Deck of cards. - vs A. Grace

02.04. 20 Miami, Florida

*Taking advantage of the fact that he is no booked for the weekly show of one of the companies with which he is associated, Arata decided to focus all his attention on the upcoming semi-final of the King of the World Tournament during which he will face one of the new Wrestleworld's faces, Alyssa Grace. Over the past few weeks, he has been watching the young girl very closely, which allowed him to notice quite a lot of talent and determination, which accompanied the redhead, but despite the fact that she seems quite an interesting opponent, Arata knows that he has what it takes to advance to the finals. This doesn't mean that he underestimates her, because no matter what he sometimes says, he never underestimates his opponent in his heart, but during his short career he faced much more demanding opponents, so he had no reason to be so much worried. He honestly even believed that Alyssa should have more doubts about their clash than him at all, as she will face no one other, but the first ever Shogun Champion. However, contrary to what was reasonable, during the episode of EpiCenter, which they entered as guests, she seemed to be rather aggressive, which quite surprised Arata. The young Japanese was not entirely sure how he should react to her behavior, because in the end, only because of his status, he deserved at least a bit of respect, and comparing him to people like Jimmy Johnson or Wraith was a pure insult. Not to mention excessive self-confidence. Well, he wasn't really sure if her behavior was her real way of thinking or a kind of self-defense, but anyway, the current champion decided that Alyssa needed a little lesson of respect, but at first it seemed reasonable to send her a warning, to let her know with who she is actually dealing with. And to be honest after hearing what she has recently to say, he wasn't in a good mood.*

*The video shot opens at the casino, showing everyone a well-known person to the fans of Wrestleworld, the Shogun Champion himself, Arata Asakura. The young man is wearing a black shirt, dark gray suit pants, while the jacket that is part of it is hanging on a armchair, and black leather shoes. The sleeves of the shirt are rolled up to the elbows, which makes it easy to see the silver watch on the wrist of a man, who sits alone near the poker table, on which you can also notice the lying Shogun Championship. Arata holds a deck of cards in his hands, which he shuffles from time to time, carefully watching it, and then begins to unfold the cards on the table. Without taking his eyes off the green surface, the blond begins to speak with calm and low tone of voice.*

If I said that I was happy with what happened during the last chapter, I would be a liar. At the same time, I am not saying that I am not able to accept it. It can be said that I'm just not satisfied with the ending of my match with April Song, who turned out to be a hell of opponent, as I expected. However, my wounded pride, and promotion in the tournament are completely two other things. See, you know that I am not the type of man, who choose easier path and winning in this way is not something for me to talk about with a pride, but it is true that as long as my participation in the tournament goes on, I don't think that I care so much about what happened. And don't get me wrong, because I'm not an egoist for whom only my own goals matter, but it was April's choice and I can't do anything about it. She left the ring and led to such a situation at her own wish, which is a bit silly, but looking at her motives, I am even impressed. April, putting someone else over herself, has proved how important friendship with my student is to her and I am personally glad that Hana has someone like that at her side, but I don't know if I would be able to do such a thing. Maybe it is a matter of the fact that despite having a small group of friends, I have always been a loner and went through life without being held by  hand, or maybe I'm just a little selfish. But who is not these days? It is rare that you can count on someone in this business, because people almost always look at it in the first place what is the most beneficial for them. Cases like April are rare and just make people naive. As far as I can see that she was honest in her behavior, many people just choose their words properly to gain the heart of the crowd and become a hero in their eyes, while in fact all they do, they do it only for themselves. And I  see such a person when I'm looking at Alyssa Grace.

*Arata, holding the remaining cards folded back in the deck, rhythmically hits them against the table and after this short break, returns to the topic, he started, even if it seems to be controversial.*

Don't get me wrong, because I don't really have anything against you, except maybe your arrogance that you show me, but it's not something I would keep grudges for However, your words, although they sound nice are slightly...overrated. Perhaps in some companies it matters, but in places like this, where there is no separation into female and male divisions, no one cares about your gender. For everyone you are only a competitor, so putting yourself ahead of everyone as a kind of leader of women of Wrestleworld is a bit incorrect. Even if you are actually the only woman who has come this far during KOTW, it doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't behave in this way, just to gain some attention. Maybe you think you are doing good thing, but in reality you are making little stupid girls out of them, and yes, my opinion may be quite controversial, but look at it from this perspective. There are women in the roster like Stephanie Matsuda, April Song or big bad Claudia Michaels, and the role of the leader, in your view, is supposed to be taken by someone who is just taking the first steps in this industry. To be honest, you could now compare it to my beginnings here, but the difference between me and you is that I didn't come to the beautiful glass palace, asking for attention, but I started building this place from scratch (The man takes a deep breath and puts part of the deck on the table) I understand that maybe your stupid decisions are affected by this mess with Claudia and The Underworld, but honestly I don't care. However, if I can give you advice on this issue, I will just say that you do what she wants. You let yourself be manipulated and you get more and more involved in this stupid game, while your real goal becomes to be far and far from you. And as I remember, you probably decided on the wrestling industry in order to show that you are the best and so on, that's way I even more don't understand why instead of self-development, you focus on a bunch of idiots, that Claudia sends to you. I know it's not that easy to just get rid of them, but since you say you are so stubborn if you want something, you probably shouldn't have a problem with the two minions.

*Arata winks at the camera with a smirk on his face. However, he realizes that all those who are involved in this whole mess, made by Claudia, do not have an easy life and he is even a little sorry for Alyssa.*

The sooner you free yourself from them, the better for you, because I will tell you one thing, Alyssa, if you think about them all the time, you have no chance with me in this match. As you have already understood, I'm not someone like Jimmy or this jester, who has some strange obsession with you. I am at a much higher level than those two, so if you think that victories over them makes you stand with me as an equal, you are wrong. Maybe I'm wrong as well, I'm not saying that I'm not, but at the moment you are at least theoretically a new face that has been successful in your first two matches against some two insignificant names. Anyway, you have my praise for your good run so far, because there are also those who can not even make the first good impression, but this time it will not be so simple. I will say it again, you can compare yourself to me as much as you want, but don't forget about one thing, sweetheart. You are not me. The fact that no one has been able to pin or submitt me so far is my merit, not some fucking rule. The fact that this is your third match doesn't guarantee that you will win it just, because I did it. However, maybe I should be glad that you are so confident in relation to our match, because in the end I will see all the determination that you keep talking about. Maybe I will finally see this hero of this fairy tale, who in order to gain recognition will defeat the champion, but I must warn you that life is not a fairy tale. A fairy tale that was notoriously attributed to me for some reason, because it sells well, but the reality is much more brutal and sometimes the desire alone is not enough, Alyssa. I do not question that you have skills or something, because as I said, I think you are a huge talent, but even the best-looking sword in bad hands is nothing but a worthless blade. By this I mean that even if you have potential, you still lack ring awareness or sometimes common sense. I don't have this experience a lot myself, but as you can see, I learn from each match and that's why no one was able to snatch my title from my hands for half a year. And many have tried.

As you can see, you are not the only one who has determination and  work hard because if I didn't have these two things, I would still be rotting in Osaka. As well as you are not the only person who has to face all adversities, because I can guarantee you that I know much more about this than you might think. Therefore, even though I feel sorry for you that you are going through a difficult time, regardless of your motives, I am not going to do you a favor. Actually, it doesn't matter to me whether you do it to prove something to Claudia or to defend other women here. This tournament is to select the best wrestler in this company, not the most noble, and I definitely belong into this first category. For me, winning athe King of the World is nothing more than strengthening my position as one of the biggest superstars in Wrestleworld. I'm not going to lie and pretend that I care about something else just to gain public support, because it doesn't matter. Just as it doesn't matter whether I'm theoretically in the main event or not. I know that when you told me that during the EpiCenter's episode, you thought it would hurt me, but the truth is I don't have to finish the show to steal it. Don't get me wrong, certainly my raised hand in a gesture of victory, which is the last thing people see must be cool, but the truth is that the main event is where I am and the position on the card doesn't change that. From the beginning I was one of the biggest deals in this company and maybe Jacob Senn is right...maybe I'm their golden boy, but you know what that means to me? It means that I am important enough to be on the list of people taking part in PPV, no matter what happens during our match. As for you, you are not so sure, maybe with failure, all the fire that you have around you will also disappear. However, I do not intend to choose the easy way and I want to get my place on the KOTW PPV card by reaching the finals. Not only for self-development, but there is actually one more thing, well, person.

*The young Japanese bits his lip and raises his eyebrows, in the same time throwing the deck of cards aside.*

Actually, I already mentioned his name and, of course, I mean Jacob Senn, who, despite the fact that I gave me a hand after our match last year, still keeps a grudge against me. I'm not saying, I didn't expect it to be like that, but I thought that after I kicked his ass in the title match, he would at least end up saying this nonsense. However, as you can see, Jacob still claims that I have robbed him and he should now wear my championship, which is why I have no choice but to remind him of what happened the last time, when he behaved in this way. That is why our meeting in the final would be a dream opportunity to do it. It is true that a lot can happen and maybe neither of us will qualify, but at least on my part I am going to do everything to get to the finals and fight with him for the crown. So maybe by this I will finally be able to put this bitch in his place and there is nowhere near Shogun Title.

*Before Arata continues his speech, he pulls out two cards and shows them towards the camera.*

Therefore, we can say that both you and me are only to each other a factor to achieve the goal, we have set. However, this doesn't change the fact that one of us will have to give up this way of achieving this goal by winning tournament. You see, Alyssa,  with this industry is like with cards. There are those that are strong, but there are also stronger than them. That is why you may consider yourself a Queen and maybe you have some basis for it, but I will tell you only one thing. I'm not a King but an fucking Ace, that's why I will win this whole game.

*The blond throws the cards that he is holding in his hand, on the table, on which the camera focuses for a moment, and finally screen fades black.*