Post by Charlotte Shimizu on Jun 11, 2024 4:30:17 GMT
Residence Balduina
Rome, Italy
4 June, 2024
Nat had summed it up best: “Welp… This’ll be interesting…”
When Charlie had sourly demanded to know what Nat’s definition of ‘interesting’ was, she was answered with a quote. “Oh god, oh god, we’re all gonna die?”
Judging by the look in Rini’s eyes, Charlie could guess that Rini wouldn’t be arguing that definition. She certainly wasn’t either. Hannah had informed them all of the influx of comment and interview requests from various Japanese news outlets which had followed Rini’s letter to the Hokkaido Shimbun Press. It had apparently been for just Rini before, but now all three of them got at least one a week. Rini, of course, still got the most, but Charlie was starting to feel like she was catching up to her.
“Y’all know you can’t ignore this forever, right? Especially since we’re heading right into the lion’s den,” Hannah asked with no little asperity. “I need to go talk to security about making sure reporters don’t derail us constantly.” She paused, then turned her dark eyes on Charlie. “Or catch on to certain late night trips some of us make…”
Charlie blushed as Hannah flounced from the suite. She’d only spent the night with Pax after the two Timberwolves-Mavericks games which ended the series (she was still cursing Dallas). Nothing other than exhausted sleeping had happened, but reporters were notorious for leaping to conclusions. And now, since they were paired up for the tournament and their relationship wasn’t exactly secret, it would only add gasoline to that fire.
Charlie sighed and turned her attention back to Rini. “Muun? You gonna be okay?”
Rini was still an ashy shade, but she nodded. “The closest we get to ho-Hokkaido is Nagano. We’ve been there before, but at least we won’t be dealing with most of the old circuit.”
Charlie caught the slight stammer, almost calling Japan “home”. She opened her mouth to address the unspoken problem.
“WAIT! WE’RE ACTUALLY SCHEDULED FOR THE BUDOKAN?!” Nat’s exclamation broke the moment. Charlie and Rini shared a brief grin. They’d been there before, once a year with Neo-Honshu, but Nat had joined and left before they’d gotten to that part of the tour.
Rini pulled out her phone and was pulling up old pictures to show Nat, and Charlie wandered away, heading to the bedroom to finish packing.
She managed a few things before she sat on the bed, not seeing the room or clothes yet to be packed up. Instead, she was seeing all her six years in Japan, colored by all the prejudice a gaijin and haafu could experience. The only safe place had been Sapporo Hachimangū, under the protection of Benkei.
Unbidden, the old question of how he had found her at the Sapporo train station came to her mind. She still thought it strange that he’d come into the main part of the city to ‘pick something up’ when he’d been carrying nothing with him and only brought her back to the temple. But Benkei had been elusive as ever about it.
Charlie shook her head. It’d be fine. Rini would deal with the reporters who wanted to know the story. Invariably, she would go back to being the Gaijin Priestess for them. There was no reason to bother exerting herself when, as a whole, they wouldn’t care about her, or that she was more than just the labels they slapped on her for easy categorization.
Resentment bubbled up within her. She was more than they, Neo-Honshu or Japan, had ever let her be. She’d done more with her career in months than Neo-Honshu had let her do in years. She’d gone toe-to-toe with seven of Imperial’s champions and former champions. Sure, she hadn’t come out on top most of the time, but if she could earn the chances once, she could earn them again.
She was Charlotte Shimizu, the Iron Hawk; the Breakout Star of 2023, and the 2024 Iron Maiden. No loss could ever change that.
Shaking herself, she went back to packing. She would show the world, but especially Japan, how much better she was than those precious little starlets they preferred over her. And she would do it in their own house.
Charlotte allowed herself a grin. The Iron Heiress had a nice ring to it. She’d have to see if anyone else had won both titles in the same year.
Her phone rang, jolting her from her musings. A quick glance at the screen and she immediately answered it. “Hey! I was just packing up.”
“Do you know what flight you’re on?”
Charlie smiled. “Good news, same flight as you. Hannah’s got an errand to run first but then I’ll see ya at the airport.”
Pax was doing the final touches of packing up his room when his phone started to ring. He let out a sigh when he glanced at the screen and pressed the accept button on the screen.
“This is Pax.”
“Mr. Stormcrow. I trust that you are doing well.”
“Hey Mr. Moris. Ya, I’m feeling pretty good. Though I am getting ready to ship out to Japan right now.”
“Yes. We have noticed your continued absence from the country.”
He let out a breath as he made his final check through the hotel room.
“Look, I literally only found out recently that this international tour was being extended. I gotta go where the company goes.”
“We know you found out much sooner than that. We would have appreciated some communication sooner.”
“Honestly, Mr. Moris. I figured your people would have told you. Ya’ll pay me to wrestle. Am I supposed to say no?”
“Of course not. However there are some on the board that think you could be doing more for the brand.”
“How do ya mean, sir?”
“Worry not, Mr. Stormcrow. A company representative will be meeting you in Japan to go over your responsibilities. While we are displeased at your extended absence, none can deny your improvements on your performance.”
He paused for a moment as he held the phone to his ear in a pregnant silence.
“Sure Mr. Morris. Just let me know when.”
“We will. Happy travels Mr. Stormcrow.”
The call went dead in his hand. He frowned slightly as he looked down at the blank screen. Then he turned it back on and found Charlotte’s number and dialed it.
Pax’s vlog starts with him sitting in a suite. In the background through a large picture window is a frankly gorgeous view of Osaka castle. As usual, Pax is sitting front and center in view of the camera, though for a change of pace, Charlotte is standing behind him and slowly running her fingers through his hair.
“What up neechies, it’s ya boi! Coming to you live with an exclusive sneak peek at how the Birds of Prey live. Don’t make it weird though. We mostly family friendly here.”
“Mostly?” Charlotte asks with a wry twist of her mouth.
He winks at the camera.
“If your family is rez as hell anyways. But new rules for Heir to the Throne dropped and ya boi is looking to be the first man to be crowned Heir to the Throne twice, and the first person ever to go back to back. And just to cut everyone off? I know they’ll say I’m just a flash in the pan. I know they’ll say that when the going gets tough I’ll leave. But I failed to get Joker in the Pack, but I’m still here ain’t I? So fuck em.”
He winks at the camera and leans back in his chair and glances up at Charlotte with a smile.
“And I got something to fight for this time too. Something beyond proving myself. So if y'all thought I was a menace before then yall should buckle up cause Una and I gonna run you clowns.”
He looks back at the camera with a wide grin on his face.
“So first up in this ‘Random draw’” He lifts his hands to include air quotes just in case the inflection in his voice is not enough, “We facing off against Abigail and Tytus. Must suck for y'all cause the only thing ya got in common is being from Texas.”
“Which, by the way,” Charlotte speaks up, “is reason enough for my Okie self to wanna see ya both laid out on the mats right now. That’s not even counting the fact that I’m not particularly fond of Tytus… for reasons that should be obvious by this point.”
“Let’s break that down now. Tytus I got a piece of your ass in Joker in the Pack but you best believe that’s not enough. You decided that you’d try and be relevant by coming for me and my bois. Which I get. We better than you. We more popular than you.. We’ve reached heights you could only dream of. And you know it. That’s why you jumped us. That’s why you and that bald son of a bitch cheated to get a win over us. But honestly, I’m disappointed in you most of all. Cyrus is a garbage fighter that’s only good for shock and awe in whatever shitty fighting group will take the dregs. You showed you belonged here. You did it on your own merit. Ya never made a splash but I can sympathize with that. We all know how long it took me to make something of myself, but I managed to do it without being a backstabbing son of a bitch.”
He smirks at the camera and shrugs his shoulders.
“I mean, that hit on Gilmore shouldn’t count. I never hid that I hate that bootlicker and a million is a shit ton of money. I’m also sick and fucking tired of people like him acting like they the hero while they associate with garbage people. Something you know a lot about, don’t ya Abigail?”
“Wonder how Dear Abby feels about her new partner having such a lovely straight line to the Murder. Ain’t even four degrees of separation. Ya must be lovin’ this, ain’t ya, girly?” Charlotte smiles, but it’s more feral than friendly.
“Abby… Look… Ya know I don’t hate ya. You confuse the fuck out of me, but I know that the paths each person takes are our own making and don’t make sense to anyone else. So let’s just forget the fact that you decided to be someone else for God knows how long and focus on what ya been doin’ since High Stakes... Which I’m guessin’ has been lickin’ yer wounds after all that talk of fate and destiny to win the Iron Maiden and lettin’ your grudges get in the way of that. Girl, I lost track of the times you coulda won that match. You hit like a truck though, so I know I gotta keep on my toes… But hey… I seem to be gettin’ the hang of bestin’ former champs, so your number’s up, honey.”
Pax beams upwards at Charlie as she talks before he looks back at the camera.
“To say nothin of the fact that it’s been forever since you been a champion Abby. Sure, I acknowledge that I wasn’t a champion for long. But it was at least in the last year. And if ya expect me to feel bad for losing to Dean then you out your damn mind. The little twink is a sociopath that deserves every terrible thing to happen to him. But I can acknowledge that he’s one of the GOATs of this company. I’m just trying to cut everyone off at the path cause I know they gonna bring out the same bullshit. Like I am not the previous Heir to the Throne. Like I ain’t done proved that I belong here and could take this whole thing again.”
He laughs and reaches out his hand to take one of Charlotte’s.
“Like O’Hara didn’t need every fuckin’ second of our twenty minute dance to put me down for the count. Like Knight weren’t sittin’ in the ring for a full minute after he finally beat me, clutchin’ the Invictus belt like a baby blanket before he could stand again. Like I didn’t survive the Iron fuckin’ Maiden against five of the best women Imperial got. Like Jen couldn’t barely walk after takin’ me out. Like I ain’t shown I can turn, flip and smash tables on anyone in the ring with me.”
Pax grins at the camera.
“Point is they done set up the fastest rising star of the women’s division. The Iron Hawk, the Iron Maiden. Someone who’s shown they can hang with any champion in this company and make them put in work to keep their belt. Someone who showed up nearly outta nowhere and proved that she belongs in any conversation. One of the best damn wrestlers in the goddamned world. With me, ya boi. And they startin’ us off with Tytus and Abigail? The big dumb mother fucker that needed to team up with another big dumb fuck to prove he was relevant and the chick who only held her title for as long as she did cause Caroline and Virginia was fighting over another belt and Shelly and Tara was beefin? Naaay y'all don’t got a chance in this. Not against us. Maybe we’ll see you in the finals. But the only way this ends is with one of you on your back admiring the lights of Osaka-Jo Hall. But sure, maybe you’ll get the upset. It could happen.”
Charlie leans down over Pax’s shoulder with a smile on her face.
“Whoever thought a “random” team-up that put Pax and I together needed to stop right there if they wanted anyone else to have a real chance. You put the two hungriest competitors of our respective divisions on a team and told us to fight our way to the top? Sweethearts… That’s how Pax and I roll… But if you’ll excuse us, we have a date to get to.”
The two of them thump their fist against their chest before flashing Pax’s customary two finger salute and speak as one.
“Peace Out.”
Charlotte leans down towards Pax as he lifts his head up to meet her. Her hand moves to cover up the camera as they meet in the middle before the feed cuts out.
Rome, Italy
4 June, 2024
Nat had summed it up best: “Welp… This’ll be interesting…”
When Charlie had sourly demanded to know what Nat’s definition of ‘interesting’ was, she was answered with a quote. “Oh god, oh god, we’re all gonna die?”
Judging by the look in Rini’s eyes, Charlie could guess that Rini wouldn’t be arguing that definition. She certainly wasn’t either. Hannah had informed them all of the influx of comment and interview requests from various Japanese news outlets which had followed Rini’s letter to the Hokkaido Shimbun Press. It had apparently been for just Rini before, but now all three of them got at least one a week. Rini, of course, still got the most, but Charlie was starting to feel like she was catching up to her.
“Y’all know you can’t ignore this forever, right? Especially since we’re heading right into the lion’s den,” Hannah asked with no little asperity. “I need to go talk to security about making sure reporters don’t derail us constantly.” She paused, then turned her dark eyes on Charlie. “Or catch on to certain late night trips some of us make…”
Charlie blushed as Hannah flounced from the suite. She’d only spent the night with Pax after the two Timberwolves-Mavericks games which ended the series (she was still cursing Dallas). Nothing other than exhausted sleeping had happened, but reporters were notorious for leaping to conclusions. And now, since they were paired up for the tournament and their relationship wasn’t exactly secret, it would only add gasoline to that fire.
Charlie sighed and turned her attention back to Rini. “Muun? You gonna be okay?”
Rini was still an ashy shade, but she nodded. “The closest we get to ho-Hokkaido is Nagano. We’ve been there before, but at least we won’t be dealing with most of the old circuit.”
Charlie caught the slight stammer, almost calling Japan “home”. She opened her mouth to address the unspoken problem.
“WAIT! WE’RE ACTUALLY SCHEDULED FOR THE BUDOKAN?!” Nat’s exclamation broke the moment. Charlie and Rini shared a brief grin. They’d been there before, once a year with Neo-Honshu, but Nat had joined and left before they’d gotten to that part of the tour.
Rini pulled out her phone and was pulling up old pictures to show Nat, and Charlie wandered away, heading to the bedroom to finish packing.
She managed a few things before she sat on the bed, not seeing the room or clothes yet to be packed up. Instead, she was seeing all her six years in Japan, colored by all the prejudice a gaijin and haafu could experience. The only safe place had been Sapporo Hachimangū, under the protection of Benkei.
Unbidden, the old question of how he had found her at the Sapporo train station came to her mind. She still thought it strange that he’d come into the main part of the city to ‘pick something up’ when he’d been carrying nothing with him and only brought her back to the temple. But Benkei had been elusive as ever about it.
Charlie shook her head. It’d be fine. Rini would deal with the reporters who wanted to know the story. Invariably, she would go back to being the Gaijin Priestess for them. There was no reason to bother exerting herself when, as a whole, they wouldn’t care about her, or that she was more than just the labels they slapped on her for easy categorization.
Resentment bubbled up within her. She was more than they, Neo-Honshu or Japan, had ever let her be. She’d done more with her career in months than Neo-Honshu had let her do in years. She’d gone toe-to-toe with seven of Imperial’s champions and former champions. Sure, she hadn’t come out on top most of the time, but if she could earn the chances once, she could earn them again.
She was Charlotte Shimizu, the Iron Hawk; the Breakout Star of 2023, and the 2024 Iron Maiden. No loss could ever change that.
Shaking herself, she went back to packing. She would show the world, but especially Japan, how much better she was than those precious little starlets they preferred over her. And she would do it in their own house.
Charlotte allowed herself a grin. The Iron Heiress had a nice ring to it. She’d have to see if anyone else had won both titles in the same year.
Her phone rang, jolting her from her musings. A quick glance at the screen and she immediately answered it. “Hey! I was just packing up.”
“Do you know what flight you’re on?”
Charlie smiled. “Good news, same flight as you. Hannah’s got an errand to run first but then I’ll see ya at the airport.”
Pax was doing the final touches of packing up his room when his phone started to ring. He let out a sigh when he glanced at the screen and pressed the accept button on the screen.
“This is Pax.”
“Mr. Stormcrow. I trust that you are doing well.”
“Hey Mr. Moris. Ya, I’m feeling pretty good. Though I am getting ready to ship out to Japan right now.”
“Yes. We have noticed your continued absence from the country.”
He let out a breath as he made his final check through the hotel room.
“Look, I literally only found out recently that this international tour was being extended. I gotta go where the company goes.”
“We know you found out much sooner than that. We would have appreciated some communication sooner.”
“Honestly, Mr. Moris. I figured your people would have told you. Ya’ll pay me to wrestle. Am I supposed to say no?”
“Of course not. However there are some on the board that think you could be doing more for the brand.”
“How do ya mean, sir?”
“Worry not, Mr. Stormcrow. A company representative will be meeting you in Japan to go over your responsibilities. While we are displeased at your extended absence, none can deny your improvements on your performance.”
He paused for a moment as he held the phone to his ear in a pregnant silence.
“Sure Mr. Morris. Just let me know when.”
“We will. Happy travels Mr. Stormcrow.”
The call went dead in his hand. He frowned slightly as he looked down at the blank screen. Then he turned it back on and found Charlotte’s number and dialed it.
Pax’s vlog starts with him sitting in a suite. In the background through a large picture window is a frankly gorgeous view of Osaka castle. As usual, Pax is sitting front and center in view of the camera, though for a change of pace, Charlotte is standing behind him and slowly running her fingers through his hair.
“What up neechies, it’s ya boi! Coming to you live with an exclusive sneak peek at how the Birds of Prey live. Don’t make it weird though. We mostly family friendly here.”
“Mostly?” Charlotte asks with a wry twist of her mouth.
He winks at the camera.
“If your family is rez as hell anyways. But new rules for Heir to the Throne dropped and ya boi is looking to be the first man to be crowned Heir to the Throne twice, and the first person ever to go back to back. And just to cut everyone off? I know they’ll say I’m just a flash in the pan. I know they’ll say that when the going gets tough I’ll leave. But I failed to get Joker in the Pack, but I’m still here ain’t I? So fuck em.”
He winks at the camera and leans back in his chair and glances up at Charlotte with a smile.
“And I got something to fight for this time too. Something beyond proving myself. So if y'all thought I was a menace before then yall should buckle up cause Una and I gonna run you clowns.”
He looks back at the camera with a wide grin on his face.
“So first up in this ‘Random draw’” He lifts his hands to include air quotes just in case the inflection in his voice is not enough, “We facing off against Abigail and Tytus. Must suck for y'all cause the only thing ya got in common is being from Texas.”
“Which, by the way,” Charlotte speaks up, “is reason enough for my Okie self to wanna see ya both laid out on the mats right now. That’s not even counting the fact that I’m not particularly fond of Tytus… for reasons that should be obvious by this point.”
“Let’s break that down now. Tytus I got a piece of your ass in Joker in the Pack but you best believe that’s not enough. You decided that you’d try and be relevant by coming for me and my bois. Which I get. We better than you. We more popular than you.. We’ve reached heights you could only dream of. And you know it. That’s why you jumped us. That’s why you and that bald son of a bitch cheated to get a win over us. But honestly, I’m disappointed in you most of all. Cyrus is a garbage fighter that’s only good for shock and awe in whatever shitty fighting group will take the dregs. You showed you belonged here. You did it on your own merit. Ya never made a splash but I can sympathize with that. We all know how long it took me to make something of myself, but I managed to do it without being a backstabbing son of a bitch.”
He smirks at the camera and shrugs his shoulders.
“I mean, that hit on Gilmore shouldn’t count. I never hid that I hate that bootlicker and a million is a shit ton of money. I’m also sick and fucking tired of people like him acting like they the hero while they associate with garbage people. Something you know a lot about, don’t ya Abigail?”
“Wonder how Dear Abby feels about her new partner having such a lovely straight line to the Murder. Ain’t even four degrees of separation. Ya must be lovin’ this, ain’t ya, girly?” Charlotte smiles, but it’s more feral than friendly.
“Abby… Look… Ya know I don’t hate ya. You confuse the fuck out of me, but I know that the paths each person takes are our own making and don’t make sense to anyone else. So let’s just forget the fact that you decided to be someone else for God knows how long and focus on what ya been doin’ since High Stakes... Which I’m guessin’ has been lickin’ yer wounds after all that talk of fate and destiny to win the Iron Maiden and lettin’ your grudges get in the way of that. Girl, I lost track of the times you coulda won that match. You hit like a truck though, so I know I gotta keep on my toes… But hey… I seem to be gettin’ the hang of bestin’ former champs, so your number’s up, honey.”
Pax beams upwards at Charlie as she talks before he looks back at the camera.
“To say nothin of the fact that it’s been forever since you been a champion Abby. Sure, I acknowledge that I wasn’t a champion for long. But it was at least in the last year. And if ya expect me to feel bad for losing to Dean then you out your damn mind. The little twink is a sociopath that deserves every terrible thing to happen to him. But I can acknowledge that he’s one of the GOATs of this company. I’m just trying to cut everyone off at the path cause I know they gonna bring out the same bullshit. Like I am not the previous Heir to the Throne. Like I ain’t done proved that I belong here and could take this whole thing again.”
He laughs and reaches out his hand to take one of Charlotte’s.
“Like O’Hara didn’t need every fuckin’ second of our twenty minute dance to put me down for the count. Like Knight weren’t sittin’ in the ring for a full minute after he finally beat me, clutchin’ the Invictus belt like a baby blanket before he could stand again. Like I didn’t survive the Iron fuckin’ Maiden against five of the best women Imperial got. Like Jen couldn’t barely walk after takin’ me out. Like I ain’t shown I can turn, flip and smash tables on anyone in the ring with me.”
Pax grins at the camera.
“Point is they done set up the fastest rising star of the women’s division. The Iron Hawk, the Iron Maiden. Someone who’s shown they can hang with any champion in this company and make them put in work to keep their belt. Someone who showed up nearly outta nowhere and proved that she belongs in any conversation. One of the best damn wrestlers in the goddamned world. With me, ya boi. And they startin’ us off with Tytus and Abigail? The big dumb mother fucker that needed to team up with another big dumb fuck to prove he was relevant and the chick who only held her title for as long as she did cause Caroline and Virginia was fighting over another belt and Shelly and Tara was beefin? Naaay y'all don’t got a chance in this. Not against us. Maybe we’ll see you in the finals. But the only way this ends is with one of you on your back admiring the lights of Osaka-Jo Hall. But sure, maybe you’ll get the upset. It could happen.”
Charlie leans down over Pax’s shoulder with a smile on her face.
“Whoever thought a “random” team-up that put Pax and I together needed to stop right there if they wanted anyone else to have a real chance. You put the two hungriest competitors of our respective divisions on a team and told us to fight our way to the top? Sweethearts… That’s how Pax and I roll… But if you’ll excuse us, we have a date to get to.”
The two of them thump their fist against their chest before flashing Pax’s customary two finger salute and speak as one.
“Peace Out.”
Charlotte leans down towards Pax as he lifts his head up to meet her. Her hand moves to cover up the camera as they meet in the middle before the feed cuts out.
Well howdy there pardner.