timing, and a manager at ringside who looks like he knows where every body is buried.”
The stage darkens into cold silver and black.
Mordred Entrance
A cracked crown appears on the entrance screen.
Then a sword point drives through it.
The crowd boos as Mordred steps onto the stage.
He wears dark ring armor trimmed in red and tarnished silver, every piece suggesting nobility poisoned by grievance. His eyes remain fixed on the ring, but his mouth carries the faintest smile, as if the outcome has already been written in treachery.
Beside him walks Myrrden.
Ancient.
Still.
Unsettling.
His robe trails behind him like shadow dragged across stone. He carries no visible weapon, but the crowd reacts to him as though he does not need one. His eyes move slowly across the arena, measuring weak points, exits, and consequences.
Mordred pauses halfway down the ramp and looks toward the championship pedestal near ringside, where the Convergent Title gleams beneath a spotlight.
He does not point at it.
He does not gesture.
He simply smiles.
Julian Ward: “There is Mordred, accompanied by Myrrden. The challenger has spoken for weeks as though championship gold is not earned, but taken by those with the will to seize it.”
Brick Brody: “And maybe he is right. Titles do not sit around asking who has the purest heart. Titles go home with whoever survives the fight and beats the count.”
Julian Ward: “With Myrrden at ringside, Honest Abe will need to be alert.”
Brick Brody: “After the last match, Honest Abe needs eyes in the back of his head and maybe one under the ring.”
Mordred climbs the steps and enters through the ropes.
Myrrden remains at ringside, hands folded inside his sleeves.
Jack Lumber Entrance
The arena lights shift.
The cold silver breaks under warm amber.
The sound of chopping wood returns, louder now, joined by heavy drums.
The crowd gives a strong reaction as Jack Lumber steps onto the stage with the Convergent Championship over his shoulder.
He looks broad, rugged, and unpolished in the best possible way. No royal robe. No dark mysticism. No ornate armor. Just a champion who looks like he built every inch of himself through labor, impact, and stubborn survival.
He stops at the top of the ramp, lifts the Convergent Title high, and stares directly at Mordred.
The crowd roars.
Julian Ward: “And here comes the Convergent Champion. Jack Lumber arrives in the Mythic Division not as a visitor intimidated by legend, but as a champion prepared to defend his title against it.”
Brick Brody: “I will say this for Jack Lumber. He looks like a man who has swung an axe longer than Mordred has held a grudge. That upper body is not decorative.”
Julian Ward: “He will need every ounce of that strength tonight.”
Brick Brody: “He will need strength, and he will need to remember that Mordred does not fight straight lines. He cuts corners until somebody bleeds on them.”
Jack Lumber reaches ringside and hands the title to Honest Abe, never taking his eyes off Mordred.
Honest Abe raises the championship high.
The Convergent Title catches the torchlight.
The crowd rises.
Ring Introductions
Louie Linville stands in the center of the ring, voice ceremonial and controlled.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is for the Convergent Championship.”
The crowd cheers.
Louie Linville: “Introducing first, the challenger, accompanied to the ring by Myrrden… from the broken edge of Camelot’s bloodline… the betrayer prince, the usurper in waiting… Mordred.”
Mordred steps forward and lowers his head slightly, not in humility, but in theatrical acceptance of hatred.
Louie Linville: “And his opponent… he is the reigning and defending Convergent Champion… a force of grit, timber, and punishment… Jack Lumber.”
Jack Lumber raises one fist.
The crowd roars.
Honest Abe shows the title to Mordred, then to Jack Lumber, then hands it out to the timekeeper.
Myrrden watches from ringside without blinking.
The bell rings.
Minute 1
Jack Lumber steps forward immediately.
No feeling-out process.
No circling ceremony.
He closes distance and drives a heavy elbow smash into Mordred’s jaw. The challenger tries to brace, but the shot lands flush enough to knock him backward into the ropes.
Mordred grabs the top rope to steady himself, eyes flashing with irritation.
Jack Lumber advances and forces him to reset.
Honest Abe watches closely, already aware of Myrrden’s presence near the apron.
Julian Ward: “Jack Lumber wastes no time. A direct elbow smash to open this championship defense, and that is the champion’s language: blunt, honest impact.”
Brick Brody: “That is a working man’s greeting right there. No handshake. No bow. Just an elbow in the mouth.”
Julian Ward: “Mordred tried to defend, but the force broke through.”
Brick Brody: “Good. Let him taste the champion early. Then we find out if Mordred can adjust or if all that royal betrayal falls apart when somebody hits him like a falling tree.”
Minute 2
Mordred circles more cautiously now.
Jack Lumber cuts him off and throws another elbow smash, this one driving into the side of the head and shoulder. Mordred again tries to block, but Jack Lumber’s force carries through the guard.
The challenger stumbles to a knee.
Myrrden takes one slow step closer to the ring.
Honest Abe notices and points him back.
Myrrden stops, expression unchanged.
Jack Lumber pulls Mordred up and shoves him toward the corner.
Julian Ward: “Another elbow smash, and Jack Lumber is establishing a pattern: if Mordred wants to steal this match, he will have to survive the champion’s physical pressure first.”
Brick Brody: “That pressure is nasty. Jack Lumber hits like a man who has no patience for theatrics. I respect it.”
Julian Ward: “Myrrden already hovering near the apron.”
Brick Brody: “Of course he is. Managers do not come to ringside for the view.”
Minute 3
Mordred tries to create space with a quick shove, but Jack Lumber catches him on the rebound.
The champion turns his hips and delivers an atomic drop that lifts Mordred onto his toes before sending him staggering forward in pain.
The crowd reacts with a sharp roar.
Mordred drops to one hand, grimacing.
Jack Lumber does not play to the crowd. He stalks forward and keeps the pressure centered.
Julian Ward: “Atomic drop from the champion, and Mordred is being forced into a more physical fight than he wanted.”
Brick Brody: “You can see it on Mordred’s face. He wanted schemes. He wanted openings. Instead, Jack Lumber is making him fight in a phone booth with a lumberjack.”
Julian Ward: “That may be the smartest path for the champion. Deny space, deny intrigue, deny rhythm.”
Brick Brody: “And deny children, if you hit enough atomic drops.”
Minute 4
Jack Lumber reaches for Mordred again, looking for another atomic drop.
He gets it.
But this time Mordred refuses to absorb and retreat.
As Jack Lumber follows in, Mordred explodes forward and spears the champion with sudden violence. The impact drives Jack Lumber back and down, stunning the arena.
Mordred rolls to one knee, clutching his own lower body from the earlier damage but smiling through it.
Myrrden gives the faintest nod from ringside.
Julian Ward: “There is the answer from Mordred. The atomic drop landed, but the challenger used the champion’s forward pressure against him and drove through with a spear.”
Brick Brody: “That is betrayal in wrestling form. Let the man think he is in control, then cut him in half when he steps too close.”
Julian Ward: “Jack Lumber still inflicted damage, but Mordred found the heavier impact in that exchange.”
Brick Brody: “And now we see if the champion can keep this from becoming Mordred’s kind of fight.”
Minute 5
Both men rise slowly.
For the first time, the match pauses in a defensive standoff.
Jack Lumber checks his ribs from the spear.
Mordred resets his stance, shoulders lower, eyes sharper.
They step in at the same time.
Jack Lumber throws a stiff uppercut that snaps Mordred’s head back. Mordred answers by hooking the champion and taking him over with a vertical suplex, planting Jack Lumber hard on the canvas.
Mordred rolls through to one knee, breathing heavily.
Jack Lumber turns to his side, absorbing the landing but already pushing up.
Julian Ward: “A stiff uppercut from Jack Lumber, but Mordred responds with the vertical suplex. This is becoming a more even exchange now.”
Brick Brody: “That uppercut was ugly. The suplex was better. Mordred needed to get the champion off his feet, and he did.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger cannot allow Jack Lumber to continue walking forward without consequence.”
Brick Brody: “Nobody keeps walking forward after enough suplexes. Gravity has a winning record.”
Minute 6
Jack Lumber rises with force, shaking off the suplex.
He catches Mordred coming in and swings with TIMMMMMBEEERRRRR, a heavy, chopping strike that crashes through Mordred’s chest and sends him staggering.
But Mordred uses the momentum to hook low, lift, and drive Jack Lumber down with a sitout powerbomb.
The ring shakes.
Both men remain down for a moment.
Honest Abe checks each competitor, but neither stays still long enough for a count.
Julian Ward: “TIMMMMMBEEERRRRR from Jack Lumber, but Mordred answers with a sitout powerbomb. Two major impacts in the same minute.”
Brick Brody: “That is the best exchange of the match so far. Champion hits like an axe. Challenger drops him like a sack of stone. Beautiful.”
Julian Ward: “Jack Lumber is still ahead in sustained pressure, but Mordred is finding moments of higher danger.”
Brick Brody: “That is all he needs. A thief does not need to own the house. He just needs one open window.”
Minute 7
Jack Lumber gets to his feet first.
He grabs Mordred, lifts, and delivers another atomic drop, sending the challenger stumbling forward with visible pain.
This time Jack Lumber follows immediately into a cover.
Honest Abe drops.
One.
Mordred kicks out.
Jack Lumber rises without argument, though the early kickout clearly frustrates him.
Myrrden watches closely, his attention fixed not on the champion, but on Mordred’s breathing.
Julian Ward: “The champion goes back to the atomic drop and gets the first pin attempt of the match, but Mordred kicks out at one.”
Brick Brody: “Bad cover. Too early, not enough body weight, and Mordred still has too much venom left.”
Julian Ward: “Still, Jack Lumber continues to attack the base and lower body. He is wearing down the challenger’s ability to launch those sudden bursts.”
Brick Brody: “That is smart. Take the legs away from a snake and it still bites, but at least it has to work harder.”
Minute 8
Mordred rises more carefully now.
Jack Lumber steps in and cracks him with a chop to the chest, the sound echoing through the coliseum.
Mordred absorbs it with a grimace, then fires back with a clothesline that catches Jack Lumber across the neck and drops him to the mat.
The crowd gives a mixed reaction to the force of the exchange.
Mordred turns toward the ropes and shakes out the pain in his chest.
Jack Lumber sits up, jaw set.
Julian Ward: “A chop to the chest from Jack Lumber, but Mordred returns fire with the clothesline. The challenger continues to answer in sudden, violent counters.”
Brick Brody: “That clothesline had spite in it. That is my favorite kind.”
Julian Ward: “The champion is forcing Mordred into a rugged fight, but Mordred has not been overwhelmed.”
Brick Brody: “No, he is adapting. That is what dangerous rats do. They find gaps in the walls.”
Minute 9
Mordred moves quickly, looking for an inverted sitdown faceslam.
He hooks Jack Lumber and tries to pull him down.
But the champion widens his base, blocks the motion, and neutralizes it with raw strength.
Jack Lumber shoves Mordred away and clubs him across the shoulder before backing him off.
Mordred rolls under the ropes to one knee near Myrrden, not leaving the ring fully, but taking just enough space to reset.
Honest Abe warns Myrrden to stay back.
Julian Ward: “Mordred attempted the inverted sitdown faceslam, but Jack Lumber neutralized it. That base, that strength, prevented the challenger from completing the turn.”
Brick Brody: “That is farm strength, mill strength, whatever you want to call it. Jack Lumber just refused to go where Mordred wanted him.”
Julian Ward: “A key defensive moment for the champion.”
Brick Brody: “And a key learning moment for Mordred. He knows now he cannot just yank the big man down without softening him first.”
Minute 10
Mordred appears to take that lesson immediately.
He comes back in with a feint to the body, draws Jack Lumber’s hands low, then hooks him again for the inverted sitdown faceslam.
This time it lands.
Jack Lumber’s face and upper body are driven down into the mat.
Mordred rolls through and takes a moment to breathe, one hand pressed against his chest from the earlier chops.
The crowd boos as Myrrden finally allows himself a faint smile.
Julian Ward: “This time Mordred lands the inverted sitdown faceslam. He failed once, adjusted, and found the execution.”
Brick Brody: “That is what I was talking about. First try tells you the wall is there. Second try tells you where the cracks are.”
Julian Ward: “Jack Lumber absorbed the punishment, but that was the cleanest control Mordred has had since the spear.”
Brick Brody: “And now the champion has to prove he can take more than he dishes out.”
Minute 11
Mordred tries to stay on him, but Jack Lumber powers up.
The champion bursts forward and drives through Mordred with a spear of his own.
The impact folds the challenger in half.
The crowd erupts.
Jack Lumber covers.
Honest Abe counts.
One.
Two.
Mordred kicks out.
The champion sits up, eyes narrowed now. He looks at Honest Abe, but does not protest.
Myrrden remains still, though his expression tightens.
Julian Ward: “A spear from Jack Lumber. He answers Mordred’s earlier impact with one of his own, and he nearly retains the championship.”
Brick Brody: “That was a message. Mordred speared him earlier, and Jack Lumber just gave it back with interest.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger survives at two.”
Brick Brody: “Barely. That was the first time Myrrden looked like the future got cloudy.”
Minute 12
Jack Lumber rises with purpose.
He pulls Mordred up by the arm.
Mordred tries to drop low, tries to create a scramble, but the champion will not let him disappear into angles.
Jack Lumber squares his stance and unloads a stiff uppercut.
The shot lands clean under Mordred’s jaw.
Mordred’s body snaps backward and collapses to the canvas.
The crowd erupts.
Jack Lumber drops into the cover, hooks the leg tightly, and presses his weight across the shoulders.
Honest Abe counts.
One.
Two.
Three.
The bell rings.
Myrrden lowers his eyes.
Jack Lumber releases the cover and rises to one knee, chest heaving, face stern but satisfied.
Honest Abe retrieves the Convergent Championship and hands it to him.
Mordred rolls toward the ropes, one hand near his jaw, anger burning through the pain.
Jack Lumber stands and raises the title high.
The crowd cheers.
Myrrden steps onto the apron and looks across at Jack Lumber.
The champion does not back down.
For a moment, the image holds.
The visiting champion standing tall in the Mythic Division.
The betrayer prince beaten, but not humbled.
The ancient advisor already calculating what failure means.
Julian Ward: “Jack Lumber retains the Convergent Championship. In hostile territory, against Mordred and the presence of Myrrden, the champion imposed force, discipline, and refused to be drawn fully into the challenger’s schemes.”
Brick Brody: “I will give the big man credit. Jack Lumber did not get cute. He hit hard, he kept coming, and that final uppercut looked like it knocked betrayal sideways. Mordred had moments, but moments do not win titles.”
Julian Ward: “For Mordred, this loss will not end ambition. It may sharpen it. But tonight, the Convergent Championship remains with a champion who walked into the long shadow of Camelot and left with his title still in his hands.”
JACK LUMBER DEFEATED MORDRED BY PINFALL WITH A STIFF UPPERCUT TO RETAIN THE CONVERGENT CHAMPIONSHIP.
The camera cuts backstage.
The stone corridors of Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum are quieter here, away from the roar of the crowd and the heat of the ring. Torchlight flickers against the walls, but this area has been dressed with a softer touch: gold fabric draped over black iron railings, pale blue light washing across the floor, and a small mirrored sign reading:
A FAIRYTALE ENDING
DREAM OR NIGHTMARE
Hana Nakamura stands center frame, microphone in hand. Her expression is earnest, warm, and alert, carrying the emotional weight of the night without losing her sincerity.
Beside her stand The Blonde Bombshells.
Dorothy stands nearest to Hana Nakamura, composed but intense, dressed for battle, her eyes bright with the kind of focus that comes from remembering both victory and loss.
Alice stands beside her, calmer on the surface but visibly coiled underneath, hands clasped in front of her as if keeping herself from pacing.
Behind them stands Rapunzel, tall and watchful, her long golden hair draped over one shoulder. She is not competing tonight, but her presence gives the group an added sense of unity. She watches the hallway like someone guarding a doorway between hope and danger.
Hana Nakamura: “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my guests at this time… Dorothy, Alice, and Rapunzel… The Blonde Bombshells.”
A strong cheer rises from inside the arena.
Hana Nakamura turns toward Dorothy and Alice.
Hana Nakamura: “Tonight, Dorothy and Alice, you have the chance to challenge The Monsters of Myth and reclaim the North Star Tag Team Titles. You were the first-ever North Star Tag Team Champions, and you held those championships for nine months and seven days. That history is part of this division. But tonight, you are not walking in as champions. You are walking in as challengers. What does this moment feel like?”
Dorothy looks down briefly, then back up.
Her voice is steady, but there is emotion beneath it.
Dorothy: “It feels like standing at the edge of a road we already walked once… only now the trees are darker.”
Alice nods slightly.
Dorothy: “When Alice and I became the first North Star Tag Team Champions, we believed in the fairytale ending. We believed if you fought hard enough, stayed together long enough, and held onto what was right, the story would reward you.”
She pauses.
Dorothy: “For nine months and seven days, we carried those titles. Not as trophies. As proof.”
Hana Nakamura: “Proof of what?”
Dorothy: “That two women from impossible stories could step into NPCW and make something real.”
The crowd can be heard cheering in the distance.
Alice steps closer to the microphone.
Alice: “But stories change when you live in them long enough.”
Her expression sharpens.
Alice: “The ending you thought you understood becomes another chapter. The road twists. The door locks behind you. The monster does not wait politely at the end of the book anymore.”
She looks directly into the camera.
Alice: “Sometimes the monster wins the title.”
Rapunzel places one hand lightly on Alice’s shoulder, not to calm her, but to strengthen her.
Hana Nakamura: “And tonight those monsters are Hydra Veyne and Medussa Nemesis, the reigning North Star Tag Team Champions, with Serpenta Veyne never far from the danger surrounding them. They are physically imposing, ruthless, and unlike almost any team you have faced before. How do you prepare for champions like The Monsters of Myth?”
Alice gives a small, humorless smile.
Alice: “You stop pretending they are just monsters.”
Dorothy glances toward her.
Alice: “That is the mistake people make. They see fangs, scales, strength, poison, and they think the danger is simple. Hydra Veyne and Medussa Nemesis are not simple. They are champions because they know how to isolate, overwhelm, and make fear feel reasonable.”
Dorothy: “But fear is not the same as truth.”
Hana Nakamura turns back toward Dorothy.
Dorothy: “The truth is, Alice and I know what it means to carry those championships. We know the weight. We know the pressure. We know what it feels like when every team in the division is chasing you.”
Her voice grows stronger.
Dorothy: “And we also know what it feels like to lose them.”
A brief silence.
Dorothy: “That is the part nobody puts in the fairytale.”
Rapunzel: “Because fairytales like endings better than aftermath.”
Hana Nakamura shifts the microphone toward Rapunzel.
Hana Nakamura: “Rapunzel, you are not scheduled to compete in the title match tonight, but you have been standing beside Dorothy and Alice through this road back. What have you seen from them?”
Rapunzel keeps her eyes calm, but her voice has force.
Rapunzel: “I have seen them hurt.”
She looks toward Dorothy, then Alice.
Rapunzel: “I have seen them doubt. I have seen them watch other teams hold what they made historic. I have seen them smile for the crowd when the loss still felt fresh enough to bleed.”
She turns toward the camera.
Rapunzel: “But I have not seen them break.”
The distant crowd cheers again.
Rapunzel: “That matters tonight. Because The Monsters of Myth do not only try to beat opponents. They try to convince them that resistance is foolish. They try to turn a match into a warning.”
Her expression hardens.
Rapunzel: “Tonight, Dorothy and Alice are the warning.”
Hana Nakamura: “Dorothy, earlier tonight, The Merry Band suffered a betrayal from Will Scarlet in the Sherwood Forest Fight. This has been a night where fairytales have not protected anyone from pain. Does that change how you see your own match?”
Dorothy inhales slowly.
Dorothy: “It reminds me why we cannot rely on the story to save us.”
She looks at Alice.
Dorothy: “When we first became champions, maybe we believed the road would rise to meet us. Maybe we believed courage would always be enough.”
Alice: “It was not.”
Dorothy: “No. It was not.”
The honesty lands hard.
Dorothy: “Courage gets you to the door. It does not open it. It does not fight the thing waiting on the other side. It does not stop the nightmare from reaching back.”
She looks into the camera.
Dorothy: “That part is on us.”
Alice steps closer.
Alice: “People hear The Blonde Bombshells and think brightness. They think glitter, gold, smiles, old stories with clean endings.”
Her tone becomes colder.
Alice: “But I have walked through madness. Dorothy has walked through storms. Rapunzel knows what it means to be trapped in a story someone else built around you.”
Rapunzel nods once.
Alice: “So when The Monsters of Myth look at us tonight, they should not expect helpless girls from bedtime tales.”
She stares directly into the lens.
Alice: “They should expect women who know exactly what nightmares are made of.”
Hana Nakamura: “For nine months and seven days, you defined what the North Star Tag Team Titles could mean. Tonight, what would reclaiming them mean?”
Dorothy answers without hesitation.
Dorothy: “It would mean the fairytale did not end when we lost.”
Alice: “It would mean the nightmare was not stronger than us.”
Rapunzel: “It would mean the first champions still have one more chapter to write.”
The crowd cheers loudly from inside the arena.
Dorothy turns slightly toward Alice.
Dorothy: “We are not trying to relive those nine months and seven days.”
Alice: “We cannot.”
Dorothy: “We are trying to earn what comes next.”
Alice: “And if Hydra Veyne and Medussa Nemesis think the titles turned them into the ending…”
Dorothy: “Then tonight they learn they are only the obstacle.”
Hana Nakamura: “Final message for The Monsters of Myth before your title match?”
Dorothy looks into the camera first.
Dorothy: “Hydra Veyne. Medussa Nemesis. You are powerful. You are dangerous. You are champions for a reason.”
Alice: “But you are not destiny.”
Rapunzel: “And you are not untouchable.”
Dorothy: “Tonight, The Blonde Bombshells walk back into the story we helped begin.”
Alice: “Dream or nightmare…”
Dorothy: “We are ready to wake the whole division up.”
Hana Nakamura lowers the microphone slightly as the three women stand together.
The camera holds on Dorothy, Alice, and Rapunzel.
Not smiling.
Not posing.
Ready.
Hana Nakamura: “Dorothy and Alice challenge The Monsters of Myth for the North Star Tag Team Titles later tonight. For the first champions, this is not nostalgia. This is unfinished business.”
The shot fades out on the mirrored sign behind them.
A FAIRYTALE ENDING
DREAM OR NIGHTMARE
The broadcast returns to the arena floor.
The gold glow of the Convergent Championship graphic fades, replaced by fire.
Not bright fire.
Ancient fire.
The entrance stage darkens until only the braziers remain. Their flames rise higher than before, gold at the base, red at the tips, as if the coliseum itself is breathing heat into the night.
On the screen above the stage, the Eternal Flame Championship appears suspended in darkness.
The title turns slowly.
Its center plate catches the light like something forged in a myth older than kingdoms.
The crowd rises.
Julian Ward: “The Convergent Championship has been defended. Now the fire comes to The Long Night. The Eternal Flame Championship is on the line as Sinbad defends against Sir Lancelot.”
Brick Brody: “And this one is dangerous in a different way. Sinbad is bold, slippery, and tough as old rope. But Sir Lancelot is polished violence. He does not waste motion. He does not waste damage.”
Julian Ward: “Sinbad enters tonight still carrying the marks of recent battles. The champion has been fighting through visible wear, and against Sir Lancelot, every weakness can become a map.”
Brick Brody: “Then Sir Lancelot better read it. A taped rib is not a tragedy. It is an invitation.”
The stage fills with blue-white light.
Sir Lancelot Entrance
A solemn horn sounds.
The crowd responds with a mix of admiration and tension.
Sir Lancelot steps onto the stage.
His armor-inspired gear gleams beneath the cold light, silver and white with deep blue accents. He does not smile. He does not pose. He walks with the controlled bearing of a knight who has already measured the battlefield and accepted the cost.
Beside him walks Merlin.
The old wizard’s staff taps once against the ramp.
The torches briefly bend toward him.
Merlin keeps his gaze fixed ahead, calm and unreadable.
Sir Lancelot pauses halfway down the ramp and looks toward the suspended image of the Eternal Flame Championship.
Then he lowers his head once.
Not in vanity.
In oath.
Julian Ward: “There is Sir Lancelot, accompanied by Merlin. The challenger brings precision, discipline, and the burden of Camelot’s highest ideals.”
Brick Brody: “He also brings a wizard, which is real convenient when a man starts getting tired. I do not care how noble the armor looks. Ringside help is ringside help.”
Julian Ward: “Merlin’s presence may be decisive, but Sir Lancelot must still meet the champion himself.”
Brick Brody: “Sure. And if the old man starts bending the air around him, I am sure that is just moral support with sparkles.”
Sir Lancelot enters the ring and kneels briefly in one corner.
Merlin remains at ringside, both hands resting on his staff.
Sinbad Entrance
The lights shift.
The blue-white glow gives way to deep gold and sea-green.
A drumbeat rolls through the arena like waves against a ship’s hull.
Then the music strikes with adventure, danger, and swagger.
Sinbad steps onto the stage with the Eternal Flame Championship over his shoulder.
The crowd cheers.
He wears the title proudly, but his body tells the truth. His ribs are still taped beneath his gear. His jaw is set. His movement has confidence, but each breath looks controlled.
He stops at the top of the ramp and lifts the championship high.
The fire around the stage rises.
Julian Ward: “The champion has arrived. Sinbad has carried the Eternal Flame Championship through storms, challengers, and damage that would have taken lesser men out of the fight entirely.”
Brick Brody: “That sounds heroic. It also sounds stupid. If those ribs are still bad, Sir Lancelot should kick, suplex, and press every breath out of him.”
Julian Ward: “Yet Sinbad has made a career out of surviving conditions that should have ended him.”
Brick Brody: “Survival is good. Retaining is better.”
Sinbad walks down the ramp, eyes locked on Sir Lancelot.
At ringside, Merlin watches him carefully.
Sinbad notices and gives him the faintest grin, then climbs the steps and enters the ring.
He hands the Eternal Flame Championship to Honest Abe.
The referee raises it high.
The crowd erupts.
Ring Introductions
Louie Linville stands at center ring.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is for the Eternal Flame Championship.”
The crowd cheers louder.
Louie Linville: “Introducing first, the challenger, accompanied to the ring by Merlin… knight of Camelot, blade of honor, and one of the most disciplined warriors in the Mythic Division… Sir Lancelot.”
Sir Lancelot rises to his feet and steps forward.
Louie Linville: “And his opponent… he is the reigning and defending Eternal Flame Champion… voyager, survivor, and bearer of the fire that refuses to die… Sinbad.”
Sinbad raises one hand as the crowd cheers.
Honest Abe shows the title to both men, then hands it to the timekeeper.
The bell rings.
Minute 1
Sinbad opens by stepping in close and yanking Sir Lancelot into a short-arm lariat, trying to establish immediate physical control.
Sir Lancelot absorbs the blow, rolls through the impact, rebounds off the mat, and comes back with a running shooting star press that crashes across Sinbad’s upper body.
The champion turns to his side, one arm instinctively protecting his taped ribs.
Sir Lancelot rises smoothly.
Sinbad pushes up with a grin that does not quite hide the pain.
Julian Ward: “Fast opening exchange. Sinbad starts with the short-arm lariat, but Sir Lancelot answers immediately with a running shooting star press.”
Brick Brody: “That is a knight with wheels. People hear Sir Lancelot and expect clean sword poses. Then he flips onto your chest and knocks the wind out of your bad ribs.”
Julian Ward: “Those ribs are already in the story.”
Brick Brody: “They were in the story before the bell. Now Sir Lancelot just underlined them.”
Minute 2
Sinbad changes angles.
He catches Sir Lancelot moving in and twists into an inverted tornado DDT, spiking the challenger hard enough to draw a roar from the crowd.
But Sir Lancelot rolls through the landing, finds the ropes, and springs into another running shooting star press before Sinbad can fully rise.
The impact is cleaner this time.
Sinbad exhales sharply and rolls toward the ropes.
Merlin watches without visible reaction.
Julian Ward: “The champion lands the inverted tornado DDT, but again Sir Lancelot responds with speed and aerial precision.”
Brick Brody: “That is the problem for Sinbad. He can hit something spectacular, but Sir Lancelot is not staying hit long enough for it to matter.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger is forcing the champion into a pace that tests his breathing.”
Brick Brody: “Exactly. Taped ribs hate pace.”
Minute 3
Sinbad drags himself upright and catches Sir Lancelot with another short-arm lariat.
This one lands cleaner.
Sir Lancelot tries to guard, but the force breaks through and drops him to one knee.
Sinbad follows with a clubbing forearm across the back, then backs away just enough to reset his breathing.
The crowd claps for the champion’s resilience.
Julian Ward: “Another short-arm lariat from Sinbad, and this time Sir Lancelot cannot fully defend.”
Brick Brody: “Good. The champion needed something basic and ugly. Stop trying to match flips with a knight. Hit him in the throat area and make him think twice.”
Julian Ward: “Sinbad is creating pockets of control, but he is already managing his own body between attacks.”
Brick Brody: “That is the bad part. He is winning moments and losing oxygen.”
Minute 4
Sir Lancelot recovers quickly.
He ducks a reaching grip from Sinbad, hooks the champion, and drives him down with a Falcon Arrow.
Sinbad lands hard on his back and ribs.
The arena reacts as Sir Lancelot floats near a cover, then chooses instead to pull Sinbad toward the center.
He wants control, not chance.
Julian Ward: “Falcon Arrow by Sir Lancelot, and he plants Sinbad directly across the damaged core.”
Brick Brody: “That is how you wrestle a wounded champion. No pity. No hesitation. Drop him where he hurts and make him prove the belt is worth breathing through pain.”
Julian Ward: “Sir Lancelot did not cover. He wants more.”
Brick Brody: “That is either discipline or arrogance. We will find out.”
Minute 5
Sinbad fights from his knees.
He throws open-hand chops into Sir Lancelot’s chest, each one echoing against the quiet tension of the crowd.
Sir Lancelot takes the chops, steps through them, and grabs Sinbad by the head, driving him down with a running bulldog.
Sinbad hits face-first and rolls to his back.
Sir Lancelot rises sharply, his discipline starting to look like controlled aggression.
Julian Ward: “The champion fires with open-hand chops, but Sir Lancelot answers with the running bulldog.”
Brick Brody: “Those chops sounded good. The bulldog looked better. Sinbad is landing, but Sir Lancelot keeps putting him down.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger is not being overwhelmed by the champion’s rhythm.”
Brick Brody: “Because he is breaking it every time Sinbad tries to clap along.”
Minute 6
Sinbad catches Sir Lancelot in close again.
More open-hand chops.
One to the chest.
Another to the shoulder.
A third across the collarbone.
Sir Lancelot absorbs the punishment, backing toward the ropes but staying upright.
Sinbad presses forward, using the strikes to prevent Sir Lancelot from building speed.
Merlin shifts at ringside, studying the champion’s timing.
Julian Ward: “Sinbad goes back to those open-hand chops, and this time he keeps Sir Lancelot from answering immediately.”
Brick Brody: “That is smart. Chop him in close quarters. Do not give the knight a runway.”
Julian Ward: “The champion is trying to turn this from a test of pace into a test of grit.”
Brick Brody: “And grit favors the man who has been punched by life a little more often.”
Minute 7
Sinbad throws another chop.
Sir Lancelot takes it and snaps back with a superkick.
The kick lands flush.
Sinbad staggers into the ropes, then rebounds forward with another chop that catches Sir Lancelot high on the chest.
Both men pause for half a breath.
The crowd rises at the exchange.
Julian Ward: “Open-hand chop from Sinbad, superkick from Sir Lancelot. They are trading damage now, and the challenger may be landing the sharper shots.”
Brick Brody: “That superkick was beautiful. But give Sinbad credit. He got his bell rung and still came back swinging.”
Julian Ward: “The champion is refusing to let pain create distance.”
Brick Brody: “Pain creates distance whether you like it or not. He is just pretending it does not.”
Minute 8
Both men reset defensively.
They circle.
Sinbad feints low, then catches Sir Lancelot’s arm and twists into a hammerlock DDT.
The move spikes Sir Lancelot hard, drawing a major reaction.
But as Sinbad rises, Sir Lancelot snaps upward with an enzuigiri that catches the champion near the side of the head.
Sinbad stumbles backward and drops to one knee.
Sir Lancelot rolls away, clutching his shoulder from the hammerlock impact.
Julian Ward: “Huge hammerlock DDT from Sinbad, perhaps the champion’s strongest move of the match so far, but Sir Lancelot answers with the enzuigiri.”
Brick Brody: “That DDT was nasty. It folded the arm, trapped the shoulder, and drove the head down. That is a champion’s move.”
Julian Ward: “But Sir Lancelot still found the counterstrike.”
Brick Brody: “He did, but that shoulder is talking to him now.”
Minute 9
Sir Lancelot tries to follow with a rolling elbow.
Sinbad sees it coming and neutralizes the strike, catching the arm and forcing Sir Lancelot off balance.
The champion shoves him toward the ropes and uses the brief defensive win to draw air back into his lungs.
Sir Lancelot turns, annoyed that the opening was denied.
Julian Ward: “Sir Lancelot looked for the rolling elbow, but Sinbad neutralized it. A subtle but important defensive moment for the champion.”
Brick Brody: “That is veteran stuff. Not flashy. Not pretty. Just stop the elbow before it takes your teeth home.”
Julian Ward: “Sinbad needed that pause.”
Brick Brody: “He needed it bad. He is hiding the ribs well, but not well enough.”
Minute 10
Sinbad moves first.
He catches Sir Lancelot stepping forward and drives a running head kick into him, knocking the challenger down.
The crowd pops as Sinbad covers.
But at ringside, Merlin lifts his staff.
A low shimmer of blue light flickers near Sir Lancelot’s shoulder.
The challenger’s body jolts with renewed energy just as Honest Abe drops to count.
One.
Two.
Sir Lancelot kicks out.
Sinbad sits back and looks toward Merlin.
Honest Abe turns as well, but Merlin has already lowered the staff.
Julian Ward: “Running head kick from Sinbad, and that may have been enough to create a deeper count, but Merlin appeared to cast some form of rejuvenation at ringside.”
Brick Brody: “Appeared? The old wizard lit him up like a lantern. That was not encouragement. That was supernatural jumper cables.”
Julian Ward: “Sir Lancelot kicks out at two, and Sinbad knows what he saw.”
Brick Brody: “Then he better do something about it, because yelling at magic does not keep your title.”
Minute 11
Sinbad turns back toward Sir Lancelot, and the hesitation costs him.
Sir Lancelot hooks both arms and drives Sinbad down with a Pedigree.
The champion hits hard and rolls onto his side, clutching his ribs again.
Sir Lancelot rises slowly, still recovering but clearly revived enough to attack.
Merlin remains still at ringside.
The crowd boos the advantage but respects the impact.
Julian Ward: “Pedigree by Sir Lancelot, and that hesitation from Sinbad after the rejuvenation may have opened the door.”
Brick Brody: “That is what managers do. They make you look away from the man who is trying to cave your face in.”
Julian Ward: “Sir Lancelot has the advantage now.”
Brick Brody: “Thanks to Merlin, discipline, and Sinbad spending one second too long being offended.”
Minute 12
Sir Lancelot tries to keep the momentum with another enzuigiri.
Sinbad ducks under it and neutralizes the attempt, catching Sir Lancelot around the waist and forcing him to the mat before the kick can connect.
Sinbad does not follow immediately.
He uses the defensive stop to rise and regain control of his breathing.
Sir Lancelot backs toward a corner, shaking out the missed strike.
Julian Ward: “Sinbad neutralizes the enzuigiri. The champion is still defending intelligently despite the damage.”
Brick Brody: “He has to. If he lets Sir Lancelot stack those kicks on top of the Pedigree, this title is gone.”
Julian Ward: “A needed defensive reset for Sinbad.”
Brick Brody: “Needed, yes. Enough, no.”
Minute 13
The two men circle again, both slower now.
Sinbad steps in and cracks Sir Lancelot with a discus back elbow.
The challenger drops to the mat.
Sinbad falls into the cover.
Again, Merlin raises his staff at ringside.
Another pulse of blue-white energy moves through the air.
Sir Lancelot stirs.
Honest Abe counts.
One.
Sir Lancelot kicks out.
Sinbad slaps the mat once, not at the referee, but at the situation.
He points toward Merlin.
Honest Abe warns Merlin, but the wizard says nothing.
Julian Ward: “The discus back elbow landed clean, but for the second time, Merlin’s rejuvenation appears to help Sir Lancelot escape danger.”
Brick Brody: “Now Sinbad is mad, and he has every right to be. That old man is turning near-falls into minor inconveniences.”
Julian Ward: “Honest Abe is warning Merlin, but without clear grounds for disqualification, the match continues.”
Brick Brody: “Magic always gets great legal representation.”
Minute 14
Sir Lancelot capitalizes while Sinbad is still frustrated.
He catches the champion clean with another Falcon Arrow, driving Sinbad hard into the mat.
This time Sinbad does not roll through quickly.
He lies still for a moment, one arm across his ribs.
Sir Lancelot rises and looks toward the Eternal Flame Championship at ringside.
The challenger senses the match turning.
Julian Ward: “Another Falcon Arrow, and Sinbad absorbed the full force of that one.”
Brick Brody: “That was the best landing Sir Lancelot has had all match. Right on the body. Right on the problem.”
Julian Ward: “The champion’s frustration with Merlin may be pulling him away from the focus he needs.”
Brick Brody: “That is why seconds matter. One wizard outside the ring is worth ten doubts inside it.”
Minute 15
Sir Lancelot reaches for Sinbad, but the champion springs suddenly.
He twists around the challenger’s grip and plants him with another inverted tornado DDT.
Sir Lancelot hits hard.
The crowd roars as Sinbad rolls through and grabs the ropes to pull himself up.
The champion cannot cover immediately, but he has stopped Sir Lancelot’s surge.
Julian Ward: “Inverted tornado DDT from Sinbad, and the champion finds an answer when he absolutely needed one.”
Brick Brody: “That was survival wrestling. Not pretty strategy. Not clean momentum. Just instinct and a skull bounced off the canvas.”
Julian Ward: “The concern is that Sinbad cannot capitalize quickly.”
Brick Brody: “Because those ribs are screaming louder than this crowd.”
Minute 16
Both men rise together.
Sinbad goes right back to the inverted tornado DDT, trying to stack damage and keep Sir Lancelot grounded.
But Sir Lancelot comes up from the impact with one last burst, launching into another running shooting star press.
The move lands across Sinbad’s torso.
Both men roll apart, the crowd roaring at the mirrored damage.
Julian Ward: “Another inverted tornado DDT from Sinbad, and another running shooting star press from Sir Lancelot. They are answering signature patterns now.”
Brick Brody: “They know what works, and they are too tired to get fancy. Hit the thing that hurts. Hope the other man stops moving.”
Julian Ward: “Neither champion nor challenger can fully control the match.”
Brick Brody: “Then it comes down to who has one more clean shot and one less bad rib.”
Minute 17
Sinbad reaches for Sir Lancelot again and lands yet another inverted tornado DDT, using motion and leverage to drive the challenger down.
But Sir Lancelot shifts his hips, hooks Sinbad, and rolls through into a bridging suplex.
Honest Abe drops.
One.
Two.
Sinbad kicks out.
The crowd explodes.
Sir Lancelot releases the bridge and looks toward Merlin, who gives no visible instruction.
Sinbad rolls onto his side, breathing heavily.
Julian Ward: “Sir Lancelot turns the champion’s momentum into a bridging suplex and nearly captures the Eternal Flame Championship.”
Brick Brody: “That was close. Sinbad went to the well again, and Sir Lancelot almost drowned him in it.”
Julian Ward: “The champion survives at two.”
Brick Brody: “Survives. There is that word again. He is doing a lot of surviving tonight.”
Minute 18
Sinbad struggles to stand.
He fires open-hand chops into Sir Lancelot, trying to keep him close and prevent another burst of speed.
Sir Lancelot absorbs the chops, then powers through with another Falcon Arrow.
The challenger plants Sinbad again.
The arena rises, sensing the title could be slipping away.
Sir Lancelot does not cover immediately, needing a moment himself.
Julian Ward: “Open-hand chops from Sinbad, but Sir Lancelot answers with yet another Falcon Arrow.”
Brick Brody: “That one might have taken more out of Sir Lancelot than he wanted. He hit the move, but he is not moving like a man ready to finish.”
Julian Ward: “Both competitors are deep into the cost of this match now.”
Brick Brody: “Good. The Eternal Flame should burn people.”
Minute 19
Sinbad somehow reaches his feet first, staggering but upright.
He catches Sir Lancelot with another inverted tornado DDT, driving the challenger down.
But Sir Lancelot fires back with an enzuigiri, catching Sinbad near the temple as the champion rises.
Sinbad drops to one knee.
Sir Lancelot drops to both hands.
The crowd gives both men a sustained ovation.
Merlin watches intently, but this time he does not lift the staff.
Julian Ward: “Another inverted tornado DDT. Another enzuigiri. These two men are trading from exhaustion now, and neither can afford a mistake.”
Brick Brody: “You can see the legs going. You can see the timing fraying. The next man who lands clean might not need anything else.”
Julian Ward: “Merlin remains still this time.”
Brick Brody: “Maybe even magic gets tired of bailing people out.”
Minute 20
Sinbad pulls himself upright, one hand tight against his ribs.
Sir Lancelot steps forward and tries one more enzuigiri, looking to catch the champion in the same opening.
But Sinbad ducks just enough.
He traps the arm.
Hooks the shoulder.
Turns through the motion.
Hammerlock DDT.
Sir Lancelot is driven into the canvas.
The crowd erupts.
Sinbad rolls him over, hooks the leg, and presses all his remaining weight across the shoulders.
Honest Abe counts.
One.
Two.
Three.
The bell rings.
The arena explodes.
Sinbad stays down for a moment beside Sir Lancelot, too exhausted to rise immediately.
Honest Abe retrieves the Eternal Flame Championship and kneels beside him.
Sinbad takes the title with one hand and clutches it to his chest.
Merlin steps onto the apron, looking at Sir Lancelot, then at Sinbad.
There is no anger in his face.
Only recognition.
Sir Lancelot slowly rolls to his side, beaten but not diminished.
Sinbad finally sits up, title in his lap, breathing through pain and victory.
Honest Abe raises his hand.
The crowd cheers as the champion lifts the Eternal Flame Championship.
Julian Ward: “Sinbad retains the Eternal Flame Championship. Through damaged ribs, through repeated Falcon Arrows, through the challenge of Sir Lancelot, and through the strange influence of Merlin, the champion found one final Hammerlock DDT when the match demanded everything left in him.”
Brick Brody: “That was guts, I will give him that. Sir Lancelot fought smart. Merlin helped him breathe when he should have been finished. But Sinbad kept finding ways to spike the man’s head into the mat until one finally kept him there.”
Julian Ward: “For Sir Lancelot, this was a noble challenge and a brutal failure. For Sinbad, it is another defense that proves the flame he carries is not ornamental. It burns because he is willing to burn with it.”
SINBAD DEFEATED SIR LANCELOT BY PINFALL WITH A HAMMERLOCK DDT TO RETAIN THE ETERNAL FLAME CHAMPIONSHIP.
The broadcast returns to Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum.
The firelight from the Eternal Flame Championship match fades from the arena.
In its place comes cold.
A slow violet mist creeps across the entrance stage. The torches dim to red embers. The ceiling lights vanish one row at a time until the ring is surrounded by darkness, with only the championship pedestal illuminated at ringside.
Upon it rests the Queen of the North Championship.
Gold.
Ice.
Blood-red reflections.
A title that does not look won so much as claimed.
Julian Ward: “We have reached the Queen of the North Championship match, and this may be the most dangerous collision of power and ambition tonight outside the main event.”
Brick Brody: “Good. This show needed a throne fight. Lilith does not walk into matches like a champion defending property. She walks in like everybody else is trespassing.”
Julian Ward: “But across from her tonight stands Morgana Le Faye, accompanied by Myrrden. Ancient cunning, ruthless sorcery, and the ambition to take a crown that would alter the balance of this division.”
Brick Brody: “And do not forget Count Vlad with Lilith. You got demons, witches, sorcerers, vampires, and Honest Abe trying to keep order like a man holding a candle in a hurricane.”
The entrance screen cracks with black-and-violet lightning.
Morgana Le Faye Entrance
A low chant fills the arena.
Not music.
A spell given rhythm.
Myrrden appears first.
He steps onto the stage in dark robes, staff in hand, moving with the stillness of a man who has watched kingdoms rot and learned patience from the grave. His eyes sweep across the coliseum, then settle on the championship.
Behind him, the light bends.
Morgana Le Faye emerges.
She wears deep black and emerald gear with silver accents, regal and severe. Her expression is not hungry in the obvious sense. It is worse than that. She looks as though the title already belongs to her and the match is only the ritual required to correct reality.
The crowd boos, but there is awe mixed into it.
Morgana Le Faye walks with her chin high, every step slow enough to make the arena wait.
Julian Ward: “There is Morgana Le Faye, and she carries herself with the confidence of someone who does not see championship pursuit as ambition, but entitlement.”
Brick Brody: “That is what I like about her. She is not begging for a chance. She is showing up to take inventory.”
Julian Ward: “And with Myrrden in her corner, Morgana Le Faye brings more than skill. She brings strategy, influence, and the threat of interference.”
Brick Brody: “Everybody brings something to ringside now. If you do not, you are either noble or stupid. Usually both.”
Morgana Le Faye enters the ring and moves to the far corner.
Myrrden remains outside, both hands on his staff.
The red embers around the stage begin to glow brighter.
Then the music changes.
Lilith Entrance
A deep pulse rolls through the coliseum.
The screen turns blood-red.
The crowd reaction becomes louder, darker, more divided.
Count Vlad steps onto the stage first.
He is dressed in refined black and crimson, moving with aristocratic ease. His expression is faintly amused, as if the entire arena is beneath him and still useful. He pauses, looks toward Myrrden, and gives the smallest smile.
Then Lilith appears.
The Queen of the North Champion steps into the red light with the title around her waist.
She does not rush.
She does not play to the crowd.
She lets them look.
Her expression is calm, poisonous, and completely without doubt. Her eyes lock on Morgana Le Faye, and the air between them feels colder than the rest of the building.
Julian Ward: “The champion, Lilith, arrives with Count Vlad at her side. The Queen of the North Championship has only deepened her aura of danger.”
Brick Brody: “That is because Lilith understands something most champions pretend not to know. A title is not just honor. It is leverage. It is fear. It is proof that everybody else has to come through you.”
Julian Ward: “Tonight, Morgana Le Faye comes for that proof.”
Brick Brody: “Then she better be ready to pay in more than pride.”
Lilith walks down the ramp.
At ringside, Count Vlad and Myrrden stare across the aisle at one another.
Neither man speaks.
Neither man needs to.
Lilith steps onto the apron, slowly removes the championship from her waist, and raises it with one hand before entering the ring.
Ring Introductions
Louie Linville stands in the center of the ring as the crowd swells.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is for the Queen of the North Championship.”
The crowd cheers.
Louie Linville: “Introducing first, the challenger, accompanied to the ring by Myrrden… sorceress of shadow, heir to ancient ambition, and one of the most dangerous minds in the Mythic Division… Morgana Le Faye.”
Morgana Le Faye steps forward, eyes cold.
Louie Linville: “And her opponent, accompanied to the ring by Count Vlad… she is the reigning and defending Queen of the North Champion… demon queen, sovereign of ruin, and the titleholder who has made fear into territory… Lilith.”
Lilith raises the title once more.
The crowd roars.
Honest Abe takes the championship and lifts it high.
Morgana Le Faye stares at the belt.
Lilith stares at Morgana Le Faye.
The bell rings.
Minute 1
Lilith moves first.
She closes the distance and traps Morgana Le Faye in Demon’s Embrace, locking the Code of Silence around the challenger with sudden force. Morgana Le Faye twists to defend, but before the hold can fully decide the opening, Myrrden steps forward at ringside and strikes the apron with his staff.
The sound cuts through the arena.
Lilith’s eyes shift for half a second.
That is all Morgana Le Faye needs.
She tears enough space free to avoid being fully trapped, while Myrrden’s distraction forces Lilith backward and changes the rhythm immediately.
Count Vlad turns toward Myrrden, his amusement fading.
Julian Ward: “Lilith opened with Demon’s Embrace, but Myrrden inserted himself immediately, distracting the champion and preventing the hold from becoming a true opening submission threat.”
Brick Brody: “That was perfect timing. You do not wait until your fighter is drowning. You kick the lifeguard before the water gets deep.”
Julian Ward: “The champion is now forced to defend because of outside influence.”
Brick Brody: “Welcome to title fights with monsters and wizards at ringside. Everybody has hands, everybody has schemes.”
Minute 2
Morgana Le Faye capitalizes quickly.
She grabs Lilith’s arm and twists into a Fujiwara armbar, forcing the champion down to the canvas. Lilith absorbs the pressure with a controlled grimace, refusing to show panic as Morgana Le Faye wrenches the shoulder.
Honest Abe checks closely.
Lilith does not submit.
Count Vlad watches from ringside, expression composed again, but his eyes remain fixed on Myrrden.
Julian Ward: “Morgana Le Faye targets the arm with the Fujiwara armbar, and this is the benefit of that first-minute disruption. She has forced Lilith into defense.”
Brick Brody: “Smart. Take away the arm, take away the embrace. Lilith likes to wrap people up and make them fade. Harder to do that with a bad shoulder.”
Julian Ward: “Lilith absorbs the punishment, but this is an early tactical win for the challenger.”
Brick Brody: “And early tactics become late trophies if you keep digging.”
Minute 3
Lilith begins to rise, but Morgana Le Faye stays behind her.
The challenger hooks the waist, lifts, and throws Lilith with a release German suplex. The champion lands hard and rolls through to her side, unable to fully brace because of the damaged arm.
Morgana Le Faye rises smoothly, adjusting her wrist tape with cold satisfaction.
Lilith pushes up slowly, eyes narrowing.
Julian Ward: “Release German suplex by Morgana Le Faye, and Lilith is still on the back foot after the ringside distraction.”
Brick Brody: “That was beautiful. Throw the queen on her neck and see how regal she looks crawling.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger is not intimidated by the champion’s aura.”
Brick Brody: “Aura does not stop suplexes.”
Minute 4
Morgana Le Faye steps in with total confidence.
Lilith tries to defend, but the challenger fires a super kick that lands clean under the jaw. Lilith stumbles backward into the ropes.
For the first time, the champion looks genuinely knocked off balance.
Morgana Le Faye advances, chin high, the crowd reacting to the sudden early control.
Myrrden watches without expression.
Count Vlad slowly removes his gloves, finger by finger.
Julian Ward: “Super kick by Morgana Le Faye. The challenger has controlled three consecutive minutes after the disruption by Myrrden.”
Brick Brody: “This is how you challenge a demon queen. You do not admire her. You do not fear her. You kick her in the face and make the title feel heavy.”
Julian Ward: “Lilith is no longer forced strictly into defense, but the damage has been done.”
Brick Brody: “Now we find out if the champion gets angry or gets smart.”
Minute 5
The answer comes fast.
Lilith surges from the ropes.
She catches Morgana Le Faye stepping in and drives her face-first into the mat with Demonic Crunch.
The impact is violent.
Morgana Le Faye rolls onto her back, stunned for the first time in the match.
Lilith rises slowly and looks down at her challenger with a cold smile.
The champion has re-entered the fight.
Julian Ward: “There is the champion’s answer. Demonic Crunch from Lilith, and that facebuster stops Morgana Le Faye’s early control cold.”
Brick Brody: “That is what I wanted to see. Enough absorbing. Enough defending. Smash her face and remind everybody whose name is on the belt.”
Julian Ward: “Lilith needed a decisive shift, and she found one.”
Brick Brody: “That was not a shift. That was a collision.”
Minute 6
Lilith keeps control.
She pulls Morgana Le Faye up, slips behind her, and locks in Demon’s Embrace again.
This time there is no immediate escape.
The Code of Silence is cinched tightly.
Morgana Le Faye drops to one knee, fighting the pressure around her neck and upper body. Honest Abe asks if she submits.
Morgana Le Faye refuses.
Lilith tightens the hold, eyes cold, mouth almost smiling.
Myrrden steps closer, but Count Vlad moves as well.
The warning is silent.
Morgana Le Faye claws forward and survives long enough to force separation.
Julian Ward: “Demon’s Embrace fully applied now, and Morgana Le Faye is forced to endure the champion’s most suffocating pressure.”
Brick Brody: “That hold looks miserable. Lilith wraps you up like she is collecting your last breath.”
Julian Ward: “Morgana Le Faye does not submit.”
Brick Brody: “No, but she learned what the rest of the match can become if Lilith gets too comfortable.”
Minute 7
As Lilith rises, Myrrden strikes.
He steps close enough to jab his staff through the ropes, catching Lilith before Honest Abe can fully see the impact.
The crowd erupts in boos.
Lilith recoils, one hand instinctively going to the point of contact.
Morgana Le Faye immediately attacks, using the opening to drive Lilith down and reclaim control.
Count Vlad steps toward Myrrden, his smile returning in a way that feels far more dangerous than anger.
Honest Abe warns Myrrden, but the damage is done.
Julian Ward: “Myrrden struck Lilith with the staff. Honest Abe did not catch enough to disqualify Morgana Le Faye, and the challenger benefits again from outside interference.”
Brick Brody: “That old man is not even subtle. I respect that less than I respect effectiveness, and unfortunately, it was effective.”
Julian Ward: “Lilith has been compromised twice now by Myrrden.”
Brick Brody: “And Count Vlad looks like he is filing that away for later with interest.”
Minute 8
Lilith tries to power back immediately.
She grabs Morgana Le Faye for the Abyssal Slam, looking to plant her with the sitout rear mat slam.
But Morgana Le Faye shifts her weight and reverses.
She gets behind Lilith, hooks the waist, and launches her with another release German suplex.
Lilith lands hard and rolls toward the ropes.
Morgana Le Faye rises, one arm still sore from Demon’s Embrace, but momentum back on her side.
Julian Ward: “Lilith looked for the Abyssal Slam, but Morgana Le Faye reverses and lands another release German suplex.”
Brick Brody: “That is a major reversal. Lilith wanted to swing the match back, and Morgana turned it into another bad landing.”
Julian Ward: “The champion’s power has not been enough to fully steady the match.”
Brick Brody: “Because Morgana Le Faye keeps making sure the floor moves underneath her.”
Minute 9
Lilith pulls herself up by the ropes.
This time Count Vlad moves.
As Morgana Le Faye advances, Count Vlad steps onto the apron and speaks sharply, his voice low but cutting.
Morgana Le Faye turns for a fraction.
The distraction gives Lilith a chance, but the champion cannot capitalize fast enough.
Morgana Le Faye still catches her with a DDT, driving Lilith down.
The challenger covers.
Honest Abe counts.
One.
Two.
Lilith kicks out.
The crowd erupts.
Morgana Le Faye turns and glares at Count Vlad, who simply smiles.
Julian Ward: “Count Vlad attempted to distract Morgana Le Faye, but the challenger still landed the DDT and nearly captured the Queen of the North Championship.”
Brick Brody: “That was a nasty little moment. Vlad bought time, but Morgana still hit the move. Problem is, she lost just enough focus that the pin did not finish it.”
Julian Ward: “And now Morgana Le Faye is forced onto the defensive after the failed pin attempt.”
Brick Brody: “Near-falls change breathing. They change posture. They change confidence. This one might have changed the match.”
Minute 10
Lilith rises with renewed force.
She grabs Morgana Le Faye, lifts, and drops her with a vertical suplex. The challenger hits hard and rolls away, but Lilith follows, refusing to let her create distance.
Myrrden taps his staff once against the floor.
Count Vlad immediately looks toward him.
No one moves.
The ring becomes the battlefield again.
Julian Ward: “Vertical suplex by Lilith, and the champion begins to rebuild control after surviving that near-fall.”
Brick Brody: “Simple. Effective. Put the challenger on her back and make her start over.”
Julian Ward: “The ringside seconds are watching each other as closely as the competitors now.”
Brick Brody: “Because one wrong move outside the ring might get somebody cursed, bitten, or audited by darkness.”
Minute 11
Lilith shifts from impact to compression.
She wraps Morgana Le Faye in the Infernal Embrace, locking the bodyscissors around the challenger’s ribs and core.
Morgana Le Faye grimaces, trying to pry the legs apart.
Lilith squeezes harder, forcing the air from her.
Honest Abe checks for submission.
Morgana Le Faye refuses, but the hold leaves her weakened.
Julian Ward: “Infernal Embrace from Lilith, and now the champion attacks the body directly.”
Brick Brody: “That is smart. Everybody talks about witches and spells, but ribs still hate being crushed.”
Julian Ward: “Morgana Le Faye refuses to submit, but she cannot ignore the damage.”
Brick Brody: “No one ignores a bodyscissors from a demon queen. You just survive it and pretend you did not panic.”
Minute 12
Lilith releases only to pull Morgana Le Faye up again.
This time the Abyssal Slam lands.
The sitout rear mat slam drives Morgana Le Faye into the canvas with a heavy thud.
Lilith remains seated for a moment, staring forward with total control restored.
Morgana Le Faye rolls onto her side, breathing harder now.
Julian Ward: “The Abyssal Slam connects. After being reversed earlier, Lilith finds it clean this time.”
Brick Brody: “That is what champions do. Miss it once, hit it later, make it hurt worse because now everybody knows what was coming.”
Julian Ward: “Morgana Le Faye is no longer on the defensive by status alone. She is on the defensive by damage.”
Brick Brody: “Big difference. One is math. The other is pain.”
Minute 13
The match shifts into direct collision.
Lilith grabs Morgana Le Faye again and traps her in Demon’s Embrace.
At the same time, Morgana Le Faye snatches Lilith’s arm and twists into another Fujiwara armbar.
For a few brutal seconds, both women punish each other at once.
Lilith squeezes.
Morgana Le Faye wrenches the shoulder.
Neither releases first.
Finally, they spill apart near the ropes, both carrying the damage.
Julian Ward: “A simultaneous struggle there. Lilith with Demon’s Embrace, Morgana Le Faye with the Fujiwara armbar. Both champion and challenger attacking the very tools the other needs.”
Brick Brody: “That was mean. That was ugly. That was two women trying to cripple each other’s best weapons at the same time.”
Julian Ward: “Neither gained full control, but both inflicted damage.”
Brick Brody: “That is a fair trade when both sides are monsters.”
Minute 14
Lilith fires first with another Abyssal Slam, driving Morgana Le Faye down.
But the challenger rolls through enough to catch Lilith in Sorceress’s Embrace, wrapping the champion in a tight counterhold that forces Lilith to fight from the mat.
The crowd rises as Morgana Le Faye pulls back.
Lilith refuses to give in, dragging herself toward the ropes with one arm while protecting the other.
She reaches them.
The break is called.
Julian Ward: “Abyssal Slam from Lilith, but Morgana Le Faye transitions into Sorceress’s Embrace. That was extraordinary survival from the challenger.”
Brick Brody: “That is not survival. That is spite with technique. She got slammed and still found a way to make the champion suffer for it.”
Julian Ward: “Lilith reaches the ropes, but that arm remains a target.”
Brick Brody: “Good. Pick a body part and write your name on it.”
Minute 15
Lilith returns to the Infernal Embrace.
She traps Morgana Le Faye again with the bodyscissors, grinding the fight down, making every breath harder for the challenger.
Morgana Le Faye absorbs the punishment, refusing to reach in panic, refusing to let the crowd see fear.
Myrrden leans forward slightly.
Count Vlad watches Lilith with approval.
Julian Ward: “The champion returns to the body with Infernal Embrace. This is not spectacular, but it is wearing Morgana Le Faye down.”
Brick Brody: “Spectacular is overrated. Crushing somebody’s ribs until they cannot kick properly is useful.”
Julian Ward: “Lilith has slowed the match into her preferred cruelty.”
Brick Brody: “And that is a terrible place to live.”
Minute 16
Morgana Le Faye claws her way free.
Lilith rises with Demon’s Embrace again, trying to force another suffocating hold.
But Morgana Le Faye fires a Shining Wizard that catches the champion clean and knocks her sideways.
Lilith staggers, but does not fall completely.
She clutches the ropes, eyes burning.
Morgana Le Faye drops to one knee from the effort.
Julian Ward: “Demon’s Embrace from Lilith, but Morgana Le Faye answers with the Shining Wizard.”
Brick Brody: “That was desperation with a knee attached. Perfectly legal, perfectly violent.”
Julian Ward: “Both women are still landing, but neither can follow immediately.”
Brick Brody: “Because they have been tearing each other apart for sixteen minutes. That tends to slow the paperwork.”
Minute 17
Lilith steps back in and fires the Dread Kick, a super kick that snaps into Morgana Le Faye.
The challenger stumbles, but answers with a DDT, spiking the champion into the mat.
Both women are down again.
Count Vlad takes a step forward.
Myrrden mirrors him.
Honest Abe warns both men, almost pleading now for the match to stay between the ropes.
Julian Ward: “Dread Kick from Lilith, DDT from Morgana Le Faye. Another exchange where both women give and take damage in the same breath.”
Brick Brody: “That is championship-level hate. You get kicked in the head and still remember to plant the other woman before you fall.”
Julian Ward: “The seconds are edging closer again.”
Brick Brody: “Of course they are. This is the part of a title match where everybody starts pretending they are not about to cheat.”
Minute 18
Lilith rises and again locks in Demon’s Embrace.
The hold is tight, but Morgana Le Faye refuses to collapse into it.
She drives upward and catches Lilith with another Shining Wizard, breaking enough of the hold to stay alive.
Lilith re-secures the pressure for a moment, forcing Honest Abe to ask the challenger if she submits.
Morgana Le Faye snarls no.
She survives.
The hold breaks.
Julian Ward: “Demon’s Embrace again. Lilith continues to hunt for submission, but Morgana Le Faye refuses to yield.”
Brick Brody: “That is pride. Dangerous, expensive pride. But it is keeping her alive.”
Julian Ward: “The Shining Wizard created just enough disruption to prevent the hold from ending the match.”
Brick Brody: “Just enough is all a challenger needs until it is not.”
Minute 19
Count Vlad moves now.
He steps near Lilith’s corner and speaks to her with measured command, psyching up the champion, reminding her of control, of cruelty, of the title around which this entire fight revolves.
Lilith’s expression steadies.
But Morgana Le Faye surges forward and catches the arm again, twisting into another Fujiwara armbar.
Lilith grimaces as the damaged shoulder is wrenched.
Count Vlad stops speaking.
Myrrden watches with something almost like satisfaction.
Julian Ward: “Count Vlad attempted to steady Lilith, but Morgana Le Faye found the Fujiwara armbar again. The challenger keeps returning to that arm.”
Brick Brody: “That is the smartest thing Morgana has done all night. The arm is hurt. Keep hurting it. Do not get poetic. Get cruel.”
Julian Ward: “The champion is in real danger if Morgana Le Faye can keep the hold applied.”
Brick Brody: “But she has to finish it. Hurting Lilith and beating Lilith are different religions.”
Minute 20
Lilith fights through the armbar damage and powers up.
She catches Morgana Le Faye trying to stay on her and drives her down with the Abyssal Slam.
This one lands hard.
The challenger bounces and rolls onto her back.
The crowd roars as Lilith rises, breathing heavily, one arm hanging slightly lower than the other.
Count Vlad gives the smallest approving nod.
Julian Ward: “Abyssal Slam from Lilith, and the champion breaks the challenger’s surge with force.”
Brick Brody: “That was ugly strength. Bad arm and all, Lilith still put Morgana into the mat.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger has targeted the arm, but the champion’s power remains.”
Brick Brody: “Power remains until somebody takes the title away. So far, nobody has.”
Minute 21
Morgana Le Faye tries to rise.
Lilith grabs her before she can reset.
The champion hooks her, lifts, and drops her with a vertical suplex.
The impact lands clean.
Lilith rolls over into the cover, pressing her weight down across Morgana Le Faye’s shoulders.
Honest Abe counts.
One.
Two.
Three.
The bell rings.
The arena erupts.
Lilith remains over Morgana Le Faye for a moment after the count, eyes open, expression cold, as if even victory is not enough to satisfy her.
Honest Abe retrieves the Queen of the North Championship and hands it to the champion.
Lilith rises slowly and takes the title with her damaged arm anyway, forcing it upward despite the pain.
Count Vlad enters the ring and stands behind her, composed and satisfied.
Across the ring, Myrrden helps Morgana Le Faye to the ropes. The challenger glares at Lilith, furious but beaten.
Lilith raises the championship higher.
The red lights deepen.
The image is unmistakable.
The queen remains.
Julian Ward: “Lilith retains the Queen of the North Championship. She endured early interference from Myrrden, targeted attacks from Morgana Le Faye, repeated arm damage, and still found the force to close the match with a vertical suplex.”
Brick Brody: “That was not pretty. That was not clean. That was a throne fight, and Lilith proved the throne is still hers. Morgana Le Faye had the plan. Myrrden had the tricks. But the champion had the last slam and the last cover.”
Julian Ward: “For Morgana Le Faye, the ambition remains, but tonight it is denied. For Lilith, the reign continues, and the Queen of the North Championship remains in the hands of a champion who survives not by mercy, but by dominion.”
LILITH DEFEATED MORGANA LE FAYE BY PINFALL WITH A VERTICAL SUPLEX TO RETAIN THE QUEEN OF THE NORTH CHAMPIONSHIP.
The red light from Lilith’s successful title defense fades slowly from the arena.
The crowd is still reacting as the replay package ends.
On the screen, Lilith drives Morgana Le Faye down with the vertical suplex.
The three-count flashes.
The image freezes on Lilith raising the Queen of the North Championship beside Count Vlad.
Then the screen cuts to black.
A low tone moves through Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum.
Not music.
A warning.
The lights shift to cold steel blue.
The crowd begins to murmur.
Julian Ward: “The Queen of the North Championship remains with Lilith, but the night continues, and we now move toward one of the most closely guarded questions surrounding The Long Night.”
Brick Brody: “Yeah, we have known the champion. We have known the title. We have not known the victim.”
Julian Ward: “The Universal Champion, Ghost of Christmas Past, is scheduled to defend the championship tonight against a surprise challenger selected by Mythic Division management.”
Brick Brody: “That is a terrible sentence for a champion. Surprise challenger means somebody knows something you do not. And in this company, that usually means pain with paperwork.”
The arena lights dim further.
A single white spotlight appears on the stage.
The crowd reaction shifts immediately.
Respect.
Unease.
Authority.
Alton Bell steps through the curtain.
The Mythic Division General Manager walks with no wasted motion. His dark suit is immaculate. His expression is calm in a way that never feels comforting. He carries a black folder in one hand.
The crowd gives a strong mixed reaction.
Some cheer his authority.
Some boo what that authority usually means.
Alton Bell pauses at the top of the ramp and surveys the coliseum.
Then he walks toward the ring.
Julian Ward: “Here comes Alton Bell, the General Manager of the Mythic Division. When Alton Bell enters with that expression, it rarely means comfort is waiting.”
Brick Brody: “I like him. Man walks like bad news found a tailor.”
Julian Ward: “He has maintained strict secrecy regarding the Universal Title challenger.”
Brick Brody: “Which means he either has a plan, a trap, or both. Best kind of management.”
Alton Bell reaches the ring steps, climbs with measured precision, and enters between the ropes.
He does not pose.
He does not smile.
He takes a microphone from ringside and stands in the center of the ring beneath the single spotlight.
The crowd buzzes louder.
A chant starts from one section.
“WHO IS IT? WHO IS IT? WHO IS IT?”
Another section answers.
“GHOST! GHOST! GHOST!”
Alton Bell waits.
He does not raise his voice.
He does not ask for silence.
He simply stands there until the arena gives it to him.
When the crowd finally quiets, Alton Bell lifts the microphone.
Alton Bell: “Tonight, The Long Night has already shown you what the Mythic Division is.”
A pause.
Alton Bell: “Betrayal in Sherwood. Corrupted devotion. Ambition denied. Fire endured. A queen retaining her throne through dominion.”
He turns slightly, letting the words settle across the coliseum.
Alton Bell: “But the Mythic Division is not only a place where stories are preserved.”
His eyes narrow.
Alton Bell: “It is a place where stories are tested.”
The crowd rumbles.
Alton Bell: “Up next, the Universal Championship will be defended.”
A loud cheer rises.
The screen above the stage shows the Universal Championship.
Then the champion appears.
Ghost of Christmas Past.
Pale.
Haunting.
Still.
The title in his possession like a relic taken from memory itself.
The crowd reacts strongly.
Alton Bell: “The reigning Universal Champion, Ghost of Christmas Past, came into NPCW as something many did not understand. A warning. A memory. A judgment wearing flesh.”
The camera cuts to fans holding signs.
“THE PAST ALWAYS WINS”
“GHOST OWNS THE NIGHT”
“WHO CAN PIN A MEMORY?”
Alton Bell: “He has become champion not because he is familiar, but because he is impossible to ignore.”
Julian Ward: “That is an accurate description. Ghost of Christmas Past has changed the atmosphere around the Universal Championship since winning it.”
Brick Brody: “He is creepy, he is dangerous, and he has a manager who looks like he was grown under a funeral tree. Hard combination to prepare for.”
Alton Bell: “But tonight, the Universal Championship does not rest in memory.”
He looks directly into the hard camera.
Alton Bell: “Tonight, memory meets discipline.”
The crowd shifts.
A new murmur spreads.
Alton Bell: “It meets heritage.”
The murmur grows louder.
Alton Bell: “It meets fire controlled by oath, violence restrained by purpose, and a warrior who does not enter this ring to entertain prophecy.”
A chant begins from a small section.
“DRAG-ON’S VEIL! DRAG-ON’S VEIL!”
Alton Bell hears it.
His expression does not change.
Alton Bell: “The challenger for the Universal Championship has not been selected for spectacle.”
He slowly opens the black folder.
Alton Bell: “He has been selected because the champion must be measured against something that does not fear haunting.”
He removes a single document.
Alton Bell: “Because the past is powerful.”
A pause.
Alton Bell: “But so is discipline that refuses to be possessed by it.”
The lights shift.
Red-gold begins to pulse faintly across the stage.
The crowd grows louder.
Alton Bell: “Ladies and gentlemen…”
He lowers the paper.
Alton Bell: “The challenger for the Universal Championship…”
The red-gold glow deepens.
A dragon silhouette appears faintly across the entrance screen.
Then the symbol of The Dragon’s Veil.
The crowd erupts.
Alton Bell: “Representing The Dragon’s Veil…”
The reaction grows.
Alton Bell: “Takuma Ryujin.”
The arena breaks into a roar.
The screen shows flashes of Takuma Ryujin.
Controlled stance.
Sharp strikes.
Dragon discipline.
A warrior’s posture under fire.
Then the image shifts to Ghost of Christmas Past, still and spectral.
Then back to Takuma Ryujin.
The contrast is stark.
Past against discipline.
Haunting against will.
Memory against the dragon’s oath.
Julian Ward: “There it is. Takuma Ryujin of The Dragon’s Veil will challenge Ghost of Christmas Past for the Universal Championship.”
Brick Brody: “Now that is interesting. Takuma is not some wide-eyed hero walking into a ghost story. He is trained, cold, and mean when the bell rings. I like this choice.”
Julian Ward: “And after everything surrounding the Blood Oni Dojo, Raigen, and the influence of The Dragon’s Veil, this announcement carries deep implications.”
Brick Brody: “It also carries a very simple implication: Ghost of Christmas Past is about to find out if a haunting can take a kick to the jaw.”
Alton Bell continues.
Alton Bell: “Let there be no misunderstanding.”
The crowd slowly lowers.
Alton Bell: “This is not an exhibition. This is not a ceremonial opportunity. This is not a gesture of diplomacy between factions.”
He closes the folder.
Alton Bell: “This is a Universal Championship match.”
A cheer.
Alton Bell: “Ghost of Christmas Past will defend the highest prize in NPCW against a man whose discipline was forged in the hidden war between shadow and oath.”
The camera catches fans reacting in surprise and excitement.
Alton Bell: “Takuma Ryujin does not come tonight as a symbol of mercy.”
A pause.
Alton Bell: “He comes as a test.”
The red-gold glow sharpens across the stage.
Alton Bell: “And if the champion is truly more than memory…”
He turns toward the title graphic on the screen.
Alton Bell: “Then he will survive being brought into the present.”
The crowd roars again.
Alton Bell lowers the microphone.
The arena lights cut to black for one second.
When they return, Alton Bell is already stepping through the ropes.
He leaves without another word.
The camera follows him only halfway up the ramp before cutting back to Julian Ward and Brick Brody at the commentary desk.
Julian Ward: “A monumental announcement from Alton Bell. The Universal Championship will be defended next, and the challenger is Takuma Ryujin of The Dragon’s Veil.”
Brick Brody: “That is a bad surprise. That is the kind of surprise where the wrapping paper has a blade in it.”
Julian Ward: “Ghost of Christmas Past has carried the Universal Championship with an aura unlike any champion in NPCW. He is memory, regret, and consequence made visible. But Takuma Ryujin represents discipline, war, and focus sharpened through tradition.”
Brick Brody: “And do not forget, Takuma hits like he is trying to correct your bloodline. The champion better be ready.”
Julian Ward: “The Universal Championship is coming to The Long Night. Champion against surprise challenger. The past against the dragon.”
Brick Brody: “Good. Let us see if a ghost can bleed.”
The screen fades out from the Universal Title challenger announcement.
The crowd inside Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum is still buzzing from the reveal that Takuma Ryujin will challenge Ghost of Christmas Past later tonight.
Then the arena lights change.
Gold fades into green.
Green fades into shadow.
The entrance screen fills with images of the North Star Tag Team Titles.
Then the screen splits.
On one side: Hydra Veyne and Medussa Nemesis, the reigning champions, cold and monstrous beneath a haze of venomous green light.
On the other: Dorothy and Alice, the first-ever champions, standing together beneath white and gold light, the memory of nine months and seven days hanging behind them like both glory and burden.
The crowd rises.
Julian Ward: “The Universal Championship match is now set, but before we arrive there, another championship hangs in the balance. The North Star Tag Team Titles are on the line, and this match carries history on both sides.”
Brick Brody: “History is nice. Belts are better.”
Julian Ward: “Dorothy and Alice were the first North Star Tag Team Champions. They held those titles for nine months and seven days. Tonight, they attempt to reclaim what they helped define.”
Brick Brody: “And standing in front of them are two champions who do not care about nostalgia, fairytales, or anybody’s scrapbook. Hydra Veyne and Medussa Nemesis have the titles now. That is the only history that matters until somebody pins them.”
The stage fills with green mist.
Monsters of Myth Entrance
A low hiss rolls through the sound system.
The crowd boos as Serpenta Veyne steps onto the stage first.
She moves slowly, dressed in dark green and gold, eyes sharp and predatory. In her hands, she holds both North Star Tag Team Titles, one draped over each arm like sacred venom.
Behind her, Hydra Veyne emerges from the mist.
Powerful.
Coiled.
Expression cold.
She rolls her shoulders as if the match is merely another hunt.
Then Medussa Nemesis steps out beside her.
Her gaze is severe and dangerous, her movement heavier, more deliberate, like every step has already decided the fate of the challengers.
Serpenta Veyne turns and presents the titles to them.
Hydra Veyne takes one.
Medussa Nemesis takes the other.
Together, the champions walk toward the ring.
Julian Ward: “The champions arrive with Serpenta Veyne, and the aura around them has only become more dangerous since they captured those titles.”
Brick Brody: “That is because titles make monsters worse. They stop hunting because they are hungry and start hunting because people keep coming for their property.”
Julian Ward: “Hydra Veyne brings speed and sudden violence. Medussa Nemesis brings crushing impact. Together, they have become one of the most physically imposing teams in NPCW.”
Brick Brody: “And Serpenta Veyne brings the look of somebody who already knows where the bodies go.”
Hydra Veyne and Medussa Nemesis enter the ring.
Serpenta Veyne remains at ringside, watching the entrance with a smile that never reaches warmth.
Blonde Bombshells Entrance
The arena lights shift.
The green mist is cut by a bright beam of white-gold light.
A familiar melody begins, but tonight it is slower, deeper, more determined.
The crowd erupts as Dorothy and Alice step onto the stage.
They do not come out smiling.
They come out focused.
Dorothy stands slightly ahead, eyes locked on the ring, shoulders squared beneath the weight of memory. Alice stands beside her, calm but intense, her gaze flicking from Hydra Veyne to Medussa Nemesis to the championship belts.
Behind them, Rapunzel appears at the top of the stage.
She does not come to ringside.
She simply stands there, one hand over her heart, watching her partners walk toward the titles they once made historic.
Dorothy and Alice start down the ramp together.
The crowd chants.
“BOMB-SHELLS! BOMB-SHELLS! BOMB-SHELLS!”
Julian Ward: “There they are. Dorothy and Alice. The first North Star Tag Team Champions. Nine months and seven days they held those titles, and tonight is not about reliving the past. It is about proving the story did not end when they lost them.”
Brick Brody: “That sounds great until Medussa Nemesis folds somebody with a piledriver. I respect what Dorothy and Alice built. But you do not reclaim championships with memories. You do it with impact.”
Julian Ward: “They may need both.”
Brick Brody: “Then they better remember how to hit.”
Dorothy and Alice enter the ring.
They stare across at Hydra Veyne and Medussa Nemesis.
The titles are handed to Fast Count Frank, who raises them high.
The crowd roars.
Ring Introductions
Louie Linville stands in the center of the ring, microphone in hand.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, the following tag team contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is for the North Star Tag Team Championship.”
The crowd cheers.
Louie Linville: “Introducing first, the challengers… the first team to ever hold the North Star Tag Team Titles, former champions whose reign lasted nine months and seven days… Dorothy and Alice… the Blonde Bombshells.”
Dorothy and Alice step forward together as the crowd cheers.
Louie Linville: “And their opponents, accompanied to the ring by Serpenta Veyne… they are the reigning and defending North Star Tag Team Champions… Hydra Veyne and Medussa Nemesis… the Monsters of Myth.”
Hydra Veyne lifts her title.
Medussa Nemesis raises hers with cold authority.
Fast Count Frank hands the belts to the timekeeper and calls for the bell.
The bell rings.
Minute 1
Hydra Veyne starts for the champions.
Alice starts for the challengers.
They circle quickly, each testing distance. Hydra Veyne strikes first, catching Alice in a double underhook and snapping her over with a suplex that lands hard near the center of the ring.
Alice rolls through the impact, springs up, and answers with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors, whipping Hydra Veyne across the mat.
The crowd cheers the speed.
Hydra Veyne rises with a glare and immediately tags Medussa Nemesis.
Julian Ward: “Fast opening exchange. Hydra Veyne lands the double underhook suplex, but Alice answers with the tilt-a-whirl headscissors. The challengers are not intimidated by the champions’ power.”
Brick Brody: “Good answer by Alice, but Hydra did the smart thing. She felt the speed, tagged the heavier hammer, and now Alice has to deal with Medussa Nemesis.”
Julian Ward: “A quick adjustment from the champions.”
Brick Brody: “Champions adjust. Former champions reminisce. We will see which one wins.”
Minute 2
Medussa Nemesis steps in with a slow, heavy presence.
Alice does not wait.
She darts forward and cracks Medussa Nemesis with a forearm smash. The shot lands, and Medussa Nemesis absorbs it without going down.
Alice fires another forearm, forcing the champion to take a half-step back.
Medussa Nemesis looks irritated more than hurt.
She backs to her corner and tags Hydra Veyne back in.
Serpenta Veyne watches closely, her expression narrowing at Alice’s refusal to retreat.
Julian Ward: “Alice strikes first with the forearm smash, and while Medussa Nemesis absorbs the punishment, it keeps the champion from establishing immediate control.”
Brick Brody: “That is the problem with Alice. She looks like she should be easier to scare than she is.”
Julian Ward: “The champions are rotating early, perhaps looking to prevent Alice from finding rhythm.”
Brick Brody: “Or they are making her chase two different kinds of pain.”
Minute 3
Hydra Veyne re-enters and comes in fast.
She swings with a spinning back fist, catching Alice high and turning her sideways.
But Alice springs toward the ropes, climbs in one motion, and flies back with Wonderland’s End, a moonsault that crashes across Hydra Veyne.
Both women hit hard.
The crowd erupts.
Hydra Veyne rolls toward her corner and tags Medussa Nemesis again.
Alice crawls to her corner and tags Dorothy.
The crowd rises louder as Dorothy enters.
Julian Ward: “Spinning back fist by Hydra Veyne, but Alice answers with Wonderland’s End. That moonsault was a major statement.”
Brick Brody: “That was gutsy. Also reckless. Those are cousins.”
Julian Ward: “And now the first appearance of Dorothy in this match. The former champions have survived the opening pace.”
Brick Brody: “Survived it, yes. Now Dorothy gets the brick wall.”
Minute 4
Medussa Nemesis and Dorothy step toward one another.
They lock up defensively, break, reset, and lock up again. Neither woman gives much ground at first.
A third exchange finally turns violent.
Medussa Nemesis charges and crushes Dorothy with a big splash.
Dorothy absorbs it, rolls through the impact, and catches Medussa Nemesis in a school-girl roll-up.
Fast Count Frank drops quickly.
One.
Medussa Nemesis powers out before the count can reach two.
Both women rise, and the crowd buzzes at how quickly Fast Count Frank hit the mat.
Julian Ward: “A big splash from Medussa Nemesis, but Dorothy immediately turns it into a school-girl roll-up. That could have been dangerous with Fast Count Frank officiating.”
Brick Brody: “That man hit the mat like he owed it money. If you are in there tonight, do not let your shoulders touch for fun.”
Julian Ward: “Dorothy nearly used the champion’s forward momentum against her.”
Brick Brody: “Nearly. Again, that word keeps ruining fairytales.”
Minute 5
Dorothy keeps pressing.
She catches Medussa Nemesis coming out of the corner, spins into position, and plants her with the Kansas Cyclone, a tornado DDT that drives the champion head-first into the canvas.
The crowd explodes.
Medussa Nemesis rolls to her side, stunned.
Dorothy reaches back and tags Alice.
The challengers are building momentum.
Julian Ward: “Kansas Cyclone by Dorothy, and that is the first major impact by the challengers against Medussa Nemesis.”
Brick Brody: “That was sharp. Get the big one moving, twist her up, drop her on her head. That is how smaller teams survive monsters.”
Julian Ward: “Dorothy tags Alice back in, and the challengers are beginning to look more like the team that once defined these titles.”
Brick Brody: “Maybe. But defining titles in the past does not protect you from getting flattened in the present.”
Minute 6
Alice enters fast, but Medussa Nemesis meets her with a spear.
The impact drives Alice backward and drops her near the center of the ring.
Alice winces, but as Medussa Nemesis reaches down, Alice hooks the arm and flips through with an over-the-shoulder armdrag.
Medussa Nemesis rolls away, more annoyed than hurt, but Alice creates separation again.
Julian Ward: “Spear by Medussa Nemesis, but Alice counters the follow-up with an over-the-shoulder armdrag. She keeps finding ways to prevent the champions from settling on top.”
Brick Brody: “That spear still landed. Do not let the armdrag fool you. Alice just got hit by a moving wall.”
Julian Ward: “But she survived the wall and kept the match moving.”
Brick Brody: “Walls do not mind hitting you twice.”
Minute 7
Medussa Nemesis catches Alice before she can reach the corner.
She hooks her, lifts, and drops her with Petrify, a piledriver that spikes Alice into the mat.
The crowd gasps.
Alice barely moves.
But through instinct, she rolls toward the ropes, springboards just enough, and tries another Wonderland’s End moonsault.
This time she cannot get full impact.
She lands awkwardly, the damage from the piledriver stealing the force from the attack.
Alice crawls desperately and tags Dorothy.
Julian Ward: “Petrify by Medussa Nemesis. That piledriver may have changed the match.”
Brick Brody: “There it is. That is the monster advantage. One clean piledriver and all the pretty movement starts looking like survival.”
Julian Ward: “Alice tried to answer with Wonderland’s End, but she could not get the full force after that impact.”
Brick Brody: “Because her spine just got introduced to reality.”
Minute 8
Dorothy enters quickly, and Alice stays in for one double-team round.
Dorothy scoops Medussa Nemesis and slams her with a bodyslam.
Alice, despite the damage, follows with a double kneedrop across Medussa Nemesis before rolling out.
But Medussa Nemesis powers up through the pain, catches Dorothy, and launches her with a German suplex.
All three women are down or scrambling.
Fast Count Frank tries to restore order, waving Alice out of the ring.
Julian Ward: “The Blonde Bombshells use the double team: bodyslam from Dorothy, double kneedrop from Alice. But Medussa Nemesis still answers with the German suplex.”
Brick Brody: “That is terrifying strength. She got hit by two women and still threw Dorothy like luggage.”
Julian Ward: “The challengers are scoring, but the champions are refusing to stay down.”
Brick Brody: “That is why they are champions. Monsters do not politely sell your comeback.”
Minute 9
Dorothy rises first.
She catches Medussa Nemesis before the champion can reset and drives her down with a spinebuster.
The ring shakes.
The crowd comes alive.
Dorothy stays low, breathing hard, looking toward the corner where Hydra Veyne waits.
Medussa Nemesis is down.
For the first time, the champions look vulnerable.
Julian Ward: “Spinebuster by Dorothy. That was powerful, direct, and badly needed.”
Brick Brody: “That was a good shot. Dorothy put some weight behind that one.”
Julian Ward: “Medussa Nemesis has taken a tornado DDT, a double-team sequence, and now a spinebuster. The challengers have found a lane.”
Brick Brody: “A lane is not a finish. But it is better than getting eaten in the road.”
Minute 10
Both women are slow to rise.
Dorothy gets control first, climbs enough to build momentum, and crashes down with a splash across Medussa Nemesis.
She hooks the leg.
Fast Count Frank drops quickly.
One.
Medussa Nemesis kicks out.
The kickout is forceful.
Dorothy sits back, realizing how much more damage it will take.
Medussa Nemesis drags herself toward the corner and tags Hydra Veyne.
Julian Ward: “Splash from Dorothy, and with Fast Count Frank in position, that pin attempt had serious urgency. But Medussa Nemesis kicks out at one.”
Brick Brody: “That kickout had anger in it. Dorothy may have hurt her, but she did not scare her.”
Julian Ward: “And now Hydra Veyne re-enters.”
Brick Brody: “Fresh serpent, tired challenger. Bad math.”
Minute 11
Hydra Veyne rushes in, but Dorothy and Alice coordinate one more double-team burst.
Dorothy catches Hydra Veyne in a school-girl roll-up attempt, forcing the champion to fight her balance.
Alice comes in and snaps Hydra Veyne over with an over-the-shoulder armdrag, keeping the motion chaotic.
But Hydra Veyne comes out of the roll with a spinning back fist that catches Dorothy clean.
The blow staggers her.
Fast Count Frank orders Alice back to the apron.
Serpenta Veyne slaps the mat from ringside, urging Hydra Veyne to finish it.
Julian Ward: “The challengers attempt another double-team sequence, but Hydra Veyne answers with that spinning back fist. Even under pressure, the champion finds the strike.”
Brick Brody: “That was a nasty shot. Dorothy tried to steal the moment, and Hydra punched the receipt into her face.”
Julian Ward: “The challengers are close. You can feel it. But close against champions like this can be very dangerous.”
Brick Brody: “Close is where people get desperate, and desperate people leave their chin out.”
Minute 12
Dorothy staggers.
Hydra Veyne steps forward, looking to capitalize.
Alice grips the tag rope, shouting encouragement from the corner.
The crowd begins to chant.
“DOR-O-THY! DOR-O-THY!”
Serpenta Veyne screams for Hydra Veyne to end the match.
Hydra Veyne reaches in.
Dorothy suddenly hooks her.
One arm across the neck.
One arm controlling the body.
With a surge of strength and timing, Dorothy drives Hydra Veyne down with a one-armed neckbreaker slam.
The arena erupts.
Dorothy covers immediately.
Fast Count Frank drops fast.
One.
Two.
Three.
The bell rings.
For one second, the arena does not seem to believe it.
Then the sound detonates.
Alice bursts into the ring and throws herself onto Dorothy, both women overwhelmed.
Hydra Veyne rolls to her side, stunned.
Medussa Nemesis steps through the ropes too late.
Serpenta Veyne screams at Fast Count Frank, but the count stands.
The timekeeper hands the North Star Tag Team Titles to Fast Count Frank.
He presents them to Dorothy and Alice.
The crowd is roaring now.
Dorothy takes one title.
Alice takes the other.
For the first time tonight, both women break.
Not fully.
But enough.
Their faces show exhaustion, disbelief, and the release of history finally returning to their hands.
At the top of the stage, Rapunzel appears again, hands over her mouth, tears in her eyes as she watches the moment.
Dorothy and Alice rise.
They hold the titles high.
The first champions are champions again.
Julian Ward: “Dorothy and Alice have done it. The Blonde Bombshells have reclaimed the North Star Tag Team Championships. The first champions, the team that held those titles for nine months and seven days, have returned to the top of the division.”
Brick Brody: “I will say this. They earned that. Medussa Nemesis nearly crushed them, Hydra Veyne kept firing, and Serpenta Veyne was one bad thought away from getting involved, but Dorothy found the neckbreaker slam and Fast Count Frank hit the mat like a man late for a train.”
Julian Ward: “The dream did not end when they lost the titles. The nightmare did not consume them. Tonight, Dorothy and Alice wrote the next chapter together.”
BLONDE BOMBSHELLS DEFEATED MONSTERS OF MYTH WHEN DOROTHY PINNED HYDRA VEYNE WITH A ONE-ARMED NECKBREAKER SLAM TO WIN THE NORTH STAR TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS.
The celebration of Dorothy and Alice fades from the screen.
The final replay lingers: Dorothy driving Hydra Veyne down with the one-armed neckbreaker slam, Fast Count Frank striking the mat for three, and the Blonde Bombshells holding the North Star Tag Team Titles once again.
Then the arena lights go out.
Not dim.
Out.
The crowd noise drops into nervous anticipation.
A single pale light appears above the ring.
The Universal Championship graphic appears on the screen.
UNIVERSAL TITLE MATCH
Ghost of Christmas Past
VS
Takuma Ryujin
A low, distant bell tolls.
Then another.
Then another.
Mist begins to crawl across the stage.
Julian Ward: “The North Star Tag Team Titles have changed hands. The first champions have reclaimed their place in history. But now the highest prize in NPCW comes to The Long Night.”
Brick Brody: “And the champion had no idea who he was fighting until tonight. I do not care how spooky you are, that is bad business.”
Julian Ward: “Alton Bell announced earlier that Takuma Ryujin of The Dragon’s Veil would challenge Ghost of Christmas Past for the Universal Championship. A surprise challenger. A surprise style. A surprise threat.”
Brick Brody: “Yeah, and Fenwick Grimbough is about to act like somebody stole the family crypt. I can feel it.”
The mist thickens.
Ghost of Christmas Past Entrance
A pale lantern glows at the top of the ramp.
Fenwick Grimbough emerges first.
He is gaunt, severe, and deeply displeased. His black coat trails behind him as he walks, one hand gripping a microphone, the other gesturing sharply toward the ring as though he has already begun arguing with history itself.
Behind him, the arena grows colder.
Ghost of Christmas Past appears.
The Universal Champion moves through the mist with unnatural calm, the title held against him like a relic retrieved from a grave of memory. His presence draws a divided reaction from the crowd. Awe. Fear. Respect. Unease.
He does not rush.
He does not look surprised.
But Fenwick Grimbough looks furious enough for both of them.
Julian Ward: “There is the Universal Champion, Ghost of Christmas Past, accompanied as always by Fenwick Grimbough.”
Brick Brody: “Look at Fenwick. That man is offended down to the bone.”
Julian Ward: “He appears to be carrying a microphone.”
Brick Brody: “Of course he is. Some men bring lawsuits. Fenwick brings speeches that feel like lawsuits.”
Ghost of Christmas Past steps into the ring.
Fenwick Grimbough follows, immediately raising the microphone before Louie Linville can begin introductions.
The crowd boos and murmurs.
Fenwick Grimbough turns slowly, glaring at the audience.
Fenwick Grimbough: “Before this match begins, there will be a matter of record.”
The crowd boos louder.
Fenwick Grimbough ignores them.
Fenwick Grimbough: “This contest is being conducted under protest.”
The boos sharpen.
Fenwick Grimbough: “The Universal Champion, Ghost of Christmas Past, the rightful bearer of NPCW’s highest championship, was compelled to enter The Long Night without being informed of his challenger until this very evening.”
He points toward the stage.
Fenwick Grimbough: “That is not tradition. That is not competition. That is ambush dressed in administrative ceremony.”
The crowd reacts strongly.
Some cheer the surprise.
Some boo Fenwick Grimbough.
Fenwick Grimbough: “The champion is expected to defend the most important title in this company against a man selected in secrecy, announced without proper notice, and presented as though uncertainty itself were a suitable opponent.”
He steps closer to the ropes.
Fenwick Grimbough: “Let it be known that we object to the conduct of this match. We object to the handling of this championship. We object to the idea that memory itself can be summoned into a trap and then judged for surviving it.”
Ghost of Christmas Past stands behind him, still as a grave marker.
Fenwick Grimbough: “But because the champion does not fear surprise…”
He turns slightly toward Ghost of Christmas Past.
Fenwick Grimbough: “Because the champion does not flee consequence…”
He looks back to the hard camera.
Fenwick Grimbough: “And because the past always arrives whether men are ready for it or not…”
A pause.
Fenwick Grimbough: “The match will proceed.”
He lowers the microphone.
The crowd erupts.
Julian Ward: “Fenwick Grimbough has placed this match under protest, objecting to the surprise challenger announcement, but the champion will defend the Universal Championship.”
Brick Brody: “I hate to say it, but he has a point. Champions like knowing who they are fighting. On the other hand, crying about it after walking to the ring does not make Takuma Ryujin kick any softer.”
Fenwick Grimbough exits the ring, still visibly angry.
The lights shift.
Pale white gives way to red-gold.
Takuma Ryujin Entrance
The stage screen fills with the symbol of The Dragon’s Veil.
A deep drumbeat sounds.
Precise.
Controlled.
Ritualistic.
Red-gold light rolls across the entrance ramp like fire under discipline.
Lady Ayame Ryu appears first.
She walks with serene authority, dressed in elegant, martial robes, her expression unreadable. There is no theatrical arrogance in her presence. Only control.
Then Takuma Ryujin steps onto the stage.
The crowd erupts.
He stands still for one breath, shoulders squared, eyes focused on the ring. He wears dragon-inspired ring gear in black, red, and gold, but nothing about him feels ornamental. Every line of his body suggests training, restraint, and impact held in reserve.
Lady Ayame Ryu turns slightly toward him.
Takuma Ryujin lowers his head once.
Then they walk.
Julian Ward: “There is Takuma Ryujin, accompanied by Lady Ayame Ryu. The Dragon’s Veil steps directly into the Universal Championship picture.”
Brick Brody: “That man does not look surprised to be here. He looks like he has been preparing to kick a ghost since sunrise.”
Julian Ward: “Takuma Ryujin represents discipline, control, and a philosophy of violence very different from the haunting presence of the champion.”
Brick Brody: “Discipline is good. But the champion is the Ghost of Christmas Past. You cannot out-focus regret. You have to knock it down and keep it down.”
Takuma Ryujin reaches ringside and stops near Fenwick Grimbough.
Fenwick Grimbough stares at him with resentment.
Lady Ayame Ryu steps between them without speaking.
The tension holds.
Then Takuma Ryujin enters the ring.
He faces Ghost of Christmas Past.
The champion does not move.
The challenger does not blink.
Ring Introductions
Louie Linville stands at center ring, microphone in hand.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is for the NPCW Universal Championship.”
The crowd roars.
Louie Linville: “Introducing first, the challenger, accompanied to the ring by Lady Ayame Ryu… representing The Dragon’s Veil… disciplined, dangerous, and summoned into this night as the test of memory itself… Takuma Ryujin.”
Takuma Ryujin steps forward and bows his head slightly, never taking his eyes off the champion.
Louie Linville: “And his opponent, accompanied to the ring by Fenwick Grimbough… he is the reigning and defending NPCW Universal Champion… the living shadow of remembrance, the champion who makes the past stand before the present… Ghost of Christmas Past.”
Ghost of Christmas Past slowly raises the title.
The crowd roars again.
Honest Abe takes the Universal Championship and lifts it high.
Takuma Ryujin looks at the belt.
Ghost of Christmas Past looks through him.
The bell rings.
Minute 1
Ghost of Christmas Past advances first, slow and direct.
Takuma Ryujin meets him with controlled footwork, but the champion drops suddenly and lands an elbow drop, using his weight to drive Takuma Ryujin down.
Takuma Ryujin absorbs the impact, hooks the waist on the rise, and bridges backward into a dragon suplex that snaps the champion over and onto his shoulders.
Honest Abe checks position, but Ghost of Christmas Past rolls free before a count can form.
Both men rise quickly.
Julian Ward: “A striking opening exchange. Ghost of Christmas Past lands the elbow drop, but Takuma Ryujin immediately answers with the bridging dragon suplex.”
Brick Brody: “That tells me something right away. Takuma is not here to be haunted. He is here to throw the champion on his neck.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger’s discipline gives him a way to respond instantly.”
Brick Brody: “And the champion’s elbow tells him the title is not coming quietly.”
Minute 2
Ghost of Christmas Past closes distance again.
He unloads standing punches to the head, each one heavy, deliberate, and strangely emotionless. Takuma Ryujin covers, absorbs, then shifts his hips and powers into a deadlift German suplex.
The lift draws a roar from the crowd.
Ghost of Christmas Past lands hard, but he rises with unsettling speed.
Takuma Ryujin remains composed, but the slightest flicker of recognition crosses his face.
Julian Ward: “Standing punches from the champion, answered by a deadlift German suplex from Takuma Ryujin. The challenger is meeting impact with structure.”
Brick Brody: “That deadlift was nasty. He picked the ghost up like the past owed him money.”
Julian Ward: “But Ghost of Christmas Past rises quickly.”
Brick Brody: “That is the problem. How do you wear down something that looks like it already lived through the damage?”
Minute 3
Ghost of Christmas Past drives another elbow drop into Takuma Ryujin, forcing him flat.
Takuma Ryujin turns through the pain and surges back with a high-angle Crucifix powerbomb. The champion is lifted and driven down with sharp, precise force.
The crowd erupts.
Fenwick Grimbough clutches the ropes at ringside, already protesting the count that has not happened.
Lady Ayame Ryu watches silently, her face calm.
Julian Ward: “Another elbow drop from the champion, but Takuma Ryujin answers with a high-angle Crucifix powerbomb. That is major offense from the surprise challenger.”
Brick Brody: “High-angle is right. He dropped the champion like he was trying to plant him deep enough to become folklore.”
Julian Ward: “Fenwick Grimbough is already animated at ringside.”
Brick Brody: “He came in mad and now his champion is getting powerbombed. Bad night for the complaint department.”
Minute 4
Ghost of Christmas Past shifts the fight toward the ropes.
He grabs Takuma Ryujin and throws him through the ropes to the outside, sending the challenger crashing near the floor.
But Takuma Ryujin catches the champion’s movement on the way back in, dragging him into position and spiking him with a super spike piledriver as the sequence spills through the boundary between ring and floor.
The crowd gasps.
Honest Abe begins the count as Takuma Ryujin is outside.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Takuma Ryujin slides back into the ring at four.
Ghost of Christmas Past slowly rises inside, as if the piledriver awakened something colder.
Julian Ward: “The champion throws Takuma Ryujin through the ropes, but the challenger answers with the super spike piledriver. Then Takuma beats the count at four.”
Brick Brody: “That was dangerous. Ghost tried to make the outside his weapon, and Takuma turned the transition into a spike.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger is showing no hesitation in a match he learned about only moments ago.”
Brick Brody: “That is why Fenwick is angry. Surprise works both ways when the surprise is this good.”
Minute 5
Takuma Ryujin steps back in and is met immediately by a big boot from Ghost of Christmas Past.
The shot lands clean.
Takuma Ryujin drops hard to the mat.
Ghost of Christmas Past stands over him, pale and unmoving, the match suddenly dragged back into the champion’s rhythm.
Fenwick Grimbough points at Takuma Ryujin, shouting that this is what happens when management mistakes secrecy for strategy.
Julian Ward: “Big boot by Ghost of Christmas Past, and that stops Takuma Ryujin cold.”
Brick Brody: “That was the champion saying enough with the suplex clinic. Sometimes the best counter to discipline is a boot in the face.”
Julian Ward: “The champion’s offense is simple but punishing.”
Brick Brody: “Simple wins a lot of fights. Ask anybody who woke up after a big boot.”
Minute 6
Takuma Ryujin tries to regroup with a Northern Lights suplex.
He gets underneath the champion, but Ghost of Christmas Past widens his base and neutralizes it, refusing to be taken over.
Takuma Ryujin strains.
The champion remains rooted.
Then Ghost of Christmas Past clubs him down across the back, forcing separation.
Lady Ayame Ryu gives no visible reaction, but her eyes sharpen.
Julian Ward: “Takuma Ryujin looked for the Northern Lights suplex, but the champion neutralized it.”
Brick Brody: “That is a big moment. Takuma has been throwing him around, but the champion just said not this one.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger must adjust now.”
Brick Brody: “He better. Ghost is starting to look less surprised and more offended.”
Minute 7
Ghost of Christmas Past goes back to the elbow drop.
He drives it down across Takuma Ryujin, who tries to brace but cannot prevent the full impact.
The champion rises and looks toward Lady Ayame Ryu, then toward Fenwick Grimbough.
Fenwick Grimbough nods sharply, as though the match is finally returning to proper order.
Julian Ward: “Another elbow drop, and Ghost of Christmas Past is beginning to establish repetition. The champion is not rushing. He is layering damage.”
Brick Brody: “That is what I like. Hit him once. Let him think about it. Hit him again. Make the memory fresh.”
Julian Ward: “The champion has weathered the challenger’s early explosiveness.”
Brick Brody: “Now the question is whether Takuma can survive the haunting grind.”
Minute 8
Takuma Ryujin reaches deep and goes for another bridging dragon suplex.
He hooks the champion, but Ghost of Christmas Past reverses the attempt.
The champion turns through, breaks the grip, and crushes Takuma Ryujin with another big boot.
The impact knocks the challenger backward and down.
The crowd reacts with a heavy sound, recognizing the shift.
Julian Ward: “Takuma Ryujin wanted the bridging dragon suplex again, but Ghost of Christmas Past reverses it and lands the big boot.”
Brick Brody: “That is adaptation. The champion got thrown once. He was not getting thrown the same way again.”
Julian Ward: “The surprise challenger’s early offense has been scouted now.”
Brick Brody: “That is when surprise stops being surprise and starts being a fight.”
Minute 9
The match slows.
Both men circle defensively, neither giving the other an easy opening.
Takuma Ryujin shifts low.
Then he explodes forward and lands the Kamigoye, driving the knee into Ghost of Christmas Past with sudden, brutal precision.
The champion drops.
The crowd erupts.
Lady Ayame Ryu steps closer to the ring, eyes fixed on the champion.
Fenwick Grimbough freezes, alarm finally showing in his posture.
Julian Ward: “Kamigoye by Takuma Ryujin. That knee landed with full force, and the champion is down.”
Brick Brody: “That was a killer shot. You cannot haunt anybody if your jaw is in the fourth row.”
Julian Ward: “Takuma Ryujin found a sudden opening in a slowing match.”
Brick Brody: “That is discipline. Wait. Wait. Strike. Make the ghost remember knees exist.”
Minute 10
Takuma Ryujin tries to capitalize.
But Ghost of Christmas Past rises before he can fully cover.
The champion drives another big boot into Takuma Ryujin, absorbing the challenger’s momentum and stopping it in one blunt motion.
Takuma Ryujin hits the mat hard, clutching at his chest.
Fenwick Grimbough exhales with visible relief.
Julian Ward: “The champion answers the Kamigoye with another big boot. Ghost of Christmas Past refuses to let Takuma Ryujin build from his best strike of the match.”
Brick Brody: “That is ugly resilience. Take a knee to the face, get up, kick the man down. I hate how effective that is.”
Julian Ward: “The champion’s rhythm is difficult to disrupt for long.”
Brick Brody: “Because he wrestles like regret. You think you got past it, and then it kicks you in the mouth again.”
Minute 11
Ghost of Christmas Past keeps the pressure on.
He pulls Takuma Ryujin up and lands another big boot, this one catching him as he tries to defend.
Takuma Ryujin staggers backward and drops near the ropes.
Lady Ayame Ryu calls to him from ringside, her voice calm but firm.
Takuma Ryujin grips the middle rope, pulling himself upright.
Julian Ward: “Another big boot, and the champion is using repetition to break down Takuma Ryujin’s posture.”
Brick Brody: “I love a man who finds something that works and keeps doing it. Do not get creative when the other guy keeps falling down.”
Julian Ward: “Lady Ayame Ryu is trying to steady the challenger.”
Brick Brody: “Good. He needs steadying. His chest just got caved in by a boot with championship credentials.”
Minute 12
Both men reset again.
Takuma Ryujin tries to force distance, but Ghost of Christmas Past comes off the ropes and drives through him with a running clothesline.
The shot knocks Takuma Ryujin flat.
The champion stands over him, looking down with that hollow, unreadable stare.
Fenwick Grimbough raises both arms toward the crowd, reminding them who holds the title.
Julian Ward: “Running clothesline from Ghost of Christmas Past, and the champion is fully in control now.”
Brick Brody: “That is the kind of clothesline that makes you reconsider every decision that led you to the ring.”
Julian Ward: “Takuma Ryujin needs a reset badly.”
Brick Brody: “He needs more than a reset. He needs a new jaw and a better answer for that boot.”
Minute 13
Takuma Ryujin attempts another bridging dragon suplex.
He digs deep, hooks the champion, and tries to bridge.
But Ghost of Christmas Past neutralizes it again, blocking the lift and forcing Takuma Ryujin down.
The champion leans his weight into the challenger, smothering the attempt.
Takuma Ryujin rolls away, breathing harder now.
Julian Ward: “Again, Takuma Ryujin reaches for the bridging dragon suplex, and again Ghost of Christmas Past neutralizes it.”
Brick Brody: “That tool is gone. Takuma needs to stop reaching for it before the champion takes the arm home.”
Julian Ward: “The champion has taken away one of the challenger’s key weapons.”
Brick Brody: “That is how you beat a disciplined fighter. Make his best plans useless and see what is left.”
Minute 14
Ghost of Christmas Past steps in with another big boot.
Takuma Ryujin absorbs part of it and fires back with dash middle kicks, striking into the champion’s body in quick succession.
The kicks land sharp and fast, forcing Ghost of Christmas Past to take a half-step back.
But the big boot still does damage.
Both men stagger.
The crowd senses Takuma Ryujin still fighting through the champion’s control.
Julian Ward: “Big boot from the champion, but Takuma Ryujin answers with dash middle kicks. Those strikes finally forced Ghost of Christmas Past backward.”
Brick Brody: “That is better. Stop trying the blocked suplex. Kick the body. Chop down the thing in front of you.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger is adjusting late.”
Brick Brody: “Late is better than never. But never is coming fast.”
Minute 15
Ghost of Christmas Past charges with another running clothesline.
Takuma Ryujin meets him in the motion, catches the angle, and throws him with a Northern Lights suplex.
The champion lands hard, but the clothesline clips Takuma Ryujin enough to prevent him from bridging into a proper pin.
Both men roll apart.
Lady Ayame Ryu nods once, urging Takuma Ryujin to continue.
Julian Ward: “Running clothesline from Ghost of Christmas Past, Northern Lights suplex from Takuma Ryujin. The challenger is still finding counters, but he cannot fully capitalize.”
Brick Brody: “Because even when he throws the champion, he is getting hit on the way in. That is a miserable trade.”
Julian Ward: “But he is still in the fight.”
Brick Brody: “So are a lot of people right before they lose.”
Minute 16
Ghost of Christmas Past rises first and lands another big boot.
Takuma Ryujin absorbs enough to stay moving, then catches the champion again with a Northern Lights suplex.
This time the lift is cleaner, but Takuma Ryujin cannot bridge through the fatigue and damage.
The crowd applauds the effort.
Fenwick Grimbough looks increasingly frustrated that the challenger will not stay down.
Julian Ward: “Another big boot, another Northern Lights suplex. Takuma Ryujin continues to answer, but his ability to convert those answers into a pin is fading.”
Brick Brody: “That is the champion’s damage doing the work. Takuma can still hit moves, but he cannot finish the sentence.”
Julian Ward: “Ghost of Christmas Past is forcing every rally to cost too much.”
Brick Brody: “That is championship wrestling. Make hope expensive.”
Minute 17
Ghost of Christmas Past changes back to strikes.
He traps Takuma Ryujin near the ropes and unloads standing punches to the head, heavy and direct.
Takuma Ryujin fires back by catching the champion’s posture, lifting, and driving him down with another super spike piledriver.
The crowd gasps at the landing.
Both men collapse.
Lady Ayame Ryu takes one step forward, intensity finally showing.
Fenwick Grimbough grips the apron with both hands, his protest forgotten in immediate concern.
Julian Ward: “Standing punches by the champion, but Takuma Ryujin answers with the super spike piledriver. That may be his strongest counter since the Kamigoye.”
Brick Brody: “That was brutal. He spiked the Universal Champion, and for the first time in a while, Ghost looks like something human might have hurt him.”
Julian Ward: “But can Takuma Ryujin capitalize?”
Brick Brody: “That is the whole match now.”
Minute 18
Takuma Ryujin pulls himself up.
So does Ghost of Christmas Past.
The champion moves first.
Ghost of Christmas Past throws the Axe Bomber, a crushing lariat-style strike that crashes into Takuma Ryujin with full force.
At the same time, Takuma Ryujin commits to one more super spike piledriver attempt, catching enough of the champion’s body to drive him down awkwardly as the Axe Bomber lands.
Both men hit the mat.
The crowd erupts in confusion and shock.
But Ghost of Christmas Past rolls through the damage.
He drapes an arm across Takuma Ryujin’s chest.
Honest Abe drops to count.
One.
Two.
Three.
The bell rings.
Fenwick Grimbough throws both arms up in triumph and relief.
Lady Ayame Ryu closes her eyes for one brief second, then opens them, composed again.
Takuma Ryujin lies on the mat, chest rising, beaten but not disgraced.
Ghost of Christmas Past remains seated beside him, pale and still, as Honest Abe retrieves the Universal Championship.
The champion rises slowly.
Honest Abe hands him the title and raises his hand.
Fenwick Grimbough enters the ring immediately, stepping between the champion and the challenger.
He points toward Alton Bell’s office somewhere beyond the arena walls, still furious even in victory.
Fenwick Grimbough takes the microphone again.
Fenwick Grimbough: “Under protest…”
The crowd boos.
Fenwick Grimbough raises the champion’s arm.
Fenwick Grimbough: “And still.”
The reaction is massive.
Ghost of Christmas Past lifts the Universal Championship.
Across the ring, Lady Ayame Ryu helps Takuma Ryujin to one knee.
Takuma Ryujin looks toward the champion.
No shame.
Only measured disappointment.
The red-gold light of The Dragon’s Veil fades beneath the pale glow of the champion’s title.
Julian Ward: “Ghost of Christmas Past retains the Universal Championship. Under protest, under pressure, and against a challenger he did not know until tonight, the champion survives Takuma Ryujin with the Axe Bomber.”
Brick Brody: “That was a fight. Takuma Ryujin came in cold and still threw the champion around with dragon suplexes, German suplexes, piledrivers, and that Kamigoye. But Ghost of Christmas Past kept stripping away his weapons, kept coming back to the boot, the clothesline, the heavy shots, and finally that Axe Bomber folded him.”
Julian Ward: “For Takuma Ryujin, this was not failure without meaning. He proved that The Dragon’s Veil belongs in the Universal Championship conversation. But tonight, the past remains champion, and Fenwick Grimbough’s protest ends not with injustice, but with survival.”
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST DEFEATED TAKUMA RYUJIN BY PINFALL WITH AN AXE BOMBER TO RETAIN THE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP.
The broadcast returns from the Universal Title match replay.
The final image lingers on Ghost of Christmas Past standing tall with the Universal Championship, Fenwick Grimbough still furious even in victory, and Takuma Ryujin being helped upright by Lady Ayame Ryu.
Then the screen cuts backstage.
The temperature changes.
The corridor is darker than before.
Stone walls.
Low torchlight.
Iron support beams casting long shadows across the floor.
Somewhere in the distance, something metallic creaks.
Hana Nakamura stands near a black curtain marked with the Mythic Crown insignia. She holds the microphone with both hands, her expression professional but visibly tense. The night has already taken its toll, and the main event now feels close enough to breathe.
Beside her stands Dr. Frankenstein.
He is not composed.
Not tonight.
His hair is wild. His eyes are too wide. His coat is half-buttoned, stained faintly at the cuff, and his hands twitch as if conducting an orchestra only he can hear. He smiles, then stops smiling, then smiles again for no reason that feels safe.
Behind him stands Frankenstein’s Monster.
The Mythic Crown Champion does not speak.
He does not need to.
The title rests over one massive shoulder, the gold catching the torchlight in sharp, broken flashes. His expression is unreadable. His posture is immense and still. He stands behind Dr. Frankenstein like a storm waiting for permission.
Hana Nakamura: “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my guests at this time… Dr. Frankenstein, and the reigning Mythic Crown Champion, Frankenstein’s Monster.”
The crowd reaction rolls through the walls.
Loud.
Divided.
Some boos.
Some cheers.
A deep chant begins from inside the arena.
“MON-STER! MON-STER! MON-STER!”
Dr. Frankenstein closes his eyes and lifts both hands as if absorbing the sound through his fingertips.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Do you hear it?”
Hana Nakamura hesitates.
Hana Nakamura: “The crowd?”
Dr. Frankenstein snaps his eyes open.
Dr. Frankenstein: “No. No, no, no, no, no. Not the crowd. The crowd is noise. Meat in seats. Breath and impulse. They cheer the torch until it burns the roof above them.”
He leans closer to the microphone.
Dr. Frankenstein: “I hear history cracking.”
Hana Nakamura steadies the microphone.
Hana Nakamura: “Tonight, Frankenstein’s Monster defends the Mythic Crown Championship against King Arthur in the main event. Earlier tonight, King Arthur said the crown must mean more than survival. He said it must mean duty, restraint, mercy, and responsibility. What is your response?”
Dr. Frankenstein stares at her.
Then he laughs.
It starts quietly.
Then it breaks into something sharper, higher, almost delighted.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Mercy.”
He turns toward Frankenstein’s Monster, then back to Hana Nakamura.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Mercy. Such a beautiful word for those who have always had the luxury of receiving it.”
His voice drops.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Tell me, Hana Nakamura, where was mercy when they saw my creation and called him abomination?”
Hana Nakamura does not interrupt.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Where was duty when frightened men reached for fire? Where was restraint when the world decided that anything it did not understand must be chained, hunted, named monster, and shoved into the dark?”
He points toward the camera.
Dr. Frankenstein: “No. No more sermons from kings. No more polished blades pointed downward from castle balconies. No more Camelot pretending its banners are cleaner than everyone else’s blood.”
Frankenstein’s Monster remains motionless behind him.
The title gleams.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Tonight, Camelot does not crown a king.”
He grins.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Tonight, Camelot learns what it made necessary.”
Hana Nakamura: “King Arthur also said he does not deny Frankenstein’s Monster’s pain or strength. He said he does not see him as simply a beast to be conquered. Does that matter to either of you?”
Dr. Frankenstein tilts his head, suddenly still.
For a moment, the crazed energy narrows into something colder.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Matter?”
He turns slowly toward Frankenstein’s Monster.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Does it matter when a king finally learns the correct word after the war has already begun?”
Frankenstein’s Monster’s eyes shift slightly toward him.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Respect offered at the edge of the battlefield is not redemption. It is strategy dressed in velvet.”
He turns back to Hana Nakamura.
Dr. Frankenstein: “King Arthur is clever. Noble, yes. Brave, yes. But clever. He knows he cannot defeat the champion by calling him beast. So he calls him wounded. He calls him worthy. He wraps the blade in sympathy.”
Hana Nakamura: “You believe King Arthur’s respect is not sincere?”
Dr. Frankenstein: “I believe kings speak beautifully before they command violence.”
The crowd reacts from inside the arena.
Dr. Frankenstein begins pacing.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Camelot. Camelot. Camelot.”
He almost spits the name.
Dr. Frankenstein: “The shining lie. The table. The sword. The oath. The dream that says order is holy because the right man sits above it.”
He stops beside Frankenstein’s Monster and taps one finger lightly against the Mythic Crown Championship.
Dr. Frankenstein: “But this crown did not choose a round table.”
Tap.
Dr. Frankenstein: “It did not choose a throne room.”
Tap.
Dr. Frankenstein: “It did not choose bloodline, prophecy, or old men whispering into royal ears.”
He looks toward the camera.
Dr. Frankenstein: “It chose him.”
The chant grows louder.
“MON-STER! MON-STER! MON-STER!”
Frankenstein’s Monster does not react.
Dr. Frankenstein reacts enough for both of them.
He laughs again, more wildly now.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Yes. Yes. Say it. Say the word they taught you to fear. Monster. Monster. Monster.”
He throws both arms wide.
Dr. Frankenstein: “And what is a monster, really? A truth that civilization failed to domesticate. A consequence that learned to walk. A rejected thing that survived long enough to become stronger than the ones who rejected it.”
Hana Nakamura shifts slightly, keeping her voice controlled.
Hana Nakamura: “The main event is still a championship match. King Arthur is one of the most accomplished figures in the Mythic Division. He has Merlin with him. He has the full force of Camelot behind him. Are you concerned that tonight could be the night the Mythic Crown returns to Arthurian hands?”
Dr. Frankenstein freezes.
His smile vanishes.
He steps toward Hana Nakamura, not threatening her physically, but invading the air around the question.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Returns?”
A pause.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Returns?”
He turns to the camera.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Do you hear the arrogance hidden inside that word?”
He points toward the unseen arena.
Dr. Frankenstein: “They think the crown is visiting him. They think the monster is a temporary interruption. They think history wandered off, got confused, and must be escorted politely back to the king.”
He shakes his head, faster now.
Dr. Frankenstein: “No. No. No.”
Behind him, Frankenstein’s Monster slowly lowers the title from his shoulder and holds it in both hands.
The movement is deliberate.
Heavy.
Final.
Dr. Frankenstein: “The crown is not lost.”
He places one trembling hand over his own heart.
Dr. Frankenstein: “It has evolved.”
Hana Nakamura looks from Dr. Frankenstein to the champion.
Hana Nakamura: “Then what happens tonight?”
Dr. Frankenstein smiles again.
This time it is worse.
Dr. Frankenstein: “The rampage becomes doctrine.”
The words hit the corridor like a sentence.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Tonight, the monster does not merely defend a championship. He disproves Camelot.”
He starts pacing again.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Every castle wall was built because men feared what waited outside. Every sword was forged because men feared the hand that did not bow. Every legend of a noble king exists because the world is terrified of admitting that strength without approval can still be strength.”
He points to Frankenstein’s Monster.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Look at him.”
The camera tightens on Frankenstein’s Monster.
The champion’s face remains still.
But his grip tightens around the Mythic Crown Championship.
Dr. Frankenstein: “He is not their warning tale anymore. He is not the thing at the edge of the village. He is not the shape behind the lightning.”
His voice rises.
Dr. Frankenstein: “He is the champion.”
The crowd reaction swells again.
Dr. Frankenstein: “And tonight, when King Arthur reaches for that crown, he will learn that myths do not belong only to kings.”
He leans into the microphone.
Dr. Frankenstein: “They belong to whatever survives them.”
Hana Nakamura: “Do you have any final message for King Arthur before the main event?”
Dr. Frankenstein turns slowly toward Frankenstein’s Monster.
For the first time, he speaks more softly.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Arthur.”
He looks into the camera.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Bring your sword. Bring your honor. Bring your old wizard and your older promises.”
His eyes widen again.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Bring Camelot.”
He steps aside so the camera fully frames Frankenstein’s Monster.
The champion stands in silence, the Mythic Crown Championship now raised slightly before him.
Dr. Frankenstein: “Because tonight, Camelot falls to the monster it was never brave enough to understand.”
A long silence.
Frankenstein’s Monster slowly turns his head toward the camera.
He says nothing.
But the stare is enough.
Hana Nakamura lowers the microphone slightly, then raises it back with effort.
Hana Nakamura: “Dr. Frankenstein and the reigning Mythic Crown Champion, Frankenstein’s Monster. The main event is next. Frankenstein’s Monster defends the Mythic Crown Championship against King Arthur.”
Dr. Frankenstein begins laughing again as he and Frankenstein’s Monster turn away.
The laughter follows them down the corridor.
Not happy.
Not sane.
Triumphant before the war has even begun.
The camera holds on Hana Nakamura, who watches them disappear into the darkness.
She exhales quietly.
The shot fades back toward the arena.
Julian Ward: “The main event now feels less like a championship match and more like a collision between the story Camelot tells about itself and the consequence it cannot erase.”
Brick Brody: “Good. I am tired of clean legends. Give me the monster. Give me the crown. Give me the king finding out that honor still hurts when it gets thrown through the mat.”
Julian Ward: “The Mythic Crown Championship is next.”
The broadcast returns from Monster Rampage.
For a moment, the arena is silent.
Then the camera slowly pans across Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum.
Every torch burns low.
Every banner hangs still.
The ring is lit in white and gold, but the corners remain swallowed by shadow. At ringside, the Mythic Crown Championship rests on a black velvet pedestal, its metal catching light in cold flashes.
The crowd knows what is coming.
A chant begins before the graphic even appears.
“AR-THUR! AR-THUR! AR-THUR!”
Then another chant answers from the opposite side of the coliseum.
“MON-STER! MON-STER! MON-STER!”
The screen fills with the title graphic.
MYTHIC CROWN TITLE MATCH
FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER
VS
KING ARTHUR
Julian Ward: “We have arrived at the main event of The Long Night. The Mythic Crown Championship is on the line, and the question before us is as old as myth itself. What does a crown truly represent?”
Brick Brody: “Power. That is what it represents. Everybody dresses it up with duty, mercy, destiny, all those pretty court words. But when the bell rings, the crown goes with the man who can keep the other one down.”
Julian Ward: “Tonight, Frankenstein’s Monster defends the Mythic Crown against King Arthur. The champion is force, pain, survival, and creation’s consequence. The challenger is legacy, duty, Camelot, and the burden of leadership.”
Brick Brody: “And both men have dangerous old men standing beside them. Dr. Frankenstein is cracked wide open tonight, and Merlin is not above throwing a little magic dust when things get ugly.”
The arena lights cut to near black.
Frankenstein’s Monster Entrance
A bolt of white lightning flashes across the screen.
The sound of thunder rolls through the coliseum.
Then comes the heavy, uneven sound of footsteps.
One.
Then another.
Then another.
The stage fills with pale laboratory light, flickering between blue-white and sickly green. Metal coils glow. Shadows stretch across the ramp.
Dr. Frankenstein steps out first.
He is grinning too widely, eyes bright with feverish triumph. He raises both arms as if conducting the fear of the crowd itself.
Behind him, Frankenstein’s Monster emerges with the Mythic Crown Championship over his shoulder.
The champion does not look left.
He does not look right.
He walks like something too heavy for the world to stop.
The crowd response is massive.
Boos.
Cheers.
Fear.
Fascination.
Dr. Frankenstein points toward the ring, whispering rapidly to himself.
Frankenstein’s Monster advances without answering.
Julian Ward: “There is the champion. Frankenstein’s Monster has carried the Mythic Crown Championship not as ornament, but as proof that what the world rejected can become impossible to deny.”
Brick Brody: “Look at him. That is not a champion walking to a match. That is a building with a pulse.”
Julian Ward: “And Dr. Frankenstein appears more unstable than we have ever seen him.”
Brick Brody: “Unstable, yes. But do not confuse unstable with useless. Madmen still give good instructions if they know where the weakness is.”
Frankenstein’s Monster enters the ring.
Dr. Frankenstein remains near the steps, staring across the arena entrance with shaking anticipation.
King Arthur Entrance
The lights shift.
The cold laboratory glow fades.
Gold begins to rise from the stage floor.
A horn sounds.
Not loud.
Noble.
Final.
The crowd stands.
The entrance screen fills with the sigil of Camelot.
Merlin appears first.
He walks slowly, staff in hand, his expression grave beneath the torchlight. He pauses at the edge of the stage and looks toward the champion.
Then King Arthur steps into the light.
The reaction is thunderous.
He wears royal blue and silver gear beneath a deep cloak. His face is calm, but the calm is not comfort. It is acceptance. He looks like a man who knows exactly what must be paid and has already agreed to the price.
King Arthur stops at the top of the ramp.
He looks at the Mythic Crown Championship.
Then at Frankenstein’s Monster.
Then he walks.
Julian Ward: “And there is King Arthur. He does not come tonight to deny the champion’s pain. He comes to challenge what pain is allowed to become when it holds a crown.”
Brick Brody: “That is the kind of sentence that gets you slammed through the mat. Arthur better bring more than symbolism.”
Julian Ward: “He brings experience, discipline, and the belief that the crown must answer to something larger than survival.”
Brick Brody: “Survival is pretty large when the monster is standing across from you.”
King Arthur reaches ringside.
Merlin stops near his corner.
King Arthur removes his cloak and hands it to an attendant without taking his eyes off the champion.
He steps into the ring.
Frankenstein’s Monster slowly removes the Mythic Crown Championship from his shoulder and holds it in both hands.
For the first time, King Arthur steps closer.
The two stand face-to-face.
No words.
Ring Introductions
Louie Linville stands between them, his voice ceremonial and restrained.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the main event of NPCW The Long Night. The following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is for the Mythic Crown Championship.”
The crowd roars.
Louie Linville: “Introducing first, the challenger, accompanied to the ring by Merlin… sovereign of Camelot, bearer of the ancient oath, and a king who enters this night seeking not only victory, but judgment… King Arthur.”
King Arthur steps forward as the crowd erupts.
Louie Linville: “And his opponent, accompanied to the ring by Dr. Frankenstein… he is the reigning and defending Mythic Crown Champion… creation’s consequence, survival made flesh, the monster who carries the crown… Frankenstein’s Monster.”
Frankenstein’s Monster raises the title slowly.
The crowd explodes again.
Honest Abe takes the championship and holds it high.
The Mythic Crown Championship gleams above the center of the ring.
Dr. Frankenstein laughs softly at ringside.
Merlin watches without blinking.
The title is handed away.
The bell rings.
Minute 1
Frankenstein’s Monster advances first.
He catches King Arthur in both hands, lifts him with frightening ease, and drives him down with the Graveyard Slam. The body slam lands with enough force to shake the ring.
But King Arthur rolls through pain, springs up just enough, and drops a jumping knee across the champion.
Frankenstein’s Monster absorbs the shot and rises faster than a man his size should.
King Arthur backs away, measuring him.
Julian Ward: “The champion opens with the Graveyard Slam, raw power immediately on display. But King Arthur answers with the jumping knee drop.”
Brick Brody: “That slam was a warning. Arthur got dropped like a sack of royal grain. Nice knee, sure, but the monster barely blinked.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger must not allow the champion’s strength to define the entire match.”
Brick Brody: “Good luck with that. Strength is the whole building when Frankenstein’s Monster is in there.”
Minute 2
King Arthur moves before the monster can grab him again.
He steps inside, hooks both arms, and drives Frankenstein’s Monster down with King’s Decree.
The crowd erupts.
The champion hits hard.
For the first time, Dr. Frankenstein’s smile twitches.
King Arthur rises and stays close, refusing to give the monster a free recovery.
Julian Ward: “King’s Decree from King Arthur, and that was a major response. The challenger has planted the champion early.”
Brick Brody: “That was smart. Do not trade strength. Use leverage. Use timing. Drop the big man before he drops you again.”
Julian Ward: “Frankenstein’s Monster attempted to defend but could not stop the execution.”
Brick Brody: “That got Dr. Frankenstein’s attention, and I do not like what that usually means.”
Minute 3
King Arthur keeps pressing.
He traps the champion’s arm and pulls him into a short-arm clothesline that lands clean across the chest and jaw.
Frankenstein’s Monster staggers backward but does not fall.
King Arthur follows, eyes focused, trying to build the pace before the champion can reassert his weight.
Merlin watches from ringside with quiet intensity.
Julian Ward: “Short-arm clothesline by King Arthur. The challenger is stringing offense together now.”
Brick Brody: “This is what he has to do. Hit, move, hit again. Do not stand there admiring the monster’s misery.”
Julian Ward: “Frankenstein’s Monster remains upright, but the early rhythm belongs to the challenger.”
Brick Brody: “Early rhythm means nothing if you end up flat by the tenth minute.”
Minute 4
Frankenstein’s Monster finally swings back.
He turns and tries to smash King Arthur across the back with Heavy Hand, but King Arthur reads it.
He reverses the attack, steps aside, and lands another jumping knee drop as the champion turns through.
Frankenstein’s Monster absorbs the punishment, dropping to one knee before pushing himself back up.
Dr. Frankenstein slaps the apron, shouting rapid instructions that tumble over each other.
Julian Ward: “King Arthur reverses Heavy Hand and lands another jumping knee drop. He is forcing the champion to miss, then punishing the opening.”
Brick Brody: “That is the right idea. Make the big man swing at ghosts and hit him while he is turning.”
Julian Ward: “But the champion is absorbing punishment at a terrifying rate.”
Brick Brody: “That is because he is not built like a normal man. He is built like a mistake that learned to enjoy contact.”
Minute 5
The champion changes rhythm.
Frankenstein’s Monster catches King Arthur coming in and drops a heavy elbow across him.
King Arthur grimaces, but rolls underneath and catches the champion with an atomic drop as both men rise.
Frankenstein’s Monster recoils slightly.
The crowd reacts to the challenger’s resourcefulness.
King Arthur steps back, breathing more heavily now.
Julian Ward: “Elbow drop from the champion, but King Arthur answers with an atomic drop. Neither man is allowing a single attack to settle the match.”
Brick Brody: “That elbow looked like a tombstone falling. Arthur answered well, but he is starting to feel those impacts.”
Julian Ward: “The champion’s offense may be simple, but each strike carries enormous consequence.”
Brick Brody: “Simple plus heavy beats clever if clever starts limping.”
Minute 6
Frankenstein’s Monster lifts King Arthur again and delivers another Graveyard Slam.
But as the champion follows down, King Arthur hooks the leg and turns through into an Indian deathlock.
The crowd rises.
King Arthur pulls back, twisting the champion’s leg, trying to ground the monster and take away his base.
Honest Abe checks for the submission.
Frankenstein’s Monster does not submit.
He pushes up on his arms, face tightening, then drags both men toward the ropes with raw power.
King Arthur holds as long as he can before the break.
Julian Ward: “A second Graveyard Slam by Frankenstein’s Monster, but King Arthur transitions into the Indian deathlock. That is brilliant strategy.”
Brick Brody: “That is how you fight a monster. Chop the legs. Make the mountain kneel.”
Julian Ward: “But even trapped, the champion refuses to submit.”
Brick Brody: “Of course he refuses. You cannot shame a creature that has already survived the world calling him monster.”
Minute 7
The break gives Frankenstein’s Monster room.
He rises slowly, grabs King Arthur, and drives him down with Deadweight Drop, a crushing sidewalk slam.
King Arthur hits hard and rolls toward the ropes.
The impact visibly changes his breathing.
Dr. Frankenstein laughs from ringside, pointing at King Arthur as if the slam proved a theorem.
Julian Ward: “Deadweight Drop from the champion, and that is the kind of power that can erase minutes of strategy.”
Brick Brody: “That slam was ugly. Arthur tried to make the monster kneel, and the monster made him bounce.”
Julian Ward: “The champion is beginning to impose mass and force.”
Brick Brody: “That is what I have been waiting for. Stop being studied. Start being heavy.”
Minute 8
King Arthur pulls himself up and charges with a spinebuster attempt.
He gets underneath the champion, but Frankenstein’s Monster widens his stance and neutralizes it, refusing to be lifted cleanly.
King Arthur strains.
The champion clubs down across his back and forces separation.
King Arthur stumbles, hands on his knees.
Julian Ward: “King Arthur went for the spinebuster, but Frankenstein’s Monster neutralized it. The champion’s base held.”
Brick Brody: “Bad choice. You do not lift the mountain until you crack it first.”
Julian Ward: “That failed attempt cost the challenger energy.”
Brick Brody: “And energy is currency. He just spent a lot and bought nothing.”
Minute 9
Both men reset defensively for a brief moment.
Then Frankenstein’s Monster steps in and drops another elbow across King Arthur, who cannot fully defend.
The champion rises slowly, towering over him.
King Arthur turns to his side, absorbing the punishment, but the repeated impacts are beginning to show.
Julian Ward: “Another elbow drop from Frankenstein’s Monster, and King Arthur could not stop the full impact.”
Brick Brody: “The champion has found a rhythm now. Hit him, crush him, make him carry every pound.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger’s early momentum has been blunted.”
Brick Brody: “Momentum is fragile. Monsters are not.”
Minute 10
Frankenstein’s Monster grabs King Arthur and hurls him out of the ring.
King Arthur crashes hard to the floor near Merlin.
At the same time, as the champion leans through the ropes, King Arthur surges up and catches him with a short-arm clothesline that snaps the monster forward across the ropes.
But the challenger is outside.
Honest Abe begins the count.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
King Arthur dives back into the ring at nine.
The crowd erupts.
Merlin stands close but does not touch him.
Dr. Frankenstein screams that the count was too slow.
Julian Ward: “King Arthur was thrown to the outside and barely beat the count at nine. But even outside, he managed to land that short-arm clothesline across the ropes.”
Brick Brody: “That was close. Real close. The king almost lost the crown match on the floor like a common fool.”
Julian Ward: “He returns at nine, but the damage and urgency are mounting.”
Brick Brody: “Nine-counts take years off a man. Even kings.”
Minute 11
Frankenstein’s Monster tries another Heavy Hand, looking to smash King Arthur down before he can fully recover.
King Arthur reverses again.
He slips around the champion and fires a clothesline across the chest.
Frankenstein’s Monster absorbs the punishment, staggering but not falling.
King Arthur looks frustrated for the first time.
The monster keeps coming.
Julian Ward: “Once again, King Arthur reverses Heavy Hand, this time into a clothesline.”
Brick Brody: “And once again, the monster eats it and keeps moving. That has to get in your head.”
Julian Ward: “The challenger is executing, but the champion’s durability remains oppressive.”
Brick Brody: “That is the nightmare. Doing the right thing and watching it not be enough.”
Minute 12
Dr. Frankenstein climbs onto the apron.
He begins screaming at Frankenstein’s Monster, but the words are not encouragement. They are frantic, invasive, deranged.
He berates him.
Confuses him.
Commands him.
Frankenstein’s Monster turns his head slightly toward the doctor.
The champion hesitates.
King Arthur sees the opening but is also pulled into the chaos, trying to understand whether the doctor is directing the monster or destabilizing him.
Honest Abe orders Dr. Frankenstein down.
Dr. Frankenstein laughs, shouting that the monster must remember what they made him to be.
The moment distorts the rhythm of the match.
Julian Ward: “Dr. Frankenstein is on the apron, berating and confusing his own champion. That interference has disrupted the match, but not cleanly in either direction.”
Brick Brody: “That lunatic might be helping, hurting, or both. He is yelling like a man trying to steer lightning.”
Julian Ward: “King Arthur could not fully capitalize because the situation became unstable.”
Brick Brody: “That is what madness does. It ruins everybody’s timing.”
Minute 13
Frankenstein’s Monster turns back with sudden violence.
He grabs King Arthur and bends him across his knee in The Clamp, a pendulum backbreaker that stretches the challenger’s body in a brutal arc.
King Arthur cries out but refuses to submit.
Honest Abe asks him.
King Arthur shakes his head.
Frankenstein’s Monster presses harder, the champion’s strength turning the hold into a slow act of destruction.
Merlin grips his staff, watching closely.
King Arthur endures long enough to force a break through movement and sheer refusal.
Julian Ward: “The Clamp is locked in. Frankenstein’s Monster has King Arthur bent across the backbreaker, and this is agonizing.”
Brick Brody: “That is not a hold. That is construction damage.”
Julian Ward: “King Arthur refuses to submit.”
Brick Brody: “Of course he does. Kings do not quit. They just make louder noises before they break.”
Minute 14
Frankenstein’s Monster pulls King Arthur up, looking to follow with another Deadweight Drop.
As he lifts, Merlin moves.
The old wizard throws flash powder into the air from ringside.
A burst of white light explodes near the ropes.
Frankenstein’s Monster recoils just enough.
The Deadweight Drop still lands partially, but the impact is disrupted. King Arthur is hurt, but not destroyed.
Dr. Frankenstein screams at Merlin, his voice cracking with rage.
Honest Abe turns sharply and warns Merlin, who lowers his hands and says nothing.
The crowd erupts at the controversy.
Julian Ward: “Merlin has thrown flash powder as a distraction. The champion still landed part of the Deadweight Drop, but the full force was interrupted.”
Brick Brody: “There it is. The noble wizard got his hands dirty. I knew he had it in him.”
Julian Ward: “That may have saved King Arthur from a finishing sequence.”
Brick Brody: “May have? It absolutely did. Sometimes destiny is just an old man with powder in his sleeve.”
Minute 15
The ring is still hazy from the flash powder.
Frankenstein’s Monster turns through the confusion, reaching for King Arthur again.
But King Arthur rises.
Hurt.
Bent.
Barely steady.
He steps inside before the champion can reset, hooks low, drives upward, and finally gets Frankenstein’s Monster off balance.
Spinebuster.
The ring shakes.
The coliseum erupts.
King Arthur collapses across the champion and hooks the leg with everything left in his body.
Honest Abe drops.
One.
Two.
Three.
The bell rings.
For half a second, silence.
Then the building explodes.
Dr. Frankenstein freezes at ringside.
His mouth opens, but no sound comes out.
Merlin lowers his staff, eyes fixed on the ring.
King Arthur rolls off Frankenstein’s Monster and lies on his back, staring upward, chest heaving, unable to rise.
Honest Abe retrieves the Mythic Crown Championship.
The crowd chants with thunderous force.
“AR-THUR! AR-THUR! AR-THUR!”
Frankenstein’s Monster slowly turns onto his side, stunned and beaten.
Dr. Frankenstein climbs onto the apron, shaking his head violently.
Dr. Frankenstein: “No. No. No. No. No.”
Honest Abe kneels beside King Arthur and places the Mythic Crown Championship into his hands.
King Arthur clutches the title to his chest.
Then, slowly, with effort that looks almost impossible, he rises to one knee.
Merlin enters the ring and stands beside him.
Honest Abe raises King Arthur’s hand.
The crowd roars again.
King Arthur stands fully and lifts the Mythic Crown Championship above his head.
The gold light returns to the arena.
Not bright enough to erase the darkness.
But enough to survive it.
Across the ring, Frankenstein’s Monster sits against the ropes, staring at the new champion.
Not raging.
Not speaking.
Just watching.
Dr. Frankenstein drops to the floor outside, hands in his hair, unraveling.
The final image of the match holds:
King Arthur standing with the Mythic Crown Championship.
Merlin beside him.
Frankenstein’s Monster seated in shadow.
Dr. Frankenstein collapsing into disbelief at ringside.
Julian Ward: “King Arthur has done it. Through power, pain, the deranged interference of Dr. Frankenstein, the terrible strength of Frankenstein’s Monster, and one final opening created in the haze of Merlin’s flash powder, King Arthur has reclaimed the Mythic Crown Championship.”
Brick Brody: “I will say it straight. The monster had him. The Clamp bent him, the slams hurt him, and that big body was wearing him down. But Merlin threw the powder, Arthur found the spinebuster, and the king put the monster down for three. Dirty around the edges? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely.”
Julian Ward: “Tonight, the crown changes hands. Frankenstein’s Monster was not exposed as unworthy. He was not reduced to a beast. But King Arthur proved that survival alone does not define the crown. On The Long Night, Camelot rises again, scarred by what it took to survive.”
KING ARTHUR DEFEATED FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER BY PINFALL WITH A SPINEBUSTER TO WIN THE MYTHIC CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP.
The camera remains on the ring.
King Arthur stands beneath the gold light, the Mythic Crown Championship raised high above his head.
Merlin stands beside him, solemn and watchful.
Across the ring, Frankenstein’s Monster has rolled to one knee, staring at the new champion through the haze of exhaustion and defeat.
At ringside, Dr. Frankenstein is still unraveling, pacing in broken circles, shaking his head and muttering to himself as if the entire order of the world has betrayed him.
The crowd inside Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum is thunderous.
“AR-THUR! AR-THUR! AR-THUR!”
The camera cuts to Julian Ward and Brick Brody at the announce desk.
Julian Ward: “On a night built around consequence, The Long Night has delivered change, fracture, and new direction for the Mythic Division.”
Brick Brody: “And pain. Do not forget pain. Lot of people came in here with plans, banners, crowns, belts, promises, and pretty speeches. A lot of them are leaving with ice packs and worse problems than they had this morning.”
Julian Ward: “We began outside the coliseum, in the forest itself, where The King’s Hand defeated The Merry Band in the Sherwood Forest Fight. But the result was not the only story. Will Scarlet struck Robin Hood with a quarterstaff, allowing Sheriff of Nottingham to finish the match with a piledriver through the tavern table.”
Brick Brody: “Bad night for The Merry Band? That is putting it gently. They lost the fight, lost the moral high ground, and maybe lost one of their own. Robin Hood got betrayed, Friar Tuck looked like he saw a ghost, and Little John was stuck choosing between chasing Will Scarlet and helping his fallen friend. That is not a loss. That is a collapse with leaves on it.”
Julian Ward: “The wound in Sherwood may prove deeper than the defeat itself. Trust has broken inside The Merry Band, and Prince John’s forces leave tonight with more power than they had when the show began.”
Brick Brody: “That is how authority wins. Not always by being stronger. Sometimes by making the rebels suspicious of each other.”
Julian Ward: “Prioress Malveil then defeated Maid Marion, with Prince John again influencing the night from ringside. Maid Marion fought with courage and refused to break, but Prioress Malveil survived and secured the victory with the Sanctified End.”
Brick Brody: “Another bad mark for the Sherwood side. Maid Marion fought hard, but hard does not matter when the other side cheats early and finishes late.”
Julian Ward: “The Convergent Championship remained with Jack Lumber, who defeated Mordred. In hostile Mythic territory, Jack Lumber proved that blunt force and discipline could overcome ambition, treachery, and Myrrden’s presence.”
Brick Brody: “Mordred wanted a crown he did not own and got an uppercut for his trouble. I respect the attempt. I respect the failure less.”
Julian Ward: “Sinbad retained the Eternal Flame Championship against Sir Lancelot in a grueling contest of endurance and precision. Even with Merlin offering rejuvenation from ringside, Sinbad survived and finished the challenger with the Hammerlock DDT.”
Brick Brody: “That champion is held together by tape, stubbornness, and bad decisions. But tonight, it worked.”
Julian Ward: “Lilith retained the Queen of the North Championship against Morgana Le Faye, surviving the influence of Myrrden, repeated attacks to the arm, and a challenger who came very close to changing the balance of power.”
Brick Brody: “Lilith kept the throne. That is the summary. Morgana Le Faye had strategy. Lilith had dominion.”
Julian Ward: “Then Alton Bell announced the surprise challenger for the Universal Championship: Takuma Ryujin of The Dragon’s Veil.”
Brick Brody: “And Fenwick Grimbough hated every second of it.”
Julian Ward: “Under protest, Ghost of Christmas Past defended the Universal Championship against Takuma Ryujin and retained after a brutal match with the Axe Bomber. Takuma Ryujin proved he belongs in that conversation, but the past remains champion.”
Brick Brody: “That was a fight the champion did not ask for, did not prepare for, and still won. I do not like giving Fenwick credit, but his ghost survived the ambush.”
Julian Ward: “And in one of the most emotional turning points of the night, Dorothy and Alice, the first-ever North Star Tag Team Champions, reclaimed those titles from The Monsters of Myth. Nine months and seven days defined their first reign. Tonight begins the second.”
Brick Brody: “I doubted them. I will admit it. Hydra Veyne and Medussa Nemesis are monsters, and Serpenta Veyne is a snake in human form. But Dorothy and Alice took the beating, found the opening, and walked out with the gold. Fairytale ending, nightmare survived.”
The camera cuts back to the ring.
King Arthur lowers the Mythic Crown Championship and looks across at Frankenstein’s Monster.
The monster is standing now.
He does not attack.
He does not retreat.
He simply stares.
Julian Ward: “And then, in the main event, King Arthur defeated Frankenstein’s Monster to win the Mythic Crown Championship. A king and a monster met in the center of this coliseum, and after fifteen minutes of power, survival, interference, and consequence, the crown returned to Camelot.”
Brick Brody: “With a little flash powder from Merlin, let us not pretend otherwise.”
Julian Ward: “No, we should not. Even Camelot’s victory tonight came through complication. That may be the truth of The Long Night. No one leaves untouched. No story leaves clean.”
Brick Brody: “That is why I liked it. Crowns changed hands. Titles stayed where they were. Friends betrayed friends. Monsters fell. Kings bled. That is a pay-per-view.”
Julian Ward: “For The Merry Band, tonight may mark the beginning of their darkest chapter. For Dorothy and Alice, it marks restoration. For Ghost of Christmas Past, survival. For Lilith, dominion. For Sinbad, endurance. For King Arthur, a crown reclaimed.”
The camera moves tighter on King Arthur.
He raises the Mythic Crown Championship one final time.
Gold light fills the ring.
But at the edge of the frame, Frankenstein’s Monster remains in shadow.
Watching.
Remembering.
Julian Ward: “The long night ends, but its consequences are only beginning. For Brick Brody, I am Julian Ward. Thank you for joining us live from Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum.”
Brick Brody: “Lock the gates on the way out. Something tells me not everything that got beaten tonight is staying down.”
Julian Ward: “Good night from NPCW The Long Night.”
The final shot holds on King Arthur with the Mythic Crown Championship raised high, while Frankenstein’s Monster stands in the shadows beyond him.
The screen fades to black.
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