Aired - August 28, 2026
PART 1
0. SHOW RUNDOWN
1. SHOW OPENING
2. CROWD SHOT AND WELCOMING
3. MATCH 1
4. MORE BLOOD-MOON WARNINGS
5. MATCH 2
6. MATCH 3
7. UNLIKELY ALLIES
PART 2 8. MATCH 4 9. MATCH 5 10. WITCH HUNTER OR GHOST HUNTER? 11. MAIN EVENT 12. CLOSING POST SHOW TEASER
(Black screen.)
(The sound of a heavy book opening.)
(Not cleanly. Not gently.)
(Old pages scrape against each other like bone over stone.)
(A candle ignites.)
(The flame burns blue for a moment… then deepens to red.)
(Ink crawls across parchment, but this time it does not form words.)
(It forms a crown.)
(Then an arrow.)
(Then a hand.)
(Then an oni mask.)
(A low choir begins. Beneath it, a war drum beats once.)
Voice-over:
“Once upon a time… they told you every kingdom needed a hero.”
(beat)
“They never told you heroes bleed.”
(The ink spreads faster now, swallowing the parchment edges.)
“They never told you crowns grow heavier.”
“They never told you stories change hands.”
(A bell tolls.)
(The screen flickers with torchlight.)
Voice-over:
“Here… legends do not rest.”
“They are tested.”
“They are broken.”
“They are remade.”
(The burning parchment folds inward, becoming a dark fairytale title card.)
NPCW: DARK FABLE
Voice-over:
“This is the MYTHIC Division.”
“Welcome… to DARK FABLE.”
SIGNATURE MONTAGE — QUARTER 3
1) King Arthur
(A sword is raised beneath a storm-black sky.)
Arthur stands alone in the ring, armor battered, breath steady, eyes forward.
The crowd roars around him, but he does not answer them.
An opponent charges.
Arthur turns, counters, and drives him down with royal certainty.
Another figure rises behind him.
Arthur meets him too.
The crown does not make him safe.
It makes him hunted.
But still…
The king stands.
2) Blonde Bombshells — Alice, Dorothy & Rapunzel
(Bright storybook light floods the screen.)
(Then the color sharpens into something dangerous.)
Alice moves first—quick, fluid, smiling as she slips through a strike and sends her opponent spinning.
Dorothy follows with perfect timing, cutting the escape off before it begins.
Then Rapunzel steps in.
Graceful.
Precise.
No wasted motion.
Three women stand together as the fallen opponent reaches for them and finds nothing.
A familiar dream.
A dangerous mirror.
A fairytale with sharper teeth.
3) Robin Hood
(An arrow cuts through darkness.)
(It strikes a hanging lantern, and green light spills across the ring.)
Robin Hood ducks beneath a wild swing by inches.
He answers instantly.
One shot to stagger.
One movement to shift position.
One clean finish to end the moment before his opponent understands it.
He rises with calm defiance and looks toward the hard camera.
Not a prince.
Not a servant.
Not a man waiting for permission.
A thief.
A hero.
A problem no king can tax away.
4) The King’s Hand
(A gauntleted hand closes around a royal seal.)
(The wax cracks.)
The Sheriff of Nottingham steps through torchlight, cold authority in every movement.
Will Scarlet strikes beside him, violence wrapped in loyalty and resentment.
The King’s Collectors close in after them.
No chaos.
No wasted cruelty.
Only enforcement.
A man is dragged down.
Another is silenced.
Another is left staring up at the lights while the Hand of power tightens around the ring.
The law has arrived.
And mercy was never written into it.
5) Crimson Viper — The Queen of Hearts
(Red roses bloom across black parchment.)
(One by one, the petals fall.)
Crimson Viper stands motionless as her opponent circles.
Then she smiles.
A trap springs.
A strike lands.
A body folds.
She moves like a sentence already passed, turning panic into punishment.
The Queen of Hearts does not chase control.
She assumes it.
And when the final blow lands, there is no rage in her eyes.
Only judgment.
6) Monster Bash’s Enforcers — Kong & Ogre
(Chains drag across stone.)
(The sound becomes a heartbeat.)
Kong surges forward and crushes an opponent into the corner with impossible force.
Ogre follows, lifting another body high before driving it down with brutal finality.
No pageantry.
No speeches.
No warning.
Tag made simple.
Power made sacred.
Two bodies fall.
Two monsters remain.
Kong and Ogre stand over the wreckage, gold and violence bound together.
The Enforcers do not protect a throne.
They make sure no one survives long enough to challenge it.
7) Raigen the Maryu
(Red and gold flame cuts across the screen.)
(A dragon’s shadow coils behind it.)
Raigen stands in the center of the ring, still as a blade before the strike.
His opponent rushes him.
Raigen erupts.
A brutal combination lands in flashes—strike, turn, impact, silence.
The old storm is gone.
Something darker has taken its place.
He lowers one hand.
The air around him seems to burn.
This is not Raigen returning.
This is Raigen becoming.
The Maryu has awakened.
8) Blood Oni Syndicate — Lord Kurogami, Kaen, Enrai & Yurei Rinn
(The screen fades to black again.)
(A single red mask appears.)
(Then another.)
(Then another.)
(Lord Kurogami stands in shadow, unmoving, his presence heavier than sound.)
Kaen steps through firelight, fists clenched, eyes burning with violent purpose.
Enrai follows beneath a flash of white-blue lightning, calm and lethal.
Yurei Rinn appears last, ghostlike, silent, her stare fixed on something the audience cannot see.
Four figures.
One shadow.
The ring becomes a ritual space.
The Syndicate does not enter stories.
It infects them.
And when Lord Kurogami raises one hand…
The darkness answers.
(The choir rises.)
(War drums thunder beneath it.)
(The arena appears, lit like a cathedral built for judgment.)
Voice-over:
“This isn’t the North.”
“This isn’t the light.”
(beat)
“This is where crowns are tested.”
“Where heroes are hunted.”
“Where monsters wear gold.”
“And where every victory leaves a scar.”
(The music drops.)
(Only the bell remains.)
Voice-over:
“In DARK FABLE… the story does not end happily.”
(beat)
“It ends… with a winner.”
(A final image flashes: crown, arrow, rose, chain, dragon flame, oni mask.)
Voice-over:
“And in Quarter Three…”
(beat)
“The story belongs to whoever is strong enough to take it.”
(The bell tolls one final time.)
Voice-over:
“This… is DARK FABLE.”
The opening fades into a sweeping aerial shot of Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum.
Torchlight burns along the stone arches.
Blue-and-gold banners hang beside green standards of Sherwood, blackened crests of the Broken Crown, scaled insignias from the eastern houses, and symbols belonging to creatures whose stories were old before kingdoms learned to write their names.
The crowd is already standing.
Not celebrating.
Waiting.
One side of the building erupts into a disciplined chant.
“AR-THUR!” “AR-THUR!” “AR-THUR!”
The camera finds supporters of King Arthur holding replica crowns and raising the crest of Camelot.
Another section answers immediately.
“RO-BIN HOOD!” “RO-BIN HOOD!”
Green banners rise.
The reaction is rougher.
Less ceremonial.
The sound of a kingdom answered by the sound of a forest.
Then another chant moves through the building.
“AL-LAN!” “AL-LAN!”
The camera catches signs for Allan A Dale, several bearing drawings of a flame surrounded by musical notes.
That sound is soon challenged by jeers as the crest of Nottingham appears on another banner.
The Eternal Flame remains in the possession of Sheriff of Nottingham.
The camera settles at the broadcast table.
Julian Ward sits composed beneath the torchlit glow, notes arranged before him.
Beside him, Brick Brody leans back in his chair with his arms crossed, surveying the crowd with the expression of a man perfectly comfortable with the possibility that someone may be hurt before the introductions are finished.
Julian Ward: “Good evening. We are live from Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum. I am Julian Ward, joined by Brick Brody, and seven days ago Dark Fable left this building with two championships having survived very different trials.”
Highlights begin rolling across the arena screen.
Allan A Dale driving Sheriff of Nottingham down.
The Sheriff answering with increasingly violent offense.
Prince John inserting himself repeatedly into the contest.
The first fall belonging to the champion.
Allan A Dale dragging himself back into the fight.
The second fall bringing the match level.
Then the final images.
Sheriff of Nottingham locking the Sleeper around Allan A Dale.
The challenger refusing to surrender until his body finally gives him no other answer.
Julian Ward: “Allan A Dale had already proven he could pin the Eternal Flame Champion. Last week he was asked to prove he could take the championship from him.”
Brick Brody: “And he almost did.”
Julian Ward: “He did. Forty-six minutes. Three falls. Allan A Dale endured everything the champion and Prince John could place in front of him.”
Brick Brody: “But ‘almost’ is the most useless word in wrestling, Julian. Almost champion. Almost survived. Almost escaped the Sleeper.”
Brick Brody taps the desk.
Brick Brody: “The Sheriff still has the flame.”
The replay freezes on Sheriff of Nottingham clutching the Eternal Flame Championship.
Julian Ward: “The method may continue to be questioned.”
Brick Brody: “Question it all you want. The belt does not answer questions.”
The screen darkens.
A primitive horn sounds.
The image of the Huntsman appears.
Then the crest of Camelot burns through the forest mist.
King Arthur raises the Mythic Crown Championship.
The camera catches the crowd responding loudly to the memory.
Julian Ward: “And then there was the Mythic Crown.”
The footage flashes through the confrontation.
The Huntsman stalking the champion.
King Arthur refusing to yield ground.
Merlin watching from the outside.
The championship between them.
Julian Ward: “One week after Elias Coldmere made perhaps the strongest possible statement of his new authority as Mythic Commissioner, King Arthur was forced to defend the Mythic Crown against a man the king himself had dismissed as beneath his station.”
Brick Brody: “That is still my favorite part.”
Julian Ward: “Which part?”
Brick Brody: “The king telling the Commissioner the Huntsman was beneath him and Elias Coldmere answering, ‘Fine. Prove it.’”
A faint grin crosses Brick Brody’s face.
Brick Brody: “That is administration I can respect.”
The screen freezes on King Arthur with the Mythic Crown still in his possession.
But the image is different now.
The champion is standing.
The crown remains his.
Yet the expression is harder than it had been weeks earlier.
Julian Ward: “The Huntsman did not take the Mythic Crown.”
A pause.
Julian Ward: “But the questions surrounding King Arthur have not disappeared with another successful defense.”
The camera briefly shows Merlin watching the king from ringside during the replay.
Julian Ward: “The relationship between the king, his crown, his counselor, and the authority surrounding Camelot has become increasingly complicated.”
Brick Brody: “Complicated?”
Julian Ward: “You disagree?”
Brick Brody: “I think it is simple. Arthur has the most important championship in the Mythic Division, and every week somebody tells him he should act less like the man holding it.”
Julian Ward: “There is a distinction between confidence and sovereignty.”
Brick Brody: “Only to people without crowns.”
The image of the Mythic Crown fades.
For several seconds, the great screen remains black.
Then a black mask appears.
The mood inside Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum changes immediately.
Julian Ward: “There is one other event from seven days ago that cannot be treated simply as part of last week’s results.”
Footage begins.
Raigen standing over Will Scarlett after securing the victory.
Then movement over the barricade.
A masked man entering the ring.
A second joining him.
Raigen overwhelmed.
Julian Ward: “Moments after defeating Will Scarlett, Raigen was attacked from behind by a masked assailant.”
The footage accelerates.
A second masked attacker arrives.
Then the entranceway turns crimson.
Lord Kurogami appears.
Beside him stands a third masked figure.
Brick Brody: “And that was when everybody who had been following this thing for weeks knew it was not some random assault.”
Julian Ward: “Lord Kurogami did not arrive to stop it.”
The screen shows Lord Kurogami reaching ringside.
His hand rises.
The third masked man enters.
Three attackers descend upon Raigen.
Brick Brody: “He came down to supervise it.”
The crowd begins booing as the footage continues.
Takuma Ryujin races into the ring.
Then John Henry.
The fight separates.
One mask comes away.
Kaen.
Another.
Enrai.
Julian Ward: “Takuma Ryujin and John Henry finally gave Raigen enough help to expose two of the attackers.”
The freeze-frame shows Kaen.
Then Enrai.
Julian Ward: “Both members of the Blood Oni Syndicate.”
Brick Brody: “Which should have been the answer.”
A pause.
Brick Brody: “It wasn’t.”
The footage slows.
The third masked man stands across from Raigen.
The crowd in the replay can be heard chanting.
“TARO!” “TARO!” “TARO!”
Julian Ward: “Because throughout those attacks, there had been one name hanging over all of it.”
The mask begins to come away.
The face underneath appears.
Taro Okami.
The live crowd responds with another wave of hostility.
Julian Ward: “Taro Okami.”
The replay holds on Raigen’s expression.
Shock.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
Julian Ward: “Only one week earlier, Raigen and Taro Okami had fought side by side for thirty minutes against the Gods of War.”
Another image.
Taro Okami trapping Mars in the Hunter’s Lock as time expired.
Then back to the unmasking.
Julian Ward: “After weeks of manipulation and suspicion surrounding the Blood Oni Syndicate, Raigen believed he had finally found the truth.”
Brick Brody: “He had.”
Julian Ward looks toward him.
Brick Brody: “He just did not like what the truth looked like.”
The footage resumes.
Raigen says the name.
“Taro…”
Taro Okami raises one hand.
Then—
Fire.
The fireball explodes directly into Raigen’s face.
The Coliseum reacts angrily even though everyone knows what is coming.
Julian Ward: “And then this.”
The replay freezes just after the impact.
Julian Ward: “A fireball directly into Raigen’s face.”
For once, Brick Brody does not immediately respond.
The footage shows Raigen rolling across the canvas, clutching his face.
Takuma Ryujin drops beside him.
John Henry calls for assistance.
Lord Kurogami raises one hand.
Kaen, Enrai, and Taro Okami withdraw.
Taro Okami drops the black mask beside Raigen before leaving with the Blood Oni Syndicate.
Julian Ward: “There was no explanation.”
A beat.
Julian Ward: “No argument.”
Another.
Julian Ward: “No hesitation.”
The screen shows the four men leaving together.
Lord Kurogami.
Kaen.
Enrai.
And Taro Okami.
Brick Brody: “That is the part people keep calling betrayal.”
He leans forward.
Brick Brody: “I am not sure that word is big enough.”
Julian Ward: “Raigen had spent weeks refusing to accept the possibility that Taro Okami was responsible for what was happening around him.”
Brick Brody: “And Kurogami let him believe that.”
Julian Ward: “Perhaps encouraged him to believe it.”
Brick Brody: “Exactly.”
The replay shows the final image from last week.
Raigen surrounded by officials.
The black mask lying inches from his hand.
Julian Ward: “Raigen was taken to the hospital following the attack.”
The image remains.
Julian Ward: “Whatever explanation may eventually come from Taro Okami, one fact cannot be disputed.”
He looks toward the camera.
Julian Ward: “The man Raigen chose to trust was standing inside the mask.”
A pause.
Brick Brody: “And then he burned him for it.”
The screen goes black.
For several seconds, nothing replaces it.
Then the Dark Fable crest slowly returns.
Julian Ward: “The Blood Oni Syndicate did not merely attack Raigen last week.”
His voice remains calm.
Julian Ward: “They made certain he understood who had been standing beside him all along.”
The crowd reacts as tonight’s main-event graphic suddenly fills the great screen.
On one side:
KING ARTHUR SIR LANCELOT SIR GALAHAD SIR GAWAIN
On the other:
ROBIN HOOD FRIAR TUCK LITTLE JOHN ALAN A DALE
The building erupts.
Julian Ward: “And tonight, the Mythic Crown Champion will not stand alone.”
The words appear beneath them.
CHAMPIONS OF CAMELOT vs THE MERRY BAND
EIGHT-MAN TAG TEAM MAIN EVENT
Julian Ward: “In our main event, four of Camelot’s greatest knights stand together. King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, and Sir Gawain represent the Champions of Camelot.”
The image shifts to the opposing side.
Julian Ward: “Across from them stands Sherwood. Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, Little John, and the man who came within one fall of becoming Eternal Flame Champion last week, Allan A Dale.”
The chants begin competing again.
“AR-THUR!”
“RO-BIN!”
“AR-THUR!”
“RO-BIN!”
Brick Brody: “Now that is a main event.”
Julian Ward: “Two groups whose names have become inseparable from the history of this division.”
Brick Brody: “Do not turn it into a history lecture. Eight men. One ring. You have knights on one side and outlaws on the other. Somebody is eventually going to forget whatever political meaning you want to attach to it and punch somebody in the mouth.”
Julian Ward: “There may be considerable political meaning regardless.”
Brick Brody: “Fine. They can discuss it while they are punching.”
The graphic changes.
Mist curls across the screen.
YUREI RINN vs DOROTHY
The crowd reacts strongly for Dorothy.
Julian Ward: “Our opening contest tonight places Yurei Rinn against one-half of the North Star Tag Team Champions, Dorothy.”
Brick Brody: “Bad matchup for anybody who thinks being part of a successful team means singles wrestling comes automatically. Yurei Rinn does not care how many championships Dorothy has held beside Alice.”
Julian Ward: “And Dorothy has repeatedly demonstrated that beneath the familiar imagery surrounding the Blonde Bombshells is a very serious competitor.”
The next graphic appears.
Black armor.
Then green-and-silver scales.
DREAD KNIGHTS vs SCALEKEEPERS
Julian Ward: “Tag team competition follows as the Dread Knights meet the Scalekeepers.”
Brick Brody: “Good. Armor against discipline. The Dread Knights want to drag you into something ugly. The Scalekeepers want structure. So whichever team forces the other one to fight its kind of match wins.”
The screen shifts again.
Steel.
A hammer striking an anvil.
Then thunder across marble.
JOHN HENRY vs HERACLES
The reaction grows.
Julian Ward: “Two extraordinary examples of raw physical strength collide when John Henry faces Heracles.”
Brick Brody: “That one does not need philosophy.”
Julian Ward: “No?”
Brick Brody: “No. Put something heavy in the ring and see which man can throw it farther.”
Julian Ward: “The something heavy, in this case, would be the other man.”
Brick Brody: “Exactly.”
Another graphic.
A silver key closes around the screen.
Then the image of a lion tears through it.
SEVERIN CROWNE vs LION
The response turns more uncertain.
Julian Ward: “Severin Crowne returns to competition tonight against Lion.”
Brick Brody: “And maybe somebody should check whether Lion received one of those little cards first.”
Julian Ward: “The activities of Severin Crowne outside the ring continue to raise questions.”
Brick Brody: “Questions for everybody except Severin Crowne. He always looks like he already knows the answer.”
The graphic changes.
Three serpentine silhouettes rise through darkness.
Opposite them, green light spreads through a forest.
MONSTERS OF MYTH vs LARK OF SHERWOOD & MAID MARION
Julian Ward: “We will also see the Monsters of Myth against Lark of Sherwood and Maid Marion.”
Brick Brody: “That is two women walking into a numbers problem.”
Julian Ward: “And two women who have spent much of this year refusing to allow larger forces to decide what happens to Sherwood.”
Brick Brody: “Courage does not change arithmetic.”
Julian Ward: “No. But it can change outcomes.”
The card disappears.
The arena darkens.
For several seconds, there is nothing on the screen.
Then a low metallic sound begins.
Not a bell.
Not a sword.
Something larger.
Like a gate being pulled open.
A red glow appears.
Letters emerge through smoke.
AGE OF RUIN
The response is immediate.
The September 27 supercard crest fills the screen.
Julian Ward: “And hanging over everything tonight is September 27.”
The camera slowly moves across the audience.
Julian Ward: “Age of Ruin.”
A second pulse of red light.
Julian Ward: “Tonight, the first matches for Age of Ruin will be revealed.”
The crowd grows louder.
No competitors appear.
No matchup is shown.
Only the event crest.
Brick Brody: “Good.”
Julian Ward: “You have no curiosity?”
Brick Brody: “Plenty.”
He looks toward the screen.
Brick Brody: “But look at the name.”
A pause.
Brick Brody: “Age of Ruin.”
He turns toward Julian Ward.
Brick Brody: “I do not care who gets announced first. I want to know who hears their name and realizes they have four weeks left before something gets taken from them.”
The event crest burns brighter.
Julian Ward: “Championships.”
A beat.
Julian Ward: “Rivalries.”
Another.
Julian Ward: “Kingdoms, factions, alliances and grudges that have been building across this division.”
The screen goes black.
Julian Ward: “Tonight, we begin learning which of them will be carried into Age of Ruin.”
The camera returns to the ring.
Louie Linville is already standing at its center.
The lights begin to fall.
Julian Ward: “And we begin with two women carrying very different kinds of darkness.”
A low Japanese string note cuts through the Coliseum.
Mist begins spreading across the entrance.
Julian Ward: “Yurei Rinn.”
The crowd turns toward the stage.
Brick Brody: “Now the story starts hurting.”
The first match of Dark Fable Episode 031 is next.
Referee: “Fast Count” Frank
The lights inside Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum slowly dim.
The noise from the crowd falls with them.
A single deep drumbeat sounds.
Then another.
Red light bleeds across the entranceway as thin smoke begins crawling over the stone floor.
A black-and-crimson oni crest appears across the great screen.
No music immediately follows it.
Only the drums.
A figure becomes visible through the smoke.
Yurei Rinn stands almost perfectly still.
Her posture is straight. Her eyes remain fixed upon the ring. There is no attempt to acknowledge the crowd and no visible reaction to the hostility beginning to rise around her.
Several feet behind her stands Lord Kurogami.
Black ceremonial attire.
Crimson embroidery.
Hands folded behind his back.
He does not gesture toward the ring.
He does not need to.
Only after several long seconds does Yurei Rinn begin walking.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
As though the decision to enter the Coliseum had been made long before anyone inside it knew there would be a match.
Julian Ward: “The stillness surrounding Yurei Rinn can be deeply deceptive. She is not hesitant. She is not uncertain. Everything about the Blood Oni Syndicate is built upon control.”
Brick Brody: “And that is why I like them. You do not see Lord Kurogami jumping around at ringside begging for attention. He points somebody toward a target and expects the job to get done.”
Julian Ward: “There has been considerable ambition behind the Blood Oni Syndicate since its arrival in the Mythic Division.”
Brick Brody: “Ambition is what keeps you from becoming scenery.”
Yurei Rinn climbs the ring steps.
She stops on the apron.
For a moment she turns her head toward Lord Kurogami.
He gives the slightest nod.
Yurei Rinn steps between the ropes.
She moves to her corner and waits.
No pacing.
No stretching against the ropes.
Stillness once again.
Then—
The Coliseum explodes.
A driving burst of music crashes through the silence.
The darkness is blown apart by bright white light.
A roar comes from one of the lower seating sections as Dorothy suddenly appears among the crowd.
Black hoodie.
Kendo stick in hand.
A wide grin across her face.
She throws one arm into the air.
“KA-BOOM!”
The crowd answers her.
Dorothy moves quickly down the aisle between the fans, slapping hands as she comes, the contrast between the two entrances almost violent in itself.
Lord Kurogami watches from ringside without expression.
Inside the ring, Yurei Rinn barely moves.
Julian Ward: “And there may not be a sharper contrast in presentation than this. Dorothy, one-half of the North Star Tag Team Champions, has never hidden from the energy surrounding her.”
Brick Brody: “That entrance is all noise.”
Julian Ward: “The results have often been substantial.”
Brick Brody: “I did not say noise was useless.”
Dorothy reaches ringside, raises the kendo stick once more, then hands it away before sliding underneath the bottom rope.
She immediately climbs onto the second turnbuckle.
Both arms spread.
The crowd responds again.
Dorothy: “KA-BOOM!”
She hops down.
The smile disappears as soon as she turns toward Yurei Rinn.
The two women meet eyes across the ring.
Fast Count Frank steps between them.
At ringside, Lord Kurogami remains motionless.
Louie Linville moves to the center of the ring.
He waits until the music has completely faded.
Then raises the microphone.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, this opening contest is scheduled for one fall.”
The crowd cheers.
Louie Linville: “Introducing first, accompanied to the ring by Lord Kurogami... representing the Blood Oni Syndicate... YUREI RINN.”
A low chorus of boos moves around the Coliseum.
Yurei Rinn does not acknowledge it.
Lord Kurogami inclines his head slightly.
Louie Linville: “And her opponent... one-half of the reigning North Star Tag Team Champions... DOROTHY!”
A loud ovation follows.
Dorothy raises one fist but never takes her eyes away from Yurei Rinn.
Louie Linville exits.
Fast Count Frank checks both competitors.
He signals.
The bell sounds.
Minute 1
Dorothy wastes absolutely no time.
She closes distance before Yurei Rinn can establish the deliberate pace she wants, hooks around the waist, lifts, and drives Yurei Rinn hard into the canvas with a spinebuster.
The impact jolts the Blood Oni representative almost completely off the mat.
Julian Ward: “Immediate power from Dorothy. There was no feeling-out process whatsoever.”
Brick Brody: “Good. Why give somebody like Yurei Rinn time to think? If the creepy woman wants silence, introduce her to the canvas.”
Yurei Rinn rolls toward the ropes, more irritated than stunned, while Dorothy stays on her rather than celebrating the early success.
Julian Ward: “And notice Dorothy staying close. She understands that the danger begins if Yurei Rinn can slow this match down.”
Brick Brody: “First smart thing she has done tonight.”
Minute 2
Yurei Rinn answers by catching Dorothy’s arm during another approach and dragging her downward into a cross armbar.
Dorothy immediately twists her body toward the pressure, forcing enough separation to escape before the hold can become fully extended.
She rises and retaliates with a heavy bodyslam.
Yurei Rinn rolls through the landing and comes back to her knees.
Neither woman has established control.
Julian Ward: “There is the technical response from Yurei Rinn. She attacks the arm immediately.”
Brick Brody: “Because an armbar does not care how loud the crowd gets for you.”
Julian Ward: “Nor does a bodyslam, apparently.”
Brick Brody: “That is why wrestling is wonderful.”
Minute 3
The pace increases.
Yurei Rinn snaps sharp elbow strikes into the side of Dorothy’s head.
One.
Two.
A third sends Dorothy backward.
But Dorothy absorbs them, lowers her center of gravity, catches Yurei Rinn coming forward and plants her with another spinebuster.
This one lands even harder than the first.
Julian Ward: “Again! Dorothy is finding the spinebuster whenever Yurei Rinn steps too aggressively into range.”
Brick Brody: “And Yurei is finding her face with those elbows. Neither one is backing out of the exchange.”
Dorothy pushes herself upright.
Across the ring, Yurei Rinn does the same.
Julian Ward: “Three minutes in, and there is already a very clear disagreement over what kind of match this is going to become.”
Minute 4
Yurei Rinn finally creates the opening she has been seeking.
She catches Dorothy turning out of a clinch, traps the head, twists violently and drops her with a reverse neckbreaker.
Dorothy’s shoulders and upper back crash against the canvas.
Yurei Rinn sits beside her for half a second.
Expressionless.
Then rises.
Julian Ward: “That was clinical.”
Brick Brody: “That was nasty.”
Julian Ward: “Those descriptions are not mutually exclusive.”
Brick Brody: “Now you are learning.”
At ringside, Lord Kurogami watches closely.
No applause.
No instruction.
Only observation.
Minute 5
Yurei Rinn reaches Dorothy from behind.
Her arm slides around the neck.
The second hand locks.
Cobra clutch.
Dorothy tries to turn into the grip but Yurei Rinn sinks her weight backward and tightens the hold.
The crowd begins clapping rhythmically.
Julian Ward: “This is where the match becomes dangerous for Dorothy. The pace has slowed, and now Yurei Rinn can make every movement cost her.”
Brick Brody: “Stop wasting energy fighting the hands. Drop your weight, make her carry you, find the jaw—anything except panicking.”
Dorothy finally drives both women into the turnbuckles.
The grip breaks.
She stumbles forward holding her neck.
Yurei Rinn simply resets.
Minute 6
They collide again.
Yurei Rinn takes control of the head and drives Dorothy down with another reverse neckbreaker.
But Dorothy refuses to remain underneath her.
She catches Yurei Rinn moments later, powers her off the mat and answers with a bodyslam.
Both women rise almost simultaneously.
Julian Ward: “Neither can make control last.”
Brick Brody: “Then hit harder.”
Julian Ward: “Your solution to most tactical problems.”
Brick Brody: “Because it solves most tactical problems.”
Dorothy rubs at the back of her neck.
Yurei Rinn rotates one shoulder.
Each is beginning to leave evidence on the other.
Minute 7
Yurei Rinn again slips behind Dorothy.
Cobra clutch.
But this time Dorothy reacts instantly.
She drops her hips.
Turns.
Hooks Yurei Rinn’s arm.
And violently reverses the entire position into a one-armed neckbreaker slam.
The crowd erupts.
Julian Ward: “Beautiful counter by Dorothy!”
Brick Brody: “That is what happens when you go back to the same hold too many times. Eventually the other woman learns the answer.”
Dorothy looks toward Yurei Rinn, realizing she has found one.
Julian Ward: “And that may matter later. The Cobra Clutch has already been one of Yurei Rinn’s most effective weapons tonight.”
Brick Brody: “Not if Dorothy keeps turning it into that.”
Minute 8
They come together once more.
This time neither woman gives ground.
Yurei Rinn again manages to secure the Cobra Clutch, wrenching Dorothy backward.
Dorothy fights the hands, turns partially free and creates just enough space to explode into another one-armed neckbreaker slam.
Both women hit the canvas almost in succession.
Julian Ward: “The hold lands, but Dorothy still finds the response.”
Brick Brody: “That is becoming the story now. Yurei Rinn can hurt her with that clutch, but she cannot keep her there.”
Dorothy reaches the ropes to pull herself upright.
Across from her, Yurei Rinn rises more slowly.
For the first time, Lord Kurogami’s gaze narrows.
Minute 9
Yurei Rinn moves toward Dorothy, but Lord Kurogami suddenly steps closer to the apron.
He does not touch Fast Count Frank.
He does not shout.
He simply fixes the referee with a cold, unblinking stare.
Fast Count Frank turns toward him.
For one strange second, the referee seems almost frozen beneath it.
Julian Ward: “That is Lord Kurogami’s influence without laying a hand on anyone.”
Brick Brody: “He is looking at him, Julian.”
Julian Ward: “And Frank has stopped watching the match.”
Brick Brody: “Then maybe Frank needs thicker skin.”
Behind him, Dorothy keeps moving.
She catches Yurei Rinn, spins through—
Kansas Cyclone!
The tornado DDT drives Yurei Rinn headfirst into the canvas.
The building explodes.
Julian Ward: “Kansas Cyclone! And whatever distraction Lord Kurogami intended, it did not stop Dorothy!”
Brick Brody: “Maybe it stopped Frank from seeing how hard his own wrestler just got planted.”
Lord Kurogami takes one slow step backward.
His expression does not change.
Minute 10
Yurei Rinn recovers with frightening speed.
As Dorothy comes in again, Yurei Rinn catches her around the body, elevates her and drives her down with a Falcon Arrow.
Dorothy folds against the canvas.
Julian Ward: “Falcon Arrow! Tremendous impact from Yurei Rinn.”
Brick Brody: “That is the response you want. You get dumped on your head, you do not complain. You find the other woman and return the favor.”
Yurei Rinn remains over Dorothy for a moment, then rises.
At ringside, Lord Kurogami gives nothing away.
Minute 11
Dorothy tries to attack before Yurei Rinn can reset.
It backfires.
Yurei Rinn catches her again.
Lifts.
Falcon Arrow.
A second consecutive one.
Dorothy crashes hard and rolls onto her side.
Julian Ward: “Again. Yurei Rinn has found something now.”
Brick Brody: “And this is where you find out whether all that Blonde Bombshell confidence survives when somebody starts dropping you on the back of your skull.”
Dorothy grabs the middle rope.
She pulls herself up.
Her expression is no longer playful.
Julian Ward: “It appears to be surviving.”
Brick Brody: “Ask me after the next one.”
Minute 12
Yurei Rinn moves behind Dorothy yet again.
Cobra clutch.
This time Dorothy cannot immediately reverse it.
She fights the grip, plants her feet and powers forward.
With a sudden shift of leverage she breaks free, turns and scoops Yurei Rinn into another bodyslam.
Julian Ward: “Excellent strength from Dorothy after having just endured two Falcon Arrows.”
Brick Brody: “She is stubborn. I will give her that.”
Julian Ward: “You say that almost approvingly.”
Brick Brody: “Stubborn people are harder to bury.”
Both women are breathing harder now.
The match has passed from opening contest into endurance test.
Minute 13
Dorothy sees an opening.
She grabs Yurei Rinn and starts the rotation for the Kansas Cyclone.
But Yurei Rinn recognizes it.
She plants her weight.
Stops the rotation.
Then violently shoves Dorothy away before the tornado DDT can be completed.
Julian Ward: “Neutralized. Yurei Rinn saw the Kansas Cyclone coming.”
Brick Brody: “Exactly what I said earlier. Use something enough and eventually somebody learns.”
Dorothy turns quickly, but the moment is gone.
Yurei Rinn is already squared toward her again.
Julian Ward: “Both women are now adjusting to the weapons that worked earlier.”
Minute 14
The adjustment produces violence.
Yurei Rinn gets behind Dorothy and locks the Cobra Clutch once more.
Dorothy struggles.
Instead of immediately breaking free, she suddenly uses the movement to twist her body through.
She hooks the head.
Spins.
Kansas Cyclone!
Yurei Rinn is drilled into the mat.
The crowd jumps to its feet.
Julian Ward: “She found it anyway! Kansas Cyclone!”
Brick Brody: “That was better. Yurei knew it was coming and still could not stop it.”
Dorothy sits up and pounds the canvas once.
Lord Kurogami watches her from the floor.
For the first time, Dorothy looks directly back at him.
Minute 15
Yurei Rinn tries once more to control the upper body with the Cobra Clutch.
Dorothy fights forward.
She breaks the grip.
Then suddenly drops backward and traps Yurei Rinn in a school-girl roll-up.
Fast Count Frank dives into position.
ONE!
TWO!
Yurei Rinn kicks out.
The quick hand of Fast Count Frank nearly catches her.
Julian Ward: “Very close! And with Fast Count Frank officiating, there is no time to admire your own escape.”
Brick Brody: “That nickname is not decorative. If your shoulders are down, you had better start moving immediately.”
Dorothy gets back to her feet first.
Yurei Rinn rises more cautiously.
The crowd can sense the match shifting.
Minute 16
Dorothy charges.
Yurei Rinn meets her with a sharp elbow.
Then another.
A third snaps Dorothy’s head sideways.
Dorothy tries to cover but Yurei Rinn drives another elbow through the guard.
Julian Ward: “Yurei Rinn going back to the simplest weapon available.”
Brick Brody: “Bone against bone. Nothing complicated about it.”
Dorothy backs toward the ropes, blinking hard.
Yurei Rinn follows.
Julian Ward: “And after that near fall, Yurei Rinn appears intent on making certain Dorothy cannot build momentum.”
Minute 17
At ringside, Lord Kurogami finally moves with purpose.
Two fingers rise.
Then close into his palm.
A precise signal.
A blood oath understood only by those meant to understand it.
Yurei Rinn’s eyes flick toward him.
Julian Ward: “A signal from Lord Kurogami.”
Brick Brody: “That means finish your work.”
But the moment of recognition costs Yurei Rinn.
Dorothy crashes into her.
One-armed neckbreaker slam!
Dorothy hooks the leg.
Fast Count Frank drops.
ONE!
TWO!
Yurei Rinn kicks out.
Dorothy sits up in disbelief.
Julian Ward: “Another near fall!”
Brick Brody: “That signal did not inspire the result Lord Kurogami wanted.”
Julian Ward: “Perhaps because Dorothy gave Yurei Rinn no time to answer it.”
Lord Kurogami’s hands return behind his back.
But his eyes remain fixed upon his protégé.
Minute 18
Both women hesitate now.
Not from fear.
From accumulated punishment.
They approach.
Separate.
Approach again.
Neither commits.
Dorothy feints forward.
Yurei Rinn pulls back.
They reset.
The crowd begins growing restless.
Then Dorothy suddenly explodes forward.
She launches herself and drives the Emerald City Elbow into Yurei Rinn.
Yurei Rinn absorbs the blow and collapses backward.
Dorothy covers immediately.
ONE!
TWO!
Yurei Rinn kicks out again.
The crowd groans.
Julian Ward: “Emerald City Elbow, and still Yurei Rinn survives.”
Brick Brody: “Now we are getting somewhere. Dorothy has hit the Kansas Cyclone. She has hit the neckbreaker slam. She has hit the elbow. And the ghost is still sitting up.”
Indeed, Yurei Rinn slowly rises to one elbow.
Dorothy stares at her.
Julian Ward: “This has become a test not merely of offense, but of what remains after it.”
Minute 19
Yurei Rinn suddenly attacks the arm again.
She drags Dorothy down.
Cross armbar.
This time the extension is deeper.
Dorothy immediately reaches for her trapped arm, trying to prevent the elbow from being hyperextended.
She twists.
Rolls.
Forces enough separation to stand—
And then powers Yurei Rinn off the mat with another spinebuster.
Both women remain down.
Julian Ward: “Submission into power. Yurei Rinn threatens the arm, and Dorothy answers by driving her through the canvas.”
Brick Brody: “But look at Dorothy’s arm.”
Dorothy clutches it against her chest.
Brick Brody: “That armbar did damage.”
Julian Ward: “And at this stage, every piece of damage matters.”
Minute 20
Yurei Rinn sees the injured arm.
She attacks it immediately.
Another cross armbar.
Dorothy grimaces as Yurei Rinn pulls back.
The crowd rises.
Dorothy turns toward the trapped limb, works her legs underneath herself and manages to stack the pressure long enough to escape.
She gets to her feet.
Yurei Rinn follows.
Dorothy hooks her.
Bodyslam.
Both women hit hard.
Julian Ward: “Again Dorothy escapes, but the cost is mounting.”
Brick Brody: “And Yurei Rinn finally found the body part she should have stayed on ten minutes ago.”
Dorothy flexes her fingers.
The arm still works.
For now.
Minute 21
Neither woman immediately attacks.
They circle.
The crowd claps.
Yurei Rinn moves forward.
Dorothy steps away.
They reset.
Another approach.
Another hesitation.
Twenty minutes of punishment has stripped away reckless movement.
Then both commit at once.
Yurei Rinn drives elbow strikes into Dorothy.
Dorothy answers by launching herself forward with a full-body splash.
Both women collapse.
Julian Ward: “Neither wanted to make the first mistake, so eventually they made the decision together.”
Brick Brody: “And now they are both flat on their backs. Great strategy.”
Fast Count Frank checks them.
Dorothy begins moving first.
Yurei Rinn rolls toward her knees.
Julian Ward: “Twenty-one minutes have changed this match. The woman who finds one clean opening now may not need another.”
Minute 22
Yurei Rinn gets there first.
She grabs Dorothy from behind.
Hooks the head.
She turns for the reverse neckbreaker—
But Dorothy feels it coming.
She twists free.
Yurei Rinn loses the grip.
Dorothy immediately scoops her up.
BODYSLAM!
Yurei Rinn crashes flat onto her back.
Dorothy drops across her chest and hooks the leg.
Fast Count Frank is already on the canvas.
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
The bell rings.
The Coliseum erupts.
Dorothy releases the leg and rolls onto her back, exhausted.
For several seconds she simply stares toward the lights.
Then the realization arrives.
She sits up.
One arm rises.
At ringside, Lord Kurogami does not protest.
He does not approach the referee.
He simply looks into the ring at Yurei Rinn.
The expression is unreadable.
Louie Linville steps forward as Fast Count Frank raises Dorothy’s hand.
Louie Linville: “Here is your winner... DOROTHY!”
Another roar.
Dorothy climbs onto the middle rope.
She winces as she raises the arm Yurei Rinn attacked.
Then raises the other fist.
Dorothy: “KA-BOOM!”
The crowd answers.
Behind her, Yurei Rinn slowly sits up.
She looks first at Dorothy.
Then toward Lord Kurogami.
Lord Kurogami gives her no visible reassurance.
Only a slow turn toward the entranceway.
Julian Ward: “Twenty-two minutes of adaptation, punishment, and survival, and ultimately it was one final counter that decided this match. Yurei Rinn went back to the reverse neckbreaker. Dorothy recognized it, escaped it, and found the bodyslam before Yurei Rinn could recover.”
Brick Brody: “And do not undersell what Dorothy just did. She got her neck twisted, got dumped with two Falcon Arrows, had that arm pulled apart, and she still had enough power left to put Yurei Rinn on her back for three.”
Julian Ward: “For Dorothy, an important singles victory for a woman most often seen alongside Alice as part of the North Star Tag Team Champions. For Yurei Rinn, there may be a more uncomfortable consequence waiting outside this ring.”
The camera finds Lord Kurogami halfway up the aisle.
He has stopped.
He looks back once.
Yurei Rinn is now standing inside the ring.
Neither acknowledges the other.
Julian Ward: “The Blood Oni Syndicate speaks often of discipline. Tonight, Yurei Rinn fought with it. But Dorothy endured it.”
RESULT: DOROTHY DEFEATED YUREI RINN BY PINFALL WITH A BODYSLAM IN THE 22ND MINUTE.
The camera cuts backstage.
The atmosphere changes immediately.
The torchlit grandeur of the Coliseum gives way to one of its older stone corridors, narrow and dim beneath iron sconces. The walls here are undecorated. No banners. No royal crests. No celebration of Camelot.
Hana Nakamura stands near a recessed archway with microphone in hand.
Beside her is Robin Hood.
But this is not the bright Sherwood outlaw the audience once knew.
Robin Hood is dressed entirely in black and white, his attire stripped of the familiar green. White paint cuts starkly across portions of his face beneath darkened eyes, giving him the appearance of someone who has carried too much through the forest and come back changed by it.
The reaction from the crowd can be heard faintly through the walls.
Hana Nakamura: “I’m here with Robin Hood, who later tonight leads the Merry Band into an eight-man tag team match against King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, and Sir Gawain—the Champions of Camelot.”
Robin Hood gives a small nod.
His eyes remain somewhere beyond the camera.
Hana Nakamura: “Robin, there has always been tension between Sherwood and Camelot. But tonight feels different. Especially after everything we have seen from King Arthur recently. What does this match mean to you?”
For several seconds, Robin Hood says nothing.
Then he looks toward Hana Nakamura.
Robin Hood: “Once, I would have told you it was simple.”
A faint, humorless smile.
Robin Hood: “Kings sit behind walls. Men like me remind them the world does not end at the castle gate.”
He looks down at his black-and-white attire.
Robin Hood: “But lately... I have been wondering which side of those walls is actually darker.”
Hana Nakamura studies him.
Hana Nakamura: “Is that why the change?”
Robin Hood: “Maybe.”
He looks back toward the camera.
Robin Hood: “Or maybe I finally stopped pretending every story has heroes dressed in the right colors.”
A metallic sound echoes somewhere deeper in the corridor.
Both turn.
Not footsteps.
Something dragging briefly against stone.
Then silence.
Hana Nakamura lowers the microphone slightly.
At the far end of the corridor, beneath an arch where no light should reach—
a figure is standing.
Black armor.
Crimson markings.
Fragments of broken chain wrapped around one forearm.
The fractured red moon symbol is visible across his chest.
The Blood-Moon Warden.
He does not advance immediately.
Hana Nakamura instinctively steps closer to Robin Hood.
Robin Hood does not retreat.
Robin Hood: “You again.”
The Blood-Moon Warden begins walking toward them.
Slowly.
His boots strike the stone with measured purpose.
He stops several feet away.
His attention rests entirely on Robin Hood.
Blood-Moon Warden: “You changed your colors.”
Robin Hood: “You noticed.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “Colors are symbols.”
His gaze moves briefly over the black and white.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Symbols matter because people decide they matter.”
A pause.
Blood-Moon Warden: “They also stop mattering when people stop believing in them.”
Hana Nakamura raises the microphone cautiously.
Hana Nakamura: “You warned Camelot before. You said you had seen what can happen when a ruler begins confusing loyalty with obedience.”
The Blood-Moon Warden looks toward her.
His expression softens only slightly.
Blood-Moon Warden: “I warned you because there was still time.”
He turns back toward Robin Hood.
Blood-Moon Warden: “There is less now.”
The corridor seems quieter.
Robin Hood: “Then stop circling the trees and tell me what you came here to say.”
The Blood-Moon Warden studies him.
There is no anger in the response.
Almost approval.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Good.”
He takes one step closer.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Men who live outside walls usually learn faster than the men inside them.”
Robin Hood: “Learn what?”
The Blood-Moon Warden looks toward the ceiling, toward the stone above them, as though imagining the Coliseum beyond it.
Blood-Moon Warden: “A crown casts a shadow.”
He looks back at Robin Hood.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Most kingdoms pretend it does not.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “Courtiers call it duty. Soldiers call it order. Advisors call it necessity.”
His voice hardens.
Blood-Moon Warden: “And when enough people kneel inside that shadow, a second court begins to form.”
Hana Nakamura: “A second court?”
Blood-Moon Warden: “A shadow court.”
Robin Hood’s expression changes.
Only slightly.
But the phrase lands.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Not men sitting around another throne.”
He shakes his head.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Something worse.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “People who no longer ask whether an order is right.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “People who only ask whether the king gave it.”
Silence.
Hana Nakamura: “You believe that is happening here?”
Blood-Moon Warden: “I believe Camelot is close enough that everyone inside it should be afraid.”
Robin Hood: “I don’t frighten easily.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “Neither did I.”
The answer is immediate.
Quiet.
Heavy.
Blood-Moon Warden: “I commanded a royal guard once.”
Robin Hood says nothing.
Blood-Moon Warden: “I believed the crown represented the people beneath it.”
His eyes lower.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Then one night I was ordered to burn a village.”
Hana Nakamura’s expression tightens.
Blood-Moon Warden: “No army was there.”
A beat.
Blood-Moon Warden: “No invaders.”
Another.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Workers. Families. Children.”
His hand closes slowly around the broken chain wrapped across his forearm.
Blood-Moon Warden: “That was the night I learned the difference between serving a kingdom and obeying a king.”
Robin Hood: “And you think Arthur is there already?”
The Blood-Moon Warden does not answer immediately.
Blood-Moon Warden: “No.”
That surprises both Hana Nakamura and Robin Hood.
Blood-Moon Warden: “If I believed that, I would not be warning anyone.”
He steps closer.
Blood-Moon Warden: “But I know the road.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “I know the first stones.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “The ruler who decides criticism is disrespect.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “The ruler who begins humiliating anyone who refuses to bow.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “The ruler who starts believing possession of a crown proves that every decision beneath it must be righteous.”
His voice lowers.
Blood-Moon Warden: “I have walked that road all the way to the fire.”
Hana Nakamura: “And you believe there is a shadow over the Mythic Crown.”
The Blood-Moon Warden turns toward her.
Blood-Moon Warden: “There is a shadow over every crown.”
Then back to Robin Hood.
Blood-Moon Warden: “The question is whether the man wearing it notices before everyone else disappears inside it.”
Robin Hood crosses his arms.
Robin Hood: “You came all this way to warn Arthur?”
Blood-Moon Warden: “No.”
A long pause.
Blood-Moon Warden: “I came to warn you.”
The crowd inside the arena reacts audibly.
Robin Hood straightens.
Hana Nakamura: “Why Robin?”
The Blood-Moon Warden’s attention never leaves him.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Because rebels make convenient enemies.”
His voice remains controlled.
Blood-Moon Warden: “When a crown starts demanding obedience, it needs someone to blame for every voice that refuses.”
Robin Hood: “I’ve been blamed before.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “Not like this.”
The words come colder.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Tonight you walk into the ring with the Merry Band.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “Across from you stands the king.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “Three knights.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “A championship.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “And an entire kingdom trained to see Camelot whenever they see Arthur.”
He steps closer still.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Be careful that when you strike the king, someone does not decide you struck the kingdom.”
Robin Hood looks directly into his eyes.
Robin Hood: “If Arthur decides those are the same thing, then maybe he needs someone to remind him they aren’t.”
For the first time, something almost like satisfaction passes across the Blood-Moon Warden’s face.
Blood-Moon Warden: “That is why you are in danger.”
A beat.
Robin Hood: “And what are you going to do about it?”
The Blood-Moon Warden looks down at the broken chains around his arm.
Then toward the camera.
Blood-Moon Warden: “What I have always done.”
He raises his eyes.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Watch the walls.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “Watch the chains.”
Blood-Moon Warden: “And when someone tells the people that obedience is the price of safety—”
His voice hardens.
Blood-Moon Warden: “—remind them that fear is not loyalty.”
The arena crowd responds.
The phrase begins to travel through the Coliseum.
“FEAR IS NOT LOYALTY!”
“FEAR IS NOT LOYALTY!”
The Blood-Moon Warden turns away.
Robin Hood: “Warden.”
He stops.
Robin Hood: “If the shadow you’re talking about finally reaches Sherwood...”
The Blood-Moon Warden looks back over his shoulder.
Robin Hood: “It won’t find anyone kneeling.”
Another surge from the crowd.
The Blood-Moon Warden gives one slow nod.
Blood-Moon Warden: “Then make sure Camelot remembers how to stand.”
He walks into the darkness at the end of the corridor.
His figure disappears beyond the arch.
The chanting continues faintly through the walls.
“FEAR IS NOT LOYALTY!”
“FEAR IS NOT LOYALTY!”
Hana Nakamura looks after him, then slowly turns toward Robin Hood.
Hana Nakamura: “Robin... do you believe him?”
Robin Hood remains focused on the empty corridor.
For several seconds, he does not answer.
Then—
Robin Hood: “I believe shadows only grow when nobody turns around to look at them.”
He turns toward Hana Nakamura.
Robin Hood: “Tonight, we look.”
The camera holds on the stark black-and-white face of Robin Hood.
Then fades.
Referee: “Honest” Abe
The camera returns to Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum.
The last echoes of the Blood-Moon Warden’s warning have barely faded when the arena lights begin to change.
The warmth disappears first.
Then the blue.
Then everything.
A low choral note rises through the darkness.
Across the great screen appears a fractured black crown.
One piece missing.
Then another.
The symbol of the Broken Crown remains, but tonight it looks less like a declaration and more like the remnants of something under strain.
Heavy war drums begin.
One strike.
Then another.
The entrance arch fills with black smoke.
Two armored figures emerge together.
Dread Knight One.
Dread Knight Two.
Black steel.
Expressionless masks.
No Myrrden.
No Mordred.
No Sir Agravaine.
No one walks in front of them.
No one walks behind.
The two knights simply stand shoulder to shoulder beneath the broken crest.
Julian Ward: “There was a time when the arrival of the Dread Knights meant the entire Broken Crown stood somewhere behind them.”
Brick Brody: “Not tonight.”
Julian Ward: “Myrrden remains missing. Sir Agravaine declared the Broken Crown finished last week before walking away. And Mordred now finds himself leading a structure that appears to be losing pieces by the week.”
Brick Brody: “That makes these two more dangerous, not less.”
Julian Ward: “Why?”
Brick Brody: “Because men with something to prove stop worrying about what happens to the furniture.”
The Dread Knights begin walking.
No theatrics.
No acknowledgement of the crowd.
Their boots strike the aisle in identical rhythm.
Julian Ward: “The question tonight is whether the Broken Crown’s instability has reached the men who once represented its most reliable violence.”
Brick Brody: “They do not need stability. They need somebody standing close enough to hit.”
The Dread Knights reach ringside.
Dread Knight One climbs onto the apron first.
Dread Knight Two follows.
Both enter.
Neither raises an arm.
Neither acknowledges the boos.
They move immediately into their corner.
Then the fractured crown disappears.
For several seconds, the arena remains dark.
A single bell rings.
Not harsh.
Clear.
Pale gold light spreads across the entranceway.
Silk banners appear across the great screen, each marked with a subtle dragon beneath a veil of mist.
The atmosphere becomes almost unnaturally still.
Lady Ayame Ryu emerges first.
Her posture is composed.
A folded fan rests in one hand.
She pauses beneath the entrance arch.
Then two figures appear behind her.
Hiro Tanenaga.
Masa Tanenaga.
The Scalekeepers.
They stand side by side.
Not identical in movement.
But synchronized in purpose.
Julian Ward: “The House of the Dragon’s Veil has always presented a very different philosophy from the Broken Crown.”
Brick Brody: “One side talks about discipline. The other side practices damage.”
Julian Ward: “Lady Ayame Ryu would argue that discipline is precisely what allows damage to be endured.”
Brick Brody: “Then tonight is an excellent opportunity to test the theory.”
Lady Ayame Ryu begins down the aisle.
Hiro Tanenaga and Masa Tanenaga follow.
There is no rush.
No wasted movement.
They reach ringside and stop together.
Lady Ayame Ryu turns toward them.
She says nothing.
She simply opens the fan halfway.
Both men incline their heads.
Then enter the ring.
The two teams now stand across from one another.
Black steel.
Dragon discipline.
At center ring stands Louie Linville.
Beside him, “Honest” Abe checks both corners.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is a tag team match scheduled for one fall, with a thirty-minute time limit.”
The crowd reacts.
Louie Linville: “Introducing first…”
He turns toward the darker corner.
Louie Linville: “Representing the remnants of the Broken Crown… forged in black steel, bound to violence, and known wherever banners fall… DREAD KNIGHT ONE and DREAD KNIGHT TWO… the DREAD KNIGHTS!”
Heavy boos roll through the Coliseum.
Neither knight moves.
Louie Linville turns.
Louie Linville: “And their opponents, accompanied to the ring by Lady Ayame Ryu…”
The reaction rises.
Louie Linville: “Representing the House of the Dragon’s Veil… HIRO TANENAGA and MASA TANENAGA… the SCALEKEEPERS!”
Hiro Tanenaga raises one arm.
Masa Tanenaga gives only a short nod.
At ringside, Lady Ayame Ryu closes her fan.
Louie Linville exits.
“Honest” Abe checks both teams.
Dread Knight One begins.
Hiro Tanenaga steps forward for the Scalekeepers.
The bell rings.
Minute 1
Dread Knight One closes immediately.
He catches Hiro Tanenaga, lifts him onto his shoulders, and drives him down with an Electric Chair Drop.
The knight moves to stand over him—
but Hiro Tanenaga rolls toward the ropes, springs upward, turns through the air, and crashes down across Dread Knight One with a Corkscrew Moonsault.
Both men rise almost together.
Julian Ward: “The contrast appears immediately. Dread Knight One opens with force. Hiro Tanenaga answers with movement.”
Brick Brody: “And neither one got enough out of it to scare the other.”
Julian Ward: “That may be important. The Scalekeepers cannot allow these men to dictate the match through accumulation.”
Brick Brody: “Then they had better keep moving.”
Minute 2
The structure breaks almost instantly.
Dread Knight Two enters.
Masa Tanenaga answers.
All four men collide.
Dread Knight One catches Hiro Tanenaga and plants him with a Samoan Drop.
Dread Knight Two races across the ring and levels him with a Diving Lariat.
The Scalekeepers answer.
Hiro Tanenaga hooks Dread Knight One, drives him upward and down with an Avalanche Double Underhook Suplex.
Masa Tanenaga catches Dread Knight Two from behind and spikes him with a Poison Rana.
Bodies scatter.
“Honest” Abe begins forcing illegal men toward their corners.
Julian Ward: “Two minutes, and we already have all four men involved.”
Brick Brody: “Good. Forget the neat little tags. Find out who survives the collision.”
Julian Ward: “Every man landed something substantial.”
Brick Brody: “That is called equality through violence.”
Minute 3
Once order is restored, neither Dread Knight One nor Hiro Tanenaga immediately commits.
They circle.
Engage.
Separate.
Then Hiro Tanenaga suddenly takes control.
Snap Suplex.
Dread Knight One hits hard and rolls toward his corner.
Tag.
Dread Knight Two enters.
Across the ring, Hiro Tanenaga makes the same decision.
Tag.
Masa Tanenaga enters.
Julian Ward: “Both teams rotating simultaneously.”
Brick Brody: “Nobody wants the other team getting a fresh body without answering with one.”
Julian Ward: “That speaks to how evenly these teams have approached the opening.”
Minute 4
Neither new man rushes.
Dread Knight Two watches the hips.
Masa Tanenaga watches the shoulders.
The first two engagements produce nothing.
Then Masa Tanenaga explodes forward.
Superkick.
The heel catches Dread Knight Two flush beneath the jaw.
His head snaps backward.
He staggers toward the ropes and immediately tags out.
Dread Knight One returns.
Julian Ward: “Clean Superkick from Masa Tanenaga.”
Brick Brody: “And Dread Knight Two wanted no second helping.”
Julian Ward: “A sensible tag.”
Brick Brody: “Exactly. Pride is useful until your jaw stops working.”
Minute 5
Dread Knight One steps through the ropes and meets Masa Tanenaga in the center.
Roundhouse Kick from the knight.
It lands.
But Masa Tanenaga stays upright.
He catches the head.
Turns.
Pulse Drop!
The Standing Shiranui drives Dread Knight One down.
The crowd responds loudly.
Dread Knight One rolls toward his corner.
Tag.
Dread Knight Two returns.
Julian Ward: “Pulse Drop from Masa Tanenaga.”
Brick Brody: “And again the Dread Knights rotate immediately.”
Julian Ward: “They are refusing to leave one man exposed long enough for the Scalekeepers to build a sustained sequence.”
Brick Brody: “That is experience.”
Minute 6
Dread Knight Two advances carefully.
Masa Tanenaga draws him toward the ropes.
The knight hesitates.
That is enough.
Masa Tanenaga hits the opposite ropes, accelerates, dives through—
Somersault Suicide Dive!
Both men crash to the floor.
The crowd erupts.
Julian Ward: “What a dive from Masa Tanenaga!”
Brick Brody: “He threw his whole body at the armor.”
“Honest” Abe begins counting.
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
Masa Tanenaga returns inside.
FOUR!
FIVE!
Dread Knight Two rolls onto one knee.
SIX!
SEVEN!
He reaches the apron.
EIGHT!
He pulls himself up.
NINE!
Dread Knight Two dives beneath the bottom rope.
The crowd reacts.
Julian Ward: “Back inside at nine.”
Brick Brody: “That was close.”
Julian Ward: “And perhaps the first moment where the Scalekeepers have genuinely threatened to end this match.”
Minute 7
Dread Knight Two rises angry.
He reaches his corner.
Dread Knight One enters with him.
The Dread Knights swarm Masa Tanenaga.
Dread Knight Two launches himself with a Diving Lariat.
Dread Knight One follows with the Asian Spike.
Masa Tanenaga fires a Superkick in return, catching one of the attackers, but the numbers remain against him.
Julian Ward: “This is the response from the Dread Knights. Two bodies collapsing onto one target.”
Brick Brody: “That dive embarrassed them. Now they are charging interest.”
Masa Tanenaga reaches for his corner.
The Dread Knights drag him back.
Julian Ward: “And this is where the style of the Dread Knights becomes so difficult. Once the trap forms, they do not waste time admiring it.”
Minute 8
The double-team continues.
Masa Tanenaga tries to cover against both men.
Dread Knight Two drops a heavy Leg Drop across him.
Before Masa Tanenaga can roll away, Dread Knight One crashes a Headbutt into him.
The impact leaves Masa Tanenaga sprawled.
Hiro Tanenaga shouts from the apron.
Lady Ayame Ryu remains still.
Her fan closed.
Her eyes fixed on Masa Tanenaga.
Julian Ward: “Leg Drop. Headbutt. No flourish.”
Brick Brody: “That is the Dread Knights. They are not here to show you what they know. They are here to make you forget what you know.”
“Honest” Abe finally forces one knight out.
Masa Tanenaga remains legal.
Minute 9
Dread Knight Two stays in.
Elbow Drop.
It lands across Masa Tanenaga’s chest.
But Masa Tanenaga reacts almost instantly.
He catches the head.
Pulse Drop!
Both men hit hard.
For several seconds neither moves.
Julian Ward: “Another Pulse Drop! Masa Tanenaga refuses to remain underneath the punishment.”
Brick Brody: “That is twice he has hit that thing tonight.”
Julian Ward: “And each time it has interrupted what looked like control from the Dread Knights.”
Brick Brody: “Then maybe somebody in black armor should start protecting his neck.”
Minute 10
Both men rise.
Dread Knight Two strikes first.
Big Boot.
The kick drives into Masa Tanenaga.
But Masa Tanenaga spins back with a Pele Kick.
Both attacks land.
Dread Knight Two reacts faster.
He drops across Masa Tanenaga and hooks the leg.
“Honest” Abe counts.
ONE!
TWO!
Masa Tanenaga kicks out.
Julian Ward: “Two!”
Brick Brody: “Not enough.”
Dread Knight Two immediately pulls him upward.
But Masa Tanenaga twists free and dives toward his corner.
Tag.
Hiro Tanenaga enters.
Julian Ward: “Important tag for the Scalekeepers.”
Brick Brody: “Masa needed that.”
Minute 11
Dread Knight Two catches Hiro Tanenaga before he can build speed.
Both arms wrap around the torso.
Bearhug.
The knight lifts Hiro Tanenaga clear from the canvas.
The squeeze tightens.
Julian Ward: “Bearhug. And after everything Masa Tanenaga endured, the Dread Knights immediately change targets.”
At ringside, Lady Ayame Ryu opens her fan.
Slowly.
Her voice does not rise.
She gives Hiro Tanenaga a single calm instruction.
His breathing changes.
His posture settles.
Brick Brody: “There is Lady Ayame Ryu.”
Julian Ward: “Veil Endurance. She is trying to bring Hiro Tanenaga’s focus back beneath the pressure.”
“Honest” Abe asks.
Hiro Tanenaga shakes his head.
No submission.
The Bearhug tightens.
Still no surrender.
Julian Ward: “He refuses.”
Hiro Tanenaga eventually creates enough movement to reach his corner.
Tag.
Masa Tanenaga returns.
Minute 12
Dread Knight Two catches the incoming Masa Tanenaga.
Atomic Drop.
The impact jolts him upward.
But Masa Tanenaga lands on his feet, turns, catches the knight—
Turbo Backpack Iconoclasm!
Dread Knight Two crashes down.
Masa Tanenaga covers.
ONE!
Dread Knight Two powers out.
Julian Ward: “Only one.”
Brick Brody: “Too much left.”
Both teams react immediately.
Dread Knight Two tags.
Dread Knight One enters.
Masa Tanenaga reaches across.
Tag to Hiro Tanenaga.
Julian Ward: “Both teams reset again.”
Minute 13
Hiro Tanenaga comes forward.
Dread Knight One meets him with violence.
He catches the head and neck.
Death Grip.
The crushing hold drags Hiro Tanenaga down.
Hiro Tanenaga tries to cover.
Cannot.
Dread Knight One releases only long enough to press him flat and cover.
ONE!
Hiro Tanenaga kicks out.
Brick Brody: “That Death Grip changes people.”
Julian Ward: “But Hiro Tanenaga escapes the cover quickly.”
Brick Brody: “The kickout does not undo the hold.”
Both men rotate.
Dread Knight One tags Dread Knight Two.
Hiro Tanenaga tags Masa Tanenaga.
Minute 14
The new legal men barely have time to touch before the entire ring collapses again.
All four enter.
Dread Knight Two drives Masa Tanenaga across the knee with a Backbreaker.
Dread Knight One catches him with an Inverted Atomic Drop.
The Scalekeepers answer immediately.
Masa Tanenaga traps Dread Knight Two.
Ultra Kill!
The Argentine Sitout Piledriver drives the knight down.
Hiro Tanenaga races through and cracks Dread Knight One with a Roundhouse Kick.
The audience rises.
Julian Ward: “Ultra Kill! Roundhouse Kick! The Scalekeepers are answering the double-team with one of their own!”
Brick Brody: “This match keeps turning into four men every time somebody gets angry.”
“Honest” Abe forces the illegal competitors back.
Julian Ward: “Fourteen minutes, and neither team has succeeded in establishing its preferred rhythm for very long.”
Minute 15
Dread Knight Two recovers first.
He catches Masa Tanenaga rising.
Elbow Drop.
The knight covers.
ONE!
TWO!
Hiro Tanenaga dives into the ring and breaks the count.
The crowd reacts.
Julian Ward: “Save by Hiro Tanenaga!”
Brick Brody: “That was necessary.”
“Honest” Abe orders him back.
Masa Tanenaga crawls toward the corner.
Tag.
Hiro Tanenaga reenters legally.
Julian Ward: “The Scalekeepers survive another serious threat.”
Minute 16
Hiro Tanenaga moves directly for the arm.
He traps Dread Knight Two and twists him into a Scissored Armbar.
The knight refuses to panic.
But the hold is deep.
Julian Ward: “Excellent transition by Hiro Tanenaga. He is taking away the arm rather than trying to trade power.”
Brick Brody: “Smart. Armor does not make elbows bend backward any better.”
Dread Knight Two endures long enough to create separation.
He immediately reaches his corner.
Tag.
Dread Knight One enters.
Minute 17
Dread Knight One catches Hiro Tanenaga before he can escape.
Up onto the shoulders.
Electric Chair Drop.
Hiro Tanenaga crashes down.
Cover.
ONE!
Hiro Tanenaga kicks out.
Julian Ward: “Only one, but another heavy landing for Hiro Tanenaga.”
Brick Brody: “And those heavy landings are piling up.”
Dread Knight One does not argue.
He tags.
Dread Knight Two returns.
Julian Ward: “Constant rotation from the Dread Knights. They are not allowing fatigue to accumulate on one man.”
Minute 18
Dread Knight Two strikes Hiro Tanenaga with a Forearm Smash.
Hiro Tanenaga absorbs it, steps through the impact, hooks both arms—
Sitout Double Underhook Powerbomb!
Both men crash hard.
Julian Ward: “Forearm Smash answered by the Double Underhook Powerbomb!”
Brick Brody: “Neither man got the clean end of that exchange.”
Julian Ward: “At eighteen minutes, clean exchanges may become increasingly rare.”
They rise slowly.
Minute 19
Dread Knight Two climbs.
He launches.
Diving Lariat!
The strike knocks Hiro Tanenaga backward.
But Hiro Tanenaga catches him during the continuation.
Sitout Double Underhook Powerbomb again!
The crowd reacts.
Julian Ward: “Again! Hiro Tanenaga has found that powerbomb twice in consecutive minutes.”
Brick Brody: “And Dread Knight Two has still managed to hurt him before taking it.”
The knight reaches backward.
Tag.
Dread Knight One returns.
Minute 20
Before Dread Knight One can establish control, Lady Ayame Ryu opens the fan again.
Her voice is quiet.
Deliberate.
Hiro Tanenaga turns slightly toward it.
His shoulders settle.
His breathing steadies.
Julian Ward: “Again Lady Ayame Ryu calls for Veil Endurance.”
Brick Brody: “She is doing exactly what a manager should. When the match starts dragging your fighter into somebody else’s rhythm, remind him what his own feels like.”
Dread Knight One tries to interrupt that calm.
He cannot.
The moment passes without offense.
Frustrated, the knight turns and tags Dread Knight Two.
Julian Ward: “There may not have been a strike there, but the intervention changed the moment.”
Minute 21
Dread Knight Two enters and attacks before Hiro Tanenaga can reset.
Forearm Smash.
Hiro Tanenaga absorbs the entire blow and drops.
Cover.
ONE!
TWO!
Masa Tanenaga storms into the ring.
Save.
Julian Ward: “Masa Tanenaga keeps the match alive!”
Brick Brody: “Twice now the Scalekeepers have had to rescue each other.”
Julian Ward: “And that is exactly what a tag team is built to do.”
Dread Knight Two tags out.
Dread Knight One enters.
Across the ring, Hiro Tanenaga reaches his corner.
Tag to Masa Tanenaga.
Minute 22
Dread Knight One meets Masa Tanenaga with an Inverted Atomic Drop.
The impact lands.
Masa Tanenaga remains upright.
He catches the knight—
Ultra Kill!
The Argentine Sitout Piledriver drills Dread Knight One into the canvas.
The crowd erupts.
Julian Ward: “Ultra Kill again!”
Brick Brody: “That one changed the knight’s posture.”
Masa Tanenaga does not cover.
Instead he reaches backward.
Tag.
Hiro Tanenaga enters.
Julian Ward: “Interesting choice. The Scalekeepers continue trusting rotation instead of chasing a desperate cover.”
Minute 23
Dread Knight One rises and immediately catches Hiro Tanenaga from behind.
Belly-to-Back Suplex.
Hiro Tanenaga lands across the shoulders.
He rolls through.
Gets behind the knight.
Hooks the arms.
Millennium Crossface Chickenwing Suplex!
Dread Knight One crashes down.
Julian Ward: “What a counter-sequence from Hiro Tanenaga!”
Brick Brody: “That was vicious.”
Dread Knight One reaches for his corner.
Tag.
Dread Knight Two enters.
Julian Ward: “Twenty-three minutes, and the Scalekeepers continue finding answers to the physicality.”
Minute 24
Hiro Tanenaga immediately attacks the arm.
Scissored Armbar—
No.
Dread Knight Two recognizes it.
He shifts his weight, turns through the setup and completely neutralizes the hold before Hiro Tanenaga can secure it.
Brick Brody: “There. He learned.”
Julian Ward: “The first Armbar worked. The second does not.”
Brick Brody: “That is what twenty-four minutes does. You stop fighting the opponent you prepared for and start fighting the opponent you have learned.”
Dread Knight Two reaches backward.
Tag to Dread Knight One.
Minute 25
Dread Knight One enters with purpose.
He catches Hiro Tanenaga before the Scalekeeper can reach his corner.
Death Grip.
The crushing hold folds Hiro Tanenaga down.
He absorbs the punishment.
The knight releases and covers.
ONE!
Hiro Tanenaga kicks out.
Julian Ward: “Again only one.”
Brick Brody: “But again the Death Grip lands.”
Julian Ward: “And the cumulative effect is visible now.”
Hiro Tanenaga reaches his corner.
Tag to Masa Tanenaga.
Minute 26
Masa Tanenaga enters.
Dread Knight One catches him with another Inverted Atomic Drop.
Masa Tanenaga tries to defend.
Cannot.
He collapses forward.
Then something changes.
Dread Knight One looks toward ringside.
Toward Lady Ayame Ryu.
The knight abandons Masa Tanenaga for a moment and moves toward the ropes, directing his attention at the woman whose instructions have twice changed the rhythm of the match.
Julian Ward: “And Dread Knight One has had enough of Lady Ayame Ryu.”
Brick Brody: “I wondered how long that would take.”
The attempted retaliation goes nowhere.
Lady Ayame Ryu does not flinch.
She simply closes the fan.
Dread Knight One turns back toward the ring.
He covers Masa Tanenaga.
ONE!
Masa Tanenaga kicks out.
Julian Ward: “That distraction accomplished nothing for the knight.”
Brick Brody: “Except telling Lady Ayame Ryu he noticed her.”
Masa Tanenaga escapes toward his corner.
Tag.
Hiro Tanenaga returns.
Minute 27
Order disappears again.
All four men enter.
Dread Knight One catches Hiro Tanenaga in the Death Grip.
Dread Knight Two bends him across the knee with a Backbreaker.
But Hiro Tanenaga gets behind one of the knights and secures a Rear Naked Choke.
At the same time, Masa Tanenaga catches the other—
Pulse Drop!
The Standing Shiranui drives him down.
Julian Ward: “All four men again! Death Grip! Backbreaker! Rear Naked Choke! Pulse Drop!”
Brick Brody: “Nobody is saving anything now.”
Julian Ward: “Twenty-seven minutes. Three remaining.”
That changes the atmosphere.
The crowd recognizes the clock.
So do both teams.
Minute 28
The Dread Knights attack together.
Dread Knight One swings for a Roundhouse Kick.
Dread Knight Two moves into position for another Backbreaker.
Hiro Tanenaga reads the formation.
He turns through the first attack.
Avoids the trap.
The double-team breaks down.
Dread Knight One and Dread Knight Two lose the position entirely.
Hiro Tanenaga catches Dread Knight One.
Snap Suplex!
The crowd erupts.
Julian Ward: “Hiro Tanenaga reversed the double-team!”
Brick Brody: “That was enormous.”
Julian Ward: “The Dread Knights had three consecutive rounds of coordinated offense available to them, and Hiro Tanenaga broke the first one apart.”
Brick Brody: “But they are still in there.”
The clock continues.
Minute 29
The Dread Knights try again.
Dread Knight Two cannot establish his part of the combination.
But Dread Knight One gets hold of Hiro Tanenaga.
Death Grip.
At nearly the same moment, Hiro Tanenaga gets position beneath him.
Tombstone Piledriver!
The knight is driven down.
Both men collapse.
The crowd begins counting down the final minute before the official clock even appears.
Julian Ward: “Tombstone Piledriver from Hiro Tanenaga! But the Death Grip landed during the exchange.”
Brick Brody: “Both men are damaged. One minute left.”
Julian Ward: “And after twenty-nine minutes, neither team has a fall.”
Minute 30
The final minute begins with Dread Knight One and Hiro Tanenaga still fighting through exhaustion.
Dread Knight One drives forward.
Headbutt.
It lands.
Hiro Tanenaga staggers.
But he answers.
Snap Suplex.
The knight crashes down.
The crowd rises.
Ten seconds remain.
Hiro Tanenaga tries to pull Dread Knight One into position.
Across the ring, Dread Knight Two is ready to enter.
Masa Tanenaga moves along his apron.
Five seconds.
Neither team has enough time to build the final attack.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
The bell rings.
For half a second, both teams continue moving.
Then “Honest” Abe steps between them and raises both arms.
Time.
The crowd responds with a mixture of applause and frustration.
Julian Ward: “Thirty minutes.”
Brick Brody: “And nobody finished the job.”
Hiro Tanenaga sits against the bottom rope, chest rising heavily.
Masa Tanenaga enters and kneels beside him.
Across the ring, Dread Knight One sits upright.
Dread Knight Two stands behind him.
Neither celebrates.
Neither complains.
At ringside, Lady Ayame Ryu slowly opens her fan.
Not in victory.
In acknowledgement.
Louie Linville enters the ring and waits for the official decision.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, the thirty-minute time limit has expired. Therefore, this match has been declared a draw.”
A louder reaction follows.
The two teams look across the ring.
There is no handshake.
No gesture of respect.
Only recognition.
Julian Ward: “The Scalekeepers repeatedly disrupted the blunt-force structure of the Dread Knights tonight. Hiro Tanenaga and Masa Tanenaga used movement, rotation, and tandem timing to survive moments when this match appeared ready to collapse beneath the weight of the Broken Crown’s enforcers.”
Brick Brody: “And the Dread Knights kept dragging them back into bad country. Death Grip after Death Grip. Backbreakers. Headbutts. Double-teams. Two different saves were needed to keep the Scalekeepers alive.”
Julian Ward: “Yet neither side surrendered control of the ending. Even in the final three minutes, when the Dread Knights attempted to swarm Hiro Tanenaga, he reversed their coordination and continued fighting until the clock removed the decision from both teams.”
The camera tightens on Lady Ayame Ryu.
She looks toward the Dread Knights.
Then toward her men.
Julian Ward: “For the House of the Dragon’s Veil, this is another demonstration that discipline can endure violence without becoming it.”
The camera changes.
The fractured black crown fills the screen behind the Dread Knights.
Julian Ward: “For the Dread Knights, the greater question remains unanswered. The Broken Crown may be losing pieces around them—but its most reliable instruments of punishment have not disappeared.”
Brick Brody: “Thirty minutes did not break either team.”
A pause.
Brick Brody: “So somebody is eventually going to ask for more.”
Julian Ward: “And on Dark Fable, unresolved trials rarely remain unresolved forever.”
RESULT: THE DREAD KNIGHTS AND THE SCALEKEEPERS BATTLE TO A 30-MINUTE TIME-LIMIT DRAW.
Referee: “Honest” Abe
The camera returns to Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum.
The ring has barely been cleared when the lights above the entranceway begin to fade.
A low metallic sound rolls through the building.
Not music at first.
A hammer striking steel.
Once.
Twice.
Then again.
Each impact sends a pulse of amber light across the stone arches.
The great screen fills with the image of an enormous railroad hammer driven against an iron spike.
Sparks explode.
John Henry steps through them.
The reaction rises immediately.
There is nothing ceremonial about him.
No crown.
No armor.
No entourage.
Only a powerful man walking toward another test of strength.
Julian Ward: “Seven days ago, when Raigen was surrounded by the Blood Oni Syndicate, John Henry did not wait for an invitation. He came running.”
Brick Brody: “That is because John Henry understands a very useful principle.”
Julian Ward: “Which is?”
Brick Brody: “If you see three men kicking somebody, you can either hold a committee meeting or start swinging.”
John Henry pauses halfway down the aisle.
He looks toward the ring.
The hammering rhythm continues.
Julian Ward: “Tonight the challenge is considerably more direct. No masks. No numbers advantage. Just one of the strongest men in this division standing across from him.”
Brick Brody: “Now this is my kind of match.”
John Henry reaches ringside and climbs onto the apron.
He steps through the ropes and moves immediately toward his corner.
No posing.
No wasted motion.
The amber light disappears.
Thunder answers it.
The entire Coliseum turns gold.
Columns rise across the great screen beneath a darkened sky.
Lightning moves between them.
The crowd begins booing before anyone appears.
Then Zeus steps beneath the entrance arch.
He stops.
His expression is one of complete detachment from the hostility surrounding him.
Behind him comes Heracles.
Massive.
Broad-shouldered.
Built less like an athlete than something carved specifically to move objects that should not move.
Julian Ward: “The War Council fought to defeat earlier tonight, but Zeus now returns with another weapon.”
Brick Brody: “And this one does not need strategy meetings.”
Julian Ward: “You are referring to Heracles.”
Brick Brody: “I am referring to the fact that if the problem is heavy, you send the man who can throw it.”
Heracles starts down the aisle.
Zeus follows several steps behind.
Inside the ring, John Henry walks forward.
The two men see each other.
Neither looks anywhere else.
Julian Ward: “There may be no more uncomplicated physical comparison available in Dark Fable.”
Brick Brody: “Do not ruin it by making it complicated.”
Julian Ward: “Two men whose reputations are built upon strength.”
Brick Brody: “Better.”
Heracles reaches the ring.
He climbs the steps.
Steps over the middle rope.
Then walks directly toward John Henry.
“Honest” Abe immediately moves between them.
Neither man retreats very far.
At ringside, Zeus watches.
At center ring stands Louie Linville.
He raises the microphone.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is scheduled for one fall.”
The crowd responds.
Louie Linville: “Introducing first…”
He turns toward John Henry.
Louie Linville: “A man whose strength became legend before his name ever reached this ring… the steel-driving titan… JOHN HENRY!”
The crowd roars.
John Henry gives one short nod.
Louie Linville turns.
Louie Linville: “And his opponent, accompanied to the ring by Zeus…”
Boos rise.
Louie Linville: “Bearer of the Twelve Labors… son of Olympus… HERACLES!”
Heracles raises both arms.
Zeus watches from the floor with unmistakable approval.
Louie Linville exits.
“Honest” Abe checks both men.
The two competitors move toward the center.
The bell rings.
Minute 1
Neither bothers with a cautious opening.
John Henry steps forward and drives the Hammer Drop directly into Heracles with a crushing forearm smash.
The blow turns Heracles slightly.
Only slightly.
He catches John Henry immediately.
Lifts.
LABOR’S END!
The Sitout Powerbomb drives John Henry hard into the canvas.
The ring shakes.
Julian Ward: “Hammer Drop from John Henry, and Heracles answers with Labor’s End.”
Brick Brody: “There. We have established the rules.”
Julian Ward: “Which are?”
Brick Brody: “Hit him as hard as you can and find out whether he still exists.”
John Henry rolls toward one knee.
Across from him, Heracles is already rising.
Neither looks surprised.
Minute 2
John Henry attacks again.
Knee Lift.
The strike catches Heracles under the chest and forces him backward.
Heracles rebounds, drives through John Henry’s center and plants him with the Lion’s Roar Buster.
Spinebuster.
Both men rise again.
Julian Ward: “Knee Lift from John Henry. Lion’s Roar Buster from Heracles.”
Brick Brody: “Nobody is getting a free shot.”
Julian Ward: “And neither is attempting to avoid the power exchange.”
Brick Brody: “Because both men think they are stronger.”
A pause.
Brick Brody: “One of them is wrong.”
Minute 3
They lock up again.
John Henry wins the leverage battle.
He lifts Heracles and drives him down with a Bodyslam.
The crowd reacts.
Heracles gets up almost immediately.
He catches John Henry during the next approach.
Lion’s Roar Buster again.
Both land hard.
Julian Ward: “John Henry just bodyslammed Heracles.”
Brick Brody: “And Heracles answered with another spinebuster.”
Julian Ward: “Three minutes and neither man has conceded even the appearance of physical superiority.”
Brick Brody: “Good. Keep going until somebody has to.”
Minute 4
John Henry catches Heracles from behind.
Atomic Drop.
Heracles stumbles forward.
Turns.
Grabs John Henry around the body.
Mount Olympus Crash!
The Sidewalk Slam drives him down.
Julian Ward: “Mount Olympus Crash from Heracles.”
Brick Brody: “That is the first time I have seen John Henry look like somebody else controlled where he landed.”
John Henry sits up.
He looks toward Heracles.
Then pushes himself to his feet.
Julian Ward: “But he is already standing.”
Brick Brody: “Of course he is.”
Minute 5
Heracles advances.
John Henry suddenly catches the arm.
Hooks the body.
Pumphandle.
He lifts the enormous Olympian completely off the canvas.
The crowd rises.
STEEL DRIVER!
The Pumphandle Sit-Out Powerbomb plants Heracles in the center of the ring.
The impact echoes through the Coliseum.
Julian Ward: “Steel Driver!”
Brick Brody: “Now that is strength.”
Heracles lies flat.
At ringside, Zeus’ expression changes.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Julian Ward: “John Henry just drove Heracles into the canvas with perhaps the most emphatic attack of this match.”
Brick Brody: “And now Olympus is paying attention.”
Minute 6
John Henry moves forward.
But Zeus suddenly climbs onto the apron.
“Honest” Abe turns toward him.
The referee orders him down.
Zeus does not comply.
He steps through the ropes.
Julian Ward: “Zeus has entered the ring.”
Brick Brody: “That generally violates several rules.”
“Honest” Abe confronts him.
Zeus places both hands against the referee.
Then throws “Honest” Abe through the ropes.
The referee crashes to the floor.
The Coliseum erupts.
Julian Ward: “Zeus just threw the referee out of the ring!”
Brick Brody: “Now that violates considerably more rules.”
John Henry turns toward Zeus.
For several seconds, the two men stare at one another.
Heracles begins recovering behind him.
Officials at ringside shout toward Zeus.
Julian Ward: “That should place this match in immediate jeopardy.”
But Zeus calmly steps back through the ropes.
No bell sounds.
“Honest” Abe pulls himself upright on the floor.
Furious.
But he has not called for a disqualification.
Brick Brody: “He got away with it.”
Julian Ward: “Somehow, yes.”
Zeus returns to ringside.
John Henry watches him.
Then turns back toward Heracles.
The match continues.
Minute 7
The distraction does not change John Henry’s approach.
He catches Heracles as the Olympian rises.
Atomic Drop.
Heracles tries to shift his weight.
Cannot.
The impact sends him stumbling forward.
Julian Ward: “John Henry immediately returns to the match.”
Brick Brody: “Good.”
Julian Ward: “No confrontation with Zeus.”
Brick Brody: “What would arguing accomplish? Hit the man they put in the ring.”
At ringside, Zeus watches John Henry more carefully now.
Minute 8
Heracles recovers.
He lowers his shoulder.
Charges.
Catches John Henry around the waist.
Elysium Driver!
The Running Powerslam drives John Henry down.
This time there is no immediate response.
Julian Ward: “Elysium Driver.”
Brick Brody: “That is how you make somebody forget what happened with the referee.”
Heracles stands above John Henry.
He looks toward Zeus.
Zeus gives a small nod.
Julian Ward: “The Olympian has regained control.”
Minute 9
John Henry fights upright.
He catches Heracles again.
Atomic Drop.
But Heracles absorbs the impact and runs through him.
Elysium Driver.
Again.
The Running Powerslam sends John Henry across the canvas.
Julian Ward: “A second Elysium Driver in consecutive minutes.”
Brick Brody: “That is the first sustained advantage either man has had.”
Julian Ward: “And after everything John Henry has already absorbed, the accumulation becomes significant.”
Brick Brody: “Now we find out how much steel there really is.”
Minute 10
John Henry rises anyway.
He grabs Heracles.
Bodyslam.
The crowd cheers.
Before John Henry can follow up, Zeus moves closer to the apron.
His hand rises.
A sudden flash of light reflects from the staff and across John Henry’s line of sight.
John Henry turns instinctively.
Heracles immediately attacks.
Julian Ward: “Interference from Zeus again!”
Brick Brody: “Lightning Rod.”
The moment is enough.
Heracles drives John Henry down and covers.
“Honest” Abe counts.
ONE!
TWO!
John Henry kicks out.
The crowd erupts.
Julian Ward: “Two!”
Heracles sits upright.
He looks toward “Honest” Abe.
The referee holds up two fingers.
Brick Brody: “He got the distraction. He got the opening. He still did not get three.”
Zeus looks increasingly displeased.
Minute 11
Both men take longer to engage now.
They circle.
John Henry steps in first.
Knee Lift.
Heracles absorbs it.
He wraps both arms around John Henry.
Colossal Throw!
The Overhead Belly-to-Belly Suplex sends John Henry across the ring.
Julian Ward: “Colossal Throw from Heracles.”
Brick Brody: “That is an absurd thing to do to a man the size of John Henry.”
Julian Ward: “And John Henry still managed to hurt him before being thrown.”
Heracles pushes himself upright.
So does John Henry.
Much slower now.
Minute 12
Again neither man gives ground.
John Henry gets behind Heracles.
Lifts.
Back Suplex Bomb!
The Olympian crashes down.
But Heracles turns almost immediately, catches John Henry during the continuation and drives him into the canvas with another Mount Olympus Crash.
Julian Ward: “Back Suplex Bomb! Mount Olympus Crash!”
Brick Brody: “They are still trading.”
Julian Ward: “At twelve minutes, that becomes less a strategy than a test of endurance.”
Brick Brody: “That is what strength matches become.”
Both men lie on the canvas.
Then both begin moving.
Minute 13
They reach their feet almost together.
John Henry swings.
Hammer Drop.
The Forearm Smash lands.
Heracles fires back.
Gauntlet Smash.
The Back Elbow catches John Henry across the jaw.
Neither falls immediately.
They stand within arm’s reach.
Breathing heavily.
Julian Ward: “Hammer Drop from John Henry. Gauntlet Smash from Heracles.”
Brick Brody: “There is no technique left between them now.”
Julian Ward: “I would disagree.”
Brick Brody: “Then you are watching the wrong thing.”
Heracles takes one step backward.
John Henry takes one forward.
The crowd rises.
Minute 14
John Henry drives forward again.
Hammer Drop.
The forearm crashes directly into Heracles.
At ringside, Zeus suddenly raises his hand.
His gaze fixes intensely on the ring.
The Olympian Eye.
For a moment, Zeus attempts to impose his influence over the exchange.
But whatever he expects Heracles to recognize comes too late.
The Hammer Drop has already landed.
Heracles falls.
Hard.
John Henry drops across him.
“Honest” Abe slides into position.
ONE!
Zeus moves toward the apron.
TWO!
He reaches the ropes—
THREE!
The bell rings.
The Coliseum erupts.
Julian Ward: “Three!”
John Henry rolls away from the cover.
He remains on one knee.
Breathing heavily.
Across from him, Heracles lies on his back.
At ringside, Zeus stops.
His hand remains on the rope.
Too late.
Louie Linville enters the ring.
“Honest” Abe raises John Henry’s arm.
Louie Linville: “Ladies and gentlemen, your winner by pinfall… JOHN HENRY!”
The crowd roars again.
John Henry pulls his arm free.
Not disrespectfully.
He simply wants to stand under his own power.
He does.
Across the ring, Heracles begins sitting up.
At ringside, Zeus stares toward John Henry.
John Henry notices him.
For several seconds, neither man looks away.
Then John Henry raises one fist.
Not toward the crowd.
Toward Zeus.
The message is simple.
Your man fell.
Julian Ward: “Fourteen minutes of strength against strength, and John Henry has defeated Heracles.”
Brick Brody: “And do not leave out the important part.”
Julian Ward: “Which part?”
Brick Brody: “Zeus threw the referee out of the ring.”
A beat.
Brick Brody: “Zeus interfered again.”
Another.
Brick Brody: “And Heracles still lost.”
Julian Ward: “That is difficult to dispute.”
The replay begins.
Steel Driver.
The two Elysium Drivers.
The Lightning Rod interference.
The two-count.
Then the final Hammer Drop.
Julian Ward: “Heracles repeatedly demonstrated why his strength carries such a formidable reputation. Labor’s End. Two Elysium Drivers. Multiple power exchanges in which few men in this division would have continued rising.”
The replay freezes on the final forearm.
Julian Ward: “But John Henry did.”
Brick Brody: “That is what I liked about it. No mystery. No politics.”
He looks toward Zeus.
Brick Brody: “Well, except for him.”
Julian Ward: “Despite that involvement, the ending belonged entirely to the two men inside the ring.”
The camera returns live.
Heracles has reached his feet.
Zeus joins him at ringside.
There is no argument.
But the look Zeus gives his warrior is severe.
Across the ring, John Henry stands alone.
Julian Ward: “Last week, John Henry ran toward danger when someone else needed him.”
A pause.
Julian Ward: “Tonight, he stood directly in front of one of the strongest men Olympus could send.”
Another.
Julian Ward: “And when the final blow was struck, John Henry was the one still standing.”
RESULT: JOHN HENRY DEFEATED HERACLES BY PINFALL WITH THE HAMMER DROP IN THE 14TH MINUTE.
The broadcast cuts backstage.
The interview position outside the competitors’ corridor is busier than usual.
Medical staff move through the background.
Production assistants pass carrying equipment.
The distant roar of Scrooge’s Camelot Coliseum can still be heard through the stone walls.
Standing in front of the Dark Fable backdrop is Hana Nakamura.
There is a different energy around her tonight.
Still professional.
Still composed.
But more personal.
Beside her stands John Henry.
He has not yet changed from his match with Heracles.
A towel hangs around the back of his neck.
There is sweat across his shoulders and the lingering evidence of fourteen minutes spent trading power with one of Olympus’ strongest warriors.
Hana Nakamura: “John, first of all, congratulations on your victory over Heracles.”
John Henry gives a tired nod.
John Henry: “Thank you.”
Hana Nakamura: “But I actually asked you to stay for something that has very little to do with what happened tonight.”
Her expression becomes more serious.
Hana Nakamura: “Last week, when my brother was attacked…”
She pauses.
The words remain difficult even after seven days.
Hana Nakamura: “When Raigen was surrounded by the Blood Oni Syndicate, you came to the ring.”
John Henry: “Didn’t think about it.”
Hana Nakamura: “That may be true.”
She looks directly at him.
Hana Nakamura: “But I did.”
A beat.
Hana Nakamura: “So did my family.”
Hana Nakamura: “Thank you.”
John Henry lowers his head slightly.
There is no theatrical response.
No attempt to claim heroism.
John Henry: “Nobody should have to stand in the middle of that alone.”
Hana Nakamura: “You didn’t know what you were running into.”
John Henry: “Didn’t need to.”
He adjusts the towel.
John Henry: “Three men were kicking one.”
A pause.
John Henry: “That arithmetic was enough.”
A voice comes from off-camera.
Takuma Ryujin: “Four men.”
Both turn.
Takuma Ryujin walks into frame.
The crowd inside the arena reacts audibly when they see him on the screen.
His expression is serious.
There is no swagger.
No attempt to take ownership of the moment.
Hana Nakamura: “Takuma.”
Takuma Ryujin stops beside John Henry.
The two men exchange a brief nod.
Hana Nakamura: “And I owe you the same thing.”
She turns toward him.
Hana Nakamura: “You were the first person through that curtain when the attack escalated.”
Takuma Ryujin: “I saw what was happening.”
Hana Nakamura: “And you ran toward it.”
Takuma Ryujin: “Of course.”
That answer comes almost impatiently.
Not with Hana.
With the notion that another choice was available.
Takuma Ryujin: “Whatever exists between Raigen and me…”
He pauses.
The history in those words is obvious.
Takuma Ryujin: “…it never meant I wanted to watch him butchered by cowards hiding behind masks.”
John Henry looks toward him.
John Henry: “That makes two of us.”
Takuma Ryujin: “It became three.”
Movement appears at the edge of the camera.
Hana Nakamura turns.
For the first time tonight, the professional interviewer disappears for half a second.
The sister takes her place.
Raigen walks into frame.
The reaction from the arena is immediate.
He is dressed in black and deep crimson.
No elaborate entrance gear.
No attempt to hide what happened.
Faint burn scars remain along one side of his face and near the temple.
The skin has healed considerably since last week, but the evidence is still visible.
A thin scar traces downward toward the cheek.
Another disappears beneath the collar.
The fireball left a mark.
It did not leave a victim.
Hana Nakamura: “Raigen…”
She stops herself from reaching toward him.
He notices.
A small expression passes between them.
Sibling recognition.
Then Raigen turns toward the camera.
Raigen: “I am all right.”
Hana Nakamura: “That was going to be my first question.”
Raigen: “I know.”
Hana Nakamura: “You were taken to the hospital last week after Taro Okami threw fire directly into your face.”
Raigen lifts two fingers and touches the edge of the scar near his temple.
Raigen: “Fire leaves evidence.”
A beat.
Raigen: “It does not always leave destruction.”
He lowers his hand.
Raigen: “I am the Maryu.”
His eyes harden.
Raigen: “I was born of fire.”
A pause.
Raigen: “Taro should have remembered that before he decided to use it against me.”
The Coliseum reacts loudly.
John Henry gives the slightest approving nod.
Takuma Ryujin does not smile.
But something changes in his expression.
Recognition.
Hana Nakamura: “Do you remember everything that happened?”
Raigen: “Every second.”
The answer comes immediately.
Raigen: “I remember Kaen.”
Raigen: “I remember Enrai.”
Raigen: “I remember Lord Kurogami standing outside the ring while his men attacked me.”
His jaw tightens.
Raigen: “And I remember looking into the face of a man I defended.”
Silence.
Raigen: “A man I trusted.”
Another.
Raigen: “A man I stood beside one week earlier.”
He looks toward the floor for the first time.
Not weakness.
Containment.
Raigen: “I remember asking him to take the mask off.”
His eyes rise.
Raigen: “And I remember wishing, for one moment, that I had been wrong about what I feared.”
Hana Nakamura: “You had publicly said that you no longer believed Taro Okami was responsible for the masked attacks.”
Raigen: “Yes.”
No excuse follows.
Raigen: “I was wrong.”
A beat.
Raigen: “Completely.”
The simplicity of the admission gives it more weight.
Raigen: “Lord Kurogami wanted suspicion to divide us.”
Raigen: “Then he allowed reconciliation to blind me.”
His expression turns colder.
Raigen: “That is the part I underestimated.”
John Henry: “You weren’t the only one.”
Raigen looks toward him.
John Henry: “Everybody watching that match thought you two had settled it.”
Raigen: “Perhaps.”
John Henry: “No perhaps.”
A pause.
John Henry: “They planned it.”
That lands.
John Henry: “You don’t build something that elaborate because you think the other man is stupid.”
He looks directly at Raigen.
John Henry: “You build it because you’re afraid he’ll see the truth if you give him a fair chance.”
Raigen studies him.
Then nods.
Raigen: “That is a generous interpretation.”
John Henry: “Didn’t say generous.”
His voice remains calm.
John Henry: “Said I think Kurogami knew exactly what he had to do to get close enough.”
Takuma Ryujin: “He did.”
The attention shifts.
Takuma Ryujin looks toward Raigen.
The tension between them becomes visible immediately.
Not hostility.
History.
Takuma Ryujin: “Because you have always believed loyalty deserves another opportunity.”
Raigen: “You once considered that weakness.”
Takuma Ryujin: “Once.”
A long silence follows.
Hana Nakamura lowers the microphone slightly.
She recognizes that the interview is no longer hers.
Takuma Ryujin: “We have wasted enough time pretending our differences were larger than the people exploiting them.”
Raigen says nothing.
Takuma Ryujin: “I have been angry with you.”
Raigen: “I know.”
Takuma Ryujin: “You have been angry with me.”
Raigen: “Frequently.”
A tiny reaction from the crowd.
Not comedy.
Recognition of something old between the two men.
Takuma Ryujin: “Some of it was earned.”
Raigen: “Most of it.”
Takuma Ryujin looks at him.
Raigen finally allows the faintest trace of a smile.
Then it disappears.
Takuma Ryujin: “Fine.”
A beat.
Takuma Ryujin: “Most of it.”
He steps closer.
Takuma Ryujin: “But when I saw those men standing over you, none of it mattered.”
Raigen looks toward him.
Takuma Ryujin: “Not the arguments.”
Takuma Ryujin: “Not the old fights.”
Takuma Ryujin: “Not whatever either one of us once believed the other owed him.”
His voice grows harder.
Takuma Ryujin: “I saw the Blood Oni Syndicate trying to destroy someone who came from the same fire I did.”
A long pause.
Takuma Ryujin: “That was enough.”
Raigen extends his hand.
The crowd begins reacting before Takuma Ryujin takes it.
For several seconds, Takuma simply looks down at the offered hand.
Then he takes it.
The handshake is firm.
No embrace.
No grand declaration.
Just two men deciding something old has finally reached its end.
Raigen: “Then we leave the past where it belongs.”
Takuma Ryujin: “Behind us.”
They release.
Hana Nakamura smiles.
Not the bright interviewer's smile.
Something smaller.
Relieved.
Raigen turns toward John Henry.
Raigen: “And you.”
John Henry: “Me.”
Raigen: “We have never been brothers.”
John Henry: “No.”
Raigen: “We have never fought beneath the same banner.”
John Henry: “No.”
Raigen: “Last week you entered that ring anyway.”
John Henry: “Already told Hana why.”
Raigen: “I heard you.”
He extends his hand again.
Raigen: “Thank you.”
John Henry takes it.
John Henry: “Don’t make me regret it.”
Raigen: “I have no intention of requiring another rescue.”
John Henry: “Good.”
A beat.
John Henry: “Next time I’d rather arrive before you get set on fire.”
The slightest edge of amusement touches Raigen’s expression.
Raigen: “A reasonable preference.”
The handshake ends.
Hana Nakamura: “So where does this leave the three of you?”
Raigen turns immediately.
Raigen: “It leaves me with questions.”
His tone changes.
The warmth disappears completely.
Raigen: “Kaen and Enrai do not interest me.”
A pause.
Raigen: “Not yet.”
Raigen: “I understand them.”
Raigen: “They serve Lord Kurogami.”
He looks toward the camera.
Raigen: “They obey.”
A beat.
Raigen: “Taro Okami made a choice.”
The words sharpen.
Raigen: “I want to hear him explain it.”
Hana Nakamura: “And if he refuses?”
Raigen: “Then I will beat the explanation out of him.”
The crowd erupts.
Raigen: “He can give me his reasons with words.”
A pause.
Raigen: “Or I can take them one strike at a time.”
Takuma Ryujin: “You will not be standing alone when you do.”
John Henry: “Neither will they.”
Before Raigen can respond, another voice enters.
Measured.
Calm.
Almost conversational.
Elias Coldmere: “That is fortunate.”
Everyone turns.
Elias Coldmere, Mythic Commissioner, steps into frame.
He is dressed in a dark suit.
No security.
No entourage.
Only the quiet authority of the office he now holds.
Hana Nakamura: “Commissioner.”
Elias Coldmere: “Hana.”
He looks first toward John Henry.
Then Takuma Ryujin.
Finally Raigen.
His eyes briefly settle on the remaining scars.
Elias Coldmere: “I am pleased to see you standing.”
Raigen: “I would prefer to be fighting.”
Elias Coldmere: “I suspected that might be the case.”
A small pause.
Elias Coldmere: “Which is why I came here.”
The three wrestlers listen.
Elias Coldmere: “Last week, the Blood Oni Syndicate decided to transform the conclusion of a wrestling match into an organized assault.”
His expression hardens.
Elias Coldmere: “Three masked attackers.”
Elias Coldmere: “A deliberate ambush.”
Elias Coldmere: “And a fireball to the face of a competitor who had already completed his scheduled match.”
A beat.
Elias Coldmere: “I said when I became Commissioner that I would not be passive.”
He looks toward Raigen.
Elias Coldmere: “That statement applies even when the people creating the problem appear to believe ritual makes misconduct more respectable.”
Takuma Ryujin gives the slightest nod.
Elias Coldmere: “So next week, there will be no masks.”
The crowd reacts.
Elias Coldmere: “There will be no mystery.”
Another reaction.
Elias Coldmere: “And Taro Okami will not have the luxury of standing behind Lord Kurogami while somebody else provides the violence.”
He looks between the three men.
Elias Coldmere: “I have booked a six-man tag team match.”
The reaction grows.
Elias Coldmere: “On one side…”
He gestures toward them.
Elias Coldmere: “Raigen.”
A beat.
Elias Coldmere: “Takuma Ryujin.”
Another.
Elias Coldmere: “And John Henry.”
The three men exchange looks.
Not a team born of friendship.
A team born of circumstance.
Elias Coldmere: “Across from you…”
His voice becomes firmer.
Elias Coldmere: “Kaen.”
Elias Coldmere: “Enrai.”
A pause.
Elias Coldmere: “And Taro Okami.”
The Coliseum erupts.
Hana Nakamura: “Next week?”
Elias Coldmere: “Next week.”
Raigen steps slightly toward him.
Raigen: “And Lord Kurogami?”
Elias Coldmere: “May accompany his men.”
A beat.
Elias Coldmere: “He may advise them.”
Another.
Elias Coldmere: “He may stare ominously at as many people as he finds necessary.”
A trace of dry Coldmere humor.
Then it disappears.
Elias Coldmere: “But the moment he physically involves himself in that match, there will be consequences.”
Raigen: “I do not need protection from Kurogami.”
Elias Coldmere: “I did not offer protection.”
That stops him.
Elias Coldmere: “I offered a ring.”
A beat.
Elias Coldmere: “What you do with the opportunity inside it is your responsibility.”
Raigen’s eyes narrow.
Then he nods.
Raigen: “Good.”
Elias Coldmere: “One additional point.”
The Commissioner looks at all three men.
Elias Coldmere: “Do not mistake my willingness to sanction this fight for permission to recreate what happened last week.”
His tone remains level.
Which makes the warning sharper.
Elias Coldmere: “Six men.”
Elias Coldmere: “One match.”
Elias Coldmere: “Settle what you can between the bells.”
A pause.
Elias Coldmere: “Anything beyond them becomes my problem.”
John Henry: “Fair enough.”
Takuma Ryujin: “Understood.”
Raigen remains quiet.
Elias Coldmere looks directly at him.
Elias Coldmere: “Raigen?”
A long pause.
Raigen: “Between the bells.”
Elias Coldmere: “Excellent.”
The Commissioner gives a restrained nod.
Elias Coldmere: “Then I will leave you to become unlikely allies.”
He turns to go.
John Henry: “Commissioner.”
Elias Coldmere stops.
John Henry: “Unlikely doesn’t mean temporary.”
Elias Coldmere looks back at the three men.
Elias Coldmere: “After next week…”
A small pause.
Elias Coldmere: “…you can decide that yourselves.”
He walks out of frame.
The camera remains.
Hana Nakamura looks between the three men.
Hana Nakamura: “Next week.”
She turns toward Raigen.
Hana Nakamura: “You finally stand across the ring from Taro Okami.”
Raigen stares into the camera.
The scar beside his eye catches the light.
Raigen: “No mask.”
A beat.
Raigen: “No lie.”
Another.
Raigen: “No place to hide.”
He steps closer.
Raigen: “Taro wanted to show me what fire feels like.”
His voice lowers.
Raigen: “Next week…”
A long pause.
Raigen: “…I remind him where it came from.”
The screen behind them changes.
Six images appear.
RAIGEN
TAKUMA RYUJIN
JOHN HENRY
versus
TARO OKAMI
KAEN
ENRAI
NEXT WEEK — SIX-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH
The final shot does not linger on the graphic.
It returns to Raigen.
Scarred.
Standing.
And no longer alone.
END PART 1 - PART 2 is Here
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