Chronicles of a sleeping dragon. A fading red hue?

It was the very beginning of the new year, the fireworks still going off in the night sky at midnight. It was a party, J-Dynasty funded. It was loud and bright, bustling with energy and moving people. In contrast, Pendragon was subdued, his old entrance mask in hand and his loved one in his arms, Renee Jonae played with the red streak in his hair making it emit a certain light with her magical touch as he smiled at her. Pendragon then turned to the explosions in the sky and lost himself in the moment as he could even begin hearing a voice call out to him from beyond. Again and again a slight call.

Dominic: JP!!!!!!!!!

Dominic: JP!!!!!!!!!

Dominic: JP!!!!!!!!!!!

Pendragon snaps back into the real world when it comes to focus. It was his future brother in law, Dominic Jonae, calling out to him from his wheelchair. One look at the young teen and one could tell he was a fighter passionately living his life through an ailment, he had a certain twinkle in his eye for his favourite wrestler, who happens to be his sister’s fiancé.

Dominic: I was asking what you plan on doing in the new year. Any resolutions?

Naturally, Pendragon did not. He was not the type of person who’d wait on a year to get to do what he seeks to do. Still, he knows that a simple no doesn’t suffice, he knows he should give a positive message to the boy.

Pendragon: I plan on preserving what is. I already have everything I’ve ever wanted. I have you and your sister, both in health and prosperity.

Dominic puffs up his cheeks at that.

Dominic: Don’t be lame! What about Wrestleworld? When are you going to give some of those baddies a lesson in kung fu!? You know a kick or two here and there, maybe a sweet chop to the chest for fun, I bet Jaywalker won’t mind! How many times has that Chad guy been messing with your champion? He’d be a prime target.

Pendragon:  Wrestleworld? I didn’t know you tuned into that. If you really need someone special to cheer on, you should tell your sister to sign a contract. She refuses to heed my suggestions.

The camera lowers down a bit to focus on Renee Jonae’s face, staring up at Pendragon with amber eyes, with her eyeshadow and lips a dark purple. She playfully squeezes his cheeks when responding.

Renee: Cheri, I told you, I want to make a name for myself without a conflict of interest.

Pendragon: I’d be impartial, you could even go to the American Dream division.

Renee: Even if you wouldn’t be wrapped around my finger, which you would, it’d be a bad look because the J-Dynasty is too strongly involved in the whole company. Speaking on which, you went to Japan one last time before showing up as an architect, did you talk to your cousins like I asked?

Pendragon finds dealing with his cousins difficult, and had only spoken to them briefly. He had spent most of the time there at the Tsutsutmi dojo and focusing on Shoot Nation nostalgia. Pendragon looks the other way while Renee puts her hands on her hips and looks at him.

Pendragon: Yes, I saw them.

Renee: You just hung at the Tsutsumi family dojo didn’t you…

Dominic: Oh oh! Don’t you have a kickass dojo yourself now, JP?

Pendragon: Yes, in Wrestleworld they gave me a rain-forest and now I have a dojo. It is quite the honour.

Dominic: And a dojo needs students.

Pendragon: True, I supposed I’ll have to find some.

Dominic: And now you can go full shogun mode and lead a legion of lethal fighters that rule with an iron fist!

Pendragon: No….I’m not a shogun.

Dominic: But..

Pendragon: The “Shogun” is Puroresu, the shogun in this case is not a person. I am the shogun’s architect, granted the power to serve the cause of giving tribute to the art of strong style and granted the ability to shape the division to properly reflect that. In that sense, my role has not changed from my time as a samurai, I am to fulfill my duty in the name of my master. As a samurai I was to embody the bushido way within myself, and as an architect I am to make sure that style of wrestling is showcased outside of myself.

Dominic: I get your attachment to duty, but don’t you miss everything? The fame..the fighting, the love of your fans?

Pendragon spaces out into thought again, thinking about a subject that didn’t often come to him….the love of being a performer. Wrestling was the only thing Pendragon was ever good at, aside from swordsmanship that doesn’t get many job opportunities, it began as a means to an end…to make ends meet with their debts. On the journey, Pendragon made allies he was willing to fight for as brothers & sisters in arms, a chance to pay tribute to the Japanese side of his heritage, and he became a worldwide name in the process. Now that his duties are fulfilled, outside being an architect, could he truly allow himself to soak in the fame and adoration just for himself? Can he do battle just for battle’s sake? Pendragon wasn’t sure if he was comfortable with such a change.

Pendragon: …….

Dominic: JP?

Pendragon: Succumbing to one’s base urges for attention and greed are why so many of my fellow architects lose their way on the path of serving their division. So many of them spend far too much time taking airtime away from other performers and making themselves the center of attention. I once entered this business losing my name and even a bit of my dignity because I made an oath that I’d do what it takes to put food on our table and keep our heads above water. I won’t allow an itch for battle or a fleeting desire to perform to change who I am, to interfere with what I represent.

I made a new oath to be an architect that brings out the best of his division. The antics of Drake & Jones and Claudia Michaels are not worth mention. Babayka seems to seek out the darkness within his division and expose the worst attributes of people to the world. I will make the people see the best there is out of our talents.

Our champion, Arata Asakura is the dragon occupying the skies, like Brian Daniels and I before him. He knows of hard work and family, truth be told I see a lot of myself in him. Unlike me, wrestling was his dream, and good or bad he is very in tune with the opinions of the people, so his potential and longevity likely have a higher ceiling than my own. The business is filled with men and woman that could test their mettle against him, and I will make sure they have the platform to showcase that grit and skill.

Renee makes a whistle sound, in a mixture of teasing and impressed over how seriously he’s taking his job.

Renee: Wow, here we were just playing pool earlier and then enjoying fireworks, but you go all deep on us. Are you trying to look cool in front of my brother, just because you lost the game?

Pendragon: What? No! And don’t bring up stuff from your chronicles, it confuses the masses.

Renee: Uh huh, sure that’s why I shouldn’t bring it up. You’re still going to have to have a real talk with your cousins the next time you’re in Japan, I was serious about that, it’ll be good for you all!

Pendragon: Okay okay!

Dominic: You know JP’s sort of right to not let you bring up that pool game, that pose you did to distract him was totes cheating.

Renee puffs up her cheeks this time, while Pendragon tries to turn around to not be caught smirking, though he was found out anyways.

Renee: Alright, your mask is re-confiscated!

Pendragon: What!?

Renee snatches his mask away as Dominic laughs, as they go back to a prior messing around they were doing before the fireworks.

In total darkness, calligraphy of a certain symbol is being drawn again and again in red, in an ultimate display practice and habit. As it goes on, however, the red coming off the brush effect loses its hue. In the background, voices are heard, one clearly trying to ignore the other.

落雷落雷落雷落雷落雷

Jaydayne Pendragon: My purpose for doing battle is fulfilled, but calls for the red strife continue….

"Arata Asakura: You."

Jaydayne Pendragon: The field of battle that does not change is but a valley that eternally consumes wayward souls that find themselves wandering aimlessly within.

"Arata Asakura: Jaydayne."

Jaydayne Pendragon: Souls called forth by greed, envy, lust, and all matter of sins that lead to nothing.

"Arata Asakura: I want Jaydayne in the ring."

Jaydayne Pendragon: I cannot succumb to my urge to answer the call to war.

"Arata Asakura: So, you are going to play like that, Jaydayne?"

Jaydayne Pendragon: An old friend once told me, the Shinto way is not in belief, but in practice. When one regularly trains and makes good deeds their ritual, one purifies the soul from distraction.

"Arata Asakura: I will do what you want, Jaydayne, but then I'll come back to you anyway. And then what? Will we play the same game again and again and again? At some point, you'll have to find your balls and accept my challenge."

Jaydayne Pendragon: And so, I will build my sanctuary where all can submerge themselves in those cleansing waters of discipline.

"Arata Asakura: Jaydayne Pendragon is gonna learn that there is no simple “no” to me."

The playing of traditional Japanese theatre music is heard as the camera opens to the Wrestleworld rainforest around the Wrestleworld Dojo. Between the trees, you can see many young men and woman traversing through the woods, on their journey to mastering martial arts. The view changes to within the dojo itself, where a masked woman in a pink oni mask and kimono plays the shamisen. Eventually she stops, ending it with a long last tug at the strings. The view changes to elsewhere in the dojo, Pendragon sitting on the floor beside Dominic Jonae. From his wheelchair, Dominic looks on with awe and excitement at the training martial artists who have made it to the dojo, taking enjoyment in his teenage youth love of fighting. Pendragon watches them attentively, many are at different skill levels, but they’re all showing their skills and practicing as equals to showcase passion. Except for two women, they seem to be patrolling and watching the practice, they respectively wear blue and pink kimonos. The one in blue is acting normal, but the one in pink prances around and at times stops to give special smiles to the cuter boys.

Dominic: JP….it’s actually happening. YOU’VE GOT A FULL-FLEDGED DOJO STARTING!

Pendragon: Yes, I think this’ll do just fine.

Dominic: Sorry that my sister went in and called in the troops.

Pendragon rubs the back of his neck and seems a bit comfortable saying it, but he corrects the record.

Pendragon: Actually, I was the one who called on those two. Your sister really wasn’t going to let it go, and who knows when I’d go back to Japan. In addition, there were events that I did not foresee, and one must react to the changing landscape to suit the situation…..like water

Dominic: But..

Dominic could tell Pendragon was being unusually evasive with his vague wording at the end there, but they’re interrupted by the kimono-clad women. Now that their up close, it’s clear they’re twins, and some might recognize them as the Tsutsumi Twins, Narumi and Masumi. In other words, Pendragon’s cousins. Narumi begins pinching Pendragon in the cheeks while looking at Dominic, Pendragon does his best to no-sell it.

Narumi: Oh Jay-kun~~ Is that Nay Nay chan’s wittle brother?

Pendragon: …Yes, he wanted to see the dojo.

Narumi leaves Pendragon alone to his great pleasure, and goes to hug Dominic.

Narumi: Then you’re my wittle brother too! You like dojos? Tsutsumi love giving gifts! It’s our name after all. When Jay-kun called and said “Neesan!!! Waaaaaaa! Me no know how to run dojo! Help me! Help!”, it brought me to tears and I got Mas to come with me here right away! Of course, I made a teeny bitty amount of calls, and poof many wanted to befriend the Tsutsumi House by helping our baby cousin~~~
Pendragon: I didn’t say anything like that. I only said I would appreciate your assistance, Narumi.

Narumi pulls out a folding fan, and slaps Pendragon on the head with it. She does not budge from demanding honorifics despite not even being a full year older.

Narumi: “Neesan!”, or you can call me senpai~~~ What does Jay-kun know about recruiting and administrating an entire dojo? Before you became bigshot playground leader of Chute Nation, at Strong School Wrestling, you were a loner at the Tsutsumi dojo! Only Mas would train with you. Be thankful!

Dominic: I think I’m starting to realize how you got dragged in by my sister, JP….

Narumi: Oh? Is “JP” what they call you in the west?

Pendragon: No, most people call me Pendragon, just like Japan.

Narumi: Anyways, JP is cute, but Jay-kun is-

Pendragon: Nobody calls me Jay, there’s already a guy who has it.

Masumi: Oi! You want we take care of him? (Masumi makes a chop motion, asking if Pendragon wants them to off Jaywalker, a joke…hopefully.)

Pendragon: N-no!

Narumi: Jay-kun. If you have a bully who won’t let you use your name, you know we can help. Boys are always nicer after a feminine touch, show em Mas!

Narumi claps her hands and a student shows up with two thick wood blocks. Masumi clenches her fist and punches right through them. Pendragon isn’t really impressed it seems, but Dominic marks out.

Dominic: Yo! JP you never told me your cousin could do that!

Narumi: Surprised? My sister is a total killer! Show him your guns Mas!

Masumi slightly blushes, and begins undressing her top by opening her kimono and taking her arms out of the sleeves, revealing herself to be wearing a sarashi to cover her chest. This showcases her rather hulking physique, strong abs and big biceps. Though they have the same face, it becomes evident that Masumi is another monster entirely distinct from her sister. Dominic looks dumbfounded.

Narumi: Ahahaha, I told you, Jay-kun and Mas were training partners, when they were younger M-

Pendragon:  We don’t need to go into history.

Narumi crosses her arms and makes a humph sound at him.

Narumi: Fine! Then why don’t we get to the point, you no don’t need to fight. I’m sure Jaywhacker can go find other henchman to be harassed into fights, you’re welcome back in the Tsutsumi estate, you don’t need his money. Even if the fool thinks he can stop you from using the name Jay.

Pendragon: His name is Jaywalker…

Narumi: Wha?! That doesn’t sound very mobster like.

Pendragon: He isn’t a mobster…

Narumi: He not mobster? He rich white man, like your president, he built towers with the mob. All Americans love president, rich American love building towers. Mobsters built all big apartments in America in old days, why he need architects if he not mobster building towers?

Pendragon: He’s Canadian!

Narumi: Canadian?! Boring.

Pendragon: ….Regardless, my job is to create a design that’ll be used to build the Shogun division. The reason I don’t need to fight is that I’ve fulfilled my duty, I’ve earned enough to keep my family fed and taken care of, and honoured myself in the land of our ancestors!

Narumi: Boring…you are boring me.

Pendragon: …Cousin, I know you’re more interested in music, being an idol, and all that glamour in a world I’d never understand, but I respect your choices…It’s rude to turn around to just call another person’s fulfilment and code of ethics boring...even if I didn’t become the big shot American you dreamed of.

Narumi: No. You are boring me, and it’s unrelated to not taking advantage of the great western experience. You bore me, because you refuse to embrace your passion for wrestling. You’re reverting to the kid you were, before you had the passion to disobey the elders and strike out on your own, because a little devil, nay-nay, rightfully got in your ear.

Pendragon: …This is inappropriate, cousin. You know I did not disobey the elders out of misplaced emotion, their way had nothing to do with bushido, merely old bigoted ways under the guise of it. If I was passionate, it was only because I was passionate about working to build a better future for my family…one I could tell my future children I had fought hard to get to after being grateful for what is mine, and established what it means to have dignity in a world filled with corruption and brutality.

Narumi: It began that way. But I saw you, in Shoot School Wrestling.

Pendragon: …I know you don’t watch wrestling. You never even get the company name right.

Narumi: BAKA! I watch when those I care for participate. I don’t care about a wrestling show name, I watch videos that matter to me. I wanted to see what running away lead you to, where did Renee take you, and what became of you as a whole. I saw you, and for the first time, I truly saw you happy.

Pendragon lowers his head at that as Narumi towers over the seated man, for the first time it becomes clear how her usual smile has turned to a stern expression.

Narumi: And what we saw, it inspired Mas to get into the public stage of pro wrestling, instead of staying cooped up in the old dojo training. It was good for her. You must have known she signed to Joshi Express Takeover! Yet you say nothing. You used to be the best of friends, I was even jealous when we were younger. Now you call me when you need help for a dojo? Scandalous!
Pendragon: ….

Narumi: Foolish samurai warrior. You cannot undo the past, you cannot go back to being the empty boy you once were. Know that deep in your psyche, you called us here to help you, to be the big older cousins we are, and it wasn’t for this nice dojo we’re setting up for you.

Narumi’s face suddenly bursts into a huge grin and she claps her hands.

Narumi: But it isn’t me that’ll teach you~~~ You’re going to talk with Mas, if you like it or not!

Pendragon: But!

Narumi: Wittle brother, Dom! Do you want to see Jay-kun’s new recruits practice blade fighting?!

Dominic: SURE THING!

Narumi happily gets behind Dominic’s wheelchair, sticks her tongue out at Pendragon, and then charges full speed ahead into the halls as both of them scream and laugh enjoying the speedy ride.

Pendragon: …

Masumi silently sits beside Pendragon. The two sit there in awkward silence for a moment before Pendragon speaks up. Going forward, this is all spoken in Japanese.

Pendragon: …Your strike was flawless. …..You always did have the strength of a great ape.

Masumi: You always cried out like a wounded dog!

Masumi mockingly pretends she’s going to strike him as Pendragon lifts his arms laughing. They both hug and then afterwards Pendragon shakes his head a bit ashamed.

Pendragon: I should have called you….It’s been too long.

Masumi: You never leave enough of yourself intact for anyone else to beat you up, cousin. Even monkeys fall from trees. It is not like the family supported you when it should have.

Pendragon: I always thought you’d take over the residence.

Masumi: Pah! They should have picked you when they had the chance. You were perfect in every category that mattered, skill, composure, honour, but they cared about you being of mixed blood enough to let a girl with a temper problem be your competition.

Pendragon: You only had a short fuse because everyone wanted you to be a quiet soft flower, when you too are a samurai with bushido at heart. I never should have been in the running, I wasn’t born in Japan and I’m younger than you. Their uneasiness with me being hafu, and them trying to beat the tomboy out of you, it is a distinction without a difference.

Masumi: And now they have no other option but Narumi!

They both crack up again due to that.

Pendragon: She’s such a westaboo and pop culture obsessed! They must hate that.

Masumi: They do! But though it’s hard to see, cousin, she too has a certain bushido to herself. She’ll change the system.

As they stop laughing, Pendragon puts his hand on his forehead like he’s about to develop a headache.

Pendragon: I supposed you’ll say I should wrestle again.

Masumi: It’s your choice. It isn’t for me to say what you should and should not do. But I will say this, you’ve never had an evil urge in your entire life. It’s why we’ve loved teasing you so much. You’re always looking for rules and rulings on these things, but forget not what matters most in our ways…it is agenda, not credenda.

Masumi gets up and ruffles Pendragon’s hair on her way out to leave him in his thoughts. Pendragon closes his eyes, but does a slight twitch, and begins lightly brushing the red streak in his hair, but conventionally on his forehead as if scratching an itch.

落雷落雷落雷落雷落雷