[April Song and Hana Nakajima, Sweet Melody, are sitting together at one of the various diners on the WrestleWorld island. Hana has a worried expression on her face as she watches April study over an invitation from Claudia Michaels herself. April reads over the contents of the notice before scoffing and crumpling up the piece of paper and tossing it aside.]Hana: What was that?April: I’m booked for Dominion. On Claudia’s turf no less. Outlaw Rules and all that. My opponent’s Stephanie Matsuda. Heh...the little bitch is even more clever than I thought. What better way to get rid of two headaches than have them batter each other, especially when one of them is coming for your title? Hana: It’s a dirty thing to do….April: But it’s damn smart. Look, Hana, This is Claudia’s backyard I’m going into. You’ve got enough on your plate with wrestling her in a few days. You don’t have to tag along for this. Hana: What do you mean? Are you telling me to stay away?! Do you think I’ll get kidnapped like last time? Do you think I’m going to…April: Whoa, whoa whoa! Calm down, kid. It’s not that. I just don’t want you around to see this live. This right here is an old score to settle, my old dirt. I don’t want to drag you into even more of my problems. Hana: You’re not dragging me into anything. I want to be there to help you...even if it means putting myself at risk. April: This is going to be a bit messy. You don’t have to tag along for this one. You’re more than welcome to come if you want but just promise me something: don’t intervene. Whatever happens, as long as it’s me and her...you stay out of it. A point needs to be made. And you, I strongly suggest you get to studying up on Claudia if you haven’t already. This is going to be by far the most difficult match you’ve ever had. If my hunch is correct, she’s going to underestimate you big time because of your age. Try to use that to your advantage.[April pulls out her wallet and puts a pair of fresh, crisp bills on the table, grabbing her gym bag and getting up to leave, leaving Hana a bit confused.]Hana: I thought we were going to train together today? April: Considering my opponent, I would prefer to train alone. Take care of yourself. I’m no angel and certainly not a saint.
Wars have casualties, Stephanie. Aria Jaxon was just one of ours. I do have regrets about those days, but the current situation between us? You worked pretty damn hard to create that, mocking me whenever you get a chance to, gleefully pointing out every championship you win and throwing it in my face. You’ll never understand how desperate I was to claim that title that she held. You couldn’t possibly understand the anguish that I felt when I had that golden ring in my grasp only for you to snatch it from me. The act itself, I always understood. It was a simple enough business transaction, a right that you earned by winning a tournament where you beat me in the semifinals. But what I never understood...was the timing. You waited until the very last moment to take advantage of your status as Iconic Cup holder. And it hurt, even more than if you had just cashed in at the beginning. It was like you wanted me to suffer. And I did. I watched you run around happily, earning all the money, acquiring all the accolades that should have been mine.
For a long time, I hated you. I hated your commercials, I hated your shitty taste in music, I hated your ring gear, I hated your face, I hated your stables, your tag teams, your C9 overpriced fashion line, I hated EVERYTHING and ANYTHING about you. I hated everything you stood for, believed in, and hoped to build.
I don’t know what changed. Maybe it was the fact that I started winning titles again. Maybe it was that fans and wrestlers started respecting my work even though I haven’t achieved the ultimate goal just yet. Maybe it was winning the respect of all those people that you name dropped. Maybe it was finally having people come to me, not to exploit me, but to learn from me and desire to be around me in some capacity that doesn’t involve drinking or fighting. I still have no desire to be around you or work with you in any shape or form. But, unless this match happened, I knew that I wouldn’t ever find peace of mind being attached to this sport.
You did help me find my way again. You didn’t keep me from LAW and you didn’t use your power and influence there to prevent me from being a champion there. However, I don’t think you realize how much I’ve changed since then and how much you’ve changed as well. When I first started my journey in this sport, I didn’t really care about it. I was happy to earn a paycheck that didn’t involve dropping bombs or people or being shot at. Going to sleep or having your shoulders counted down three times is a far more viable option to suffer for your failures in the squared circle than dying. Maybe I wasn’t the most courteous in the locker room, maybe I didn’t know all the intricacies. Or maybe i didn’t walk around kissing the right asses like you did, I don’t know. You mention all these names like the Azumis, the Arias, the Avas, the Roxies….as if I haven’t made them all tap out. They all have wonderful resumes, they are all great competitors, but to say that I’m some lowly cretin compared to them is just dumb. Even you, in your heart of hearts, recognize that.
I am very, very pleased that this match is taking place between us. Not because I plan on blindly doing Claudia’s bidding, because there’s still a lot of business that she and I need to attend to. That belt that you’re having the contract signing with her that you want to take off her hands? You yourself said that it should be mine at this moment. And, in a new level of asshole behavior, she sent that little rat of hers after my tag team partner. Speaking of which, where is your tag team partner here in WrestleWorld? Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like Claudia is doing a very good job of getting in your girl’s head of late. It seems more and more like Selfish Stephanie is taking center stage instead of the War Queen. Where were you when Claudia was mindfucking your tag team partner? Out grabbing endorsement deals? Lounging by the pool with your drug mule wife? My tag team partner here, she knows that I will at the drop of a hat, regardless of the cost to myself, have her back. I had the Shogun Champion on the ropes, on the cusp of handing him the first loss he has ever suffered in singles competition here...and I let it and my shot at the King of the World go just to have her back. I gave up my Feast of the Fallen spot to show her even further that I have her back, to team with her to get rid of the snake and the rat once and for all.
What have you been doing to prove your loyalty to the people you care about, Saint Stephanie of New York?
It seems lately that you’re losing a lot of friends and allies. You willingly turned your back to the Zaibatsu, and the first thing that those incompetent drunks do without you dragging them down was win Tag Team gold in OWA. They didn’t need you. And as far as I go, I don’t need you either. Claudia is nowhere near my level. She knows this and uses obstacles like Wraith, that rat, and YOU to keep me occupied. She knows I’m the one to give her a one-way ticket to a permanent office job in WrestleWorld away from the ring. Why do you think she’s so damn relieved that you’re coming for her and I’m not? Do you think she’d be having a contract signing to face me? No. She would wiggle and struggle like the little serpent she is to get away.
Two years ago, I would have done everything in my power to make sure that one of us would not leave that ring under our own power. A year ago, I would have traded my soul for just the opportunity to throttle you. Time heals all wounds, but not this one. But as much as I abhor you, as much as I blame you for that one void in my career still not being filled, there is one reason that I am happy that this match is taking place:
This can’t continue as it’s gone between us. Not here, not with what we’re both striving for. While I’m a newcomer to this sport compared to you, we have some of the same mentors: Miss Manami, Carlos Rosso to name some of the more famous ones. We have the same rivals. We travel in the same circles. There needs to be an end to this discord between us. There is no restraining order against each other here in this company, and there is a certain Architect keen on watching us try to kill each other. All I want is one chance, just ONE CHANCE, to unleash all the anger, the frustration, the vitriol I have towards you. I want you to feel just an inkling of the hopelessness that I felt in the Rose Bowl that spring afternoon.
Then it’s done. At least on a personal level.
You can go back to alienating more people, foolishly pursuing an MMA career, and winning your world titles. If...no...WHEN, I beat you, I can move on. I don’t have your spectre haunting me anymore. I can make peace with myself, make peace with you, and just go about my business. I thank Claudia for giving us a place to squash this long-standing grudge once and for all...so we can go back to destroying her and the fake little empire that she’s built.
I’m not the same little birdie that flew the old birdcage two years ago. The April that you used to scrape by in and occasionally lose to? She’s been replaced with the most gifted technical wrestler on the planet, one that’s hellbent on using her own body to cause pain. You’re facing the Beautiful Bout Machine. I’m not any kind of wannabe and I’m nobody’s bitch.
As much as I want to beat you there is another reason besides the desire to give you a receipt that’s two years past due. There is a certain little rodent who will be crawling around the castle. He put his hands on my tag team partner and for that he’s going to suffer. Now, even though this match is contested under Outlaw Rules, I’ve certainly no intention of escalating this to bloodbath levels unless you feel the need to show the world what a hotshot you are. I want him to watch because I know he’ll be in the castle. I know he’ll either be watching from Claudia’s lap or on some monitor. I want him to watch the absolute fucking gratification on my face every time I land a strike, lock in a submission hold. I want him to see just how much I get off on hurting people I don’t like.
He put his hands on a child, a wrestler but a child nevertheless. He hurt her to try to get to me, to send a message. I’m going to use YOU, Stephanie, to send him a message. You won’t be damaged TOO badly that you can’t make your little contract signing. I can’t have you not in prime condition to beat Claudia because after I beat you, who do you think gets to be first in line when you become the first Champion?
Claudia thinks that she’s got us under some kind of barrel, that we’ll do the dirty work that her bumbling associates cannot for her and cancel ourselves out. Hardly. I’m going to beat you, in the center of the ring, little miss World Champion. Then, after I’ve crippled the hired help of the fake queen, I’m going to beat you again and take the American Dream title from you.
I’ll have my title. Claudia will have her desk job. Pizza Boy will maybe finally regrow his testicles, and maybe the women of WrestleWorld can have matches without a certain scheming asshole interfering with them. Everyone wins...except you. You see? I’ve been given a no-win situation, an absolute lemon, and made the sweetest lemonade possible. A crushing blow to my newest enemy...and a perfect opportunity to utterly humiliate one of my oldest. You’ve used my past to define me for far too long. You’ve insulted my service to my country, you’ve even gone the low route as usual and insulted my ethnicity.
I’m no Goddess, but I can bring the fight to you in such a fashion that Ares himself would shudder in horror. You’re running out of friends, you’re running out of jokes, you’re running out of ammunition….
And at Dominion…
YOU RUN OUT OF TIME.
I don’t hate you anymore. There’s a lot of issues that you and I have and will continue to have, but the way I feel about you has changed, just as I have changed. That’s the difference between us. I’ve evolved, adapted to my new profession and have racked up a pretty nice resume and support from the fans and my fellow wrestlers. You cling to the past far too much…I happily reach for the future.
Sat Dec 03, 2022 4:36 pm by 
Subject: Reach for the Future (Vs Stephanie Matsuda) 
