Target Practice

After Odyssey…



Stephanie stormed through the backstage corridor of State Farm Center with a chip on her shoulder. There was no need for April Song to call her out. There was no need for her to demand answers about her actions at Hardcore Havoc. As the leader of the World’s Finest, Stephanie did what she felt was necessary at the moment. Alyssa Grace was valuable to the team, but yet that bitch had to make it all about herself. April hasn’t changed, and unfortunately, The War Queen made a bad situation into a worse one. There was a part of her that regretted what she did, but it is what it is. The War Queen drew first blood. Kingdom Come or not, April needed to be checked. Unfortunately, Viola DeMarco made things worse by mentioning how their non-violence order expired after Final Destination. That punch was more for Viola than April, but she needed to lash out at someone. Maybe Monica was right. She was letting her hatred for Claudia and her guilt for what happened to Violet get in her head. Things haven’t felt this personal since The Crowe’s Nest, which ironically enough April Song was apart of. Every time Stephanie lost her cool, there was that murder hornet-looking bitch trying to find a way to sting her. Well, Matsuda has decided to lay things to rest. She and April will have their rematch at Boiling Point, a month after Kingdom Come. That gave them enough time to try and work as a team for the upcoming show and to rest before settling their differences once and for all.

Stephanie brushed past the backstage correspondents and headed straight to her car. No more words needed to be said about the situation. As long as April didn’t let her anger get the best of her, they still had a chance to defeat Underworld. But, where couldn’t she get rid of the feeling of uncertainty that resided inside her?




This Morning...



Monica watched her wife stare at her Phone with an intensity she hasn’t felt in a while. They were driving to the Binghamton area of Upstate New York to see an old friend. Monica sat in the driver’s seat, poised and silent for the majority of the trip. From her peripheral, she could see glimpses of the old “Iconic War Queen” gleaming in Stephanie’s eyes. The War Queen spent all of yesterday studying her opponent’s videos, promos, tweets, and anything else that could give her any kind of insight into their psyche. The Trial of Seven was unlike anything Stephanie has been through. A War Games match with the added caveat of protecting the team captain. Stephanie would have to put her trust in six other people, something she’s been reluctant to do since leaving the Sanatorium. Monica knew she had to stay by her wife’s side no matter what would come their way. 

Stephanie sighed and stared out of the window. Her contact over at Wrestleworld uncovered a direct order from Claudia Michaels to her goons to run any form of interference through communication between her and Violet. Stephanie wasn’t surprised by the American Dream Champion’s tactics. She wanted to travel to Wrestleworld herself to check on Violet, but that would have to wait until after Kingdom Come. After this particular visit, they had to drive back to the city where they would fly out to St. Petersburg. 

“We’re almost there,” Monica said, breaking the ice.

Stephanie simply nodded and kept her focus on the outdoors. Twenty minutes later, they pulled up to a small gun range. The car parked on a dirt path before a white one-story house. Coming out of the house was an older man in his seventies with a thick beard and a black cowboy hat. This was Dutch Cowen, an old friend of Michael Hunter’s. Dutch was a wrestling legend in the seventies/eighties who retired just before the turn of the millennium. 


“Well, aren’t we a sight for sore eyes!” greeted Dutch with a tip of his hat.

Stephanie nodded in return, shook his hand. “It’s good to see you again, old friend. I’m glad you could squeeze me in at such short notice.”

“Anything for Scorpio’s most prized student. I have a camera crew coming our way so we can just set up at the range.” 

“Perfect. Monica and I will get our things and we can get this started. Afterward, we can chill and enjoy your wife’s cooking. I miss Maeve’s cooking.”

“She misses you in general! But first, let’s hit the range.”

Stephanie nodded and followed Dutch to the gun range.




(When the scene opens, we see “The War Queen” Stephanie Matsuda with a Glock .40 caliber pistol in hand, googles on her face, and muffs over her ear. She’s holding a gun in hand aimed at seven specific targets in the distance: The Underworld. Cloud smiles to herself as she takes aim at her first target…)


“Cash ‘Money’ Corleone. A man who can’t even hang in the red zone.” 

BANG.

“Someone who’s just a place holder until Claudia Michaels finds someone more suitable. Or maybe you’re by her side because you’re not a threat.”

BANG.

“And maybe...just maybe, you will never become one.”


BANG.

“Judging from the last time we’ve faced off, the only time you seem to not be shooting blanks is when you’re knocking up your wife.”

(The camera movies from Stephanie to the picture of Cash now filled with two holes in the chest and one in the head. Stephanie adjusts her aim over to Maggall. There’s a slight grimace on her face for a moment, but she quickly gathers her composure.)


“This isn’t the climate to be doing something like this, but you made your bed, sweets. Now lie in it.”


BANG. BANG.

“Nobi makes an interesting point about your very shifting loyalties. I don’t know what your relationship with Havoc is, but you certainly don’t mind being Claudia’s bellhop. You seem to have a weird obsession with little Asian girls. A guy your size against someone like Hana, there’s a genre for that out there, and maybe you’ve been watching it one too many times.”

BANG. BANG.


“No matter. Even I will show mercy to a lost soul from time to time.”


(The camera reveals two holes shot through Maggall’s knees and two more through the elbow.)

“Speaking of lost souls, let’s take aim at the ‘always a bridesmaid never a bride’ himself, The so-called Professional...”


(Stephanie turns her attention to a picture of The Professional.)



“Andrew Sanders, how I pity you. There’s still a part of Nobi that believes there’s still good in you from the Stuffed Crust days. You were his best friend, Andy. Now you’re some whining child jealous of the success he’s obtained. You were once the hottest thing going in the Land of the Elite. You were the biggest babyface in the world, an inspiration to everyone who thought they could never become a pro wrestler. You talk about being an asterisk, but do you know what an asterisk truly is? It’s a symbol for omitted matter, sweets. In other words, you don’t matter in the equation. You don’t matter to Claudia, you don’t matter to your fellow teammates, and pretty soon...you won’t matter to Nobi. You think you’ve studied me inside and out. You think you know how I think, what I’ve been through, and what I’m going to bring to the table. You haven’t seen anything yet, sweets. You don’t know how far I will take things. You can’t understand what drives me, even when all seems lost. And you certainly can’t believe it, because you don’t believe in anything. A shadow of his old self; a man with no direction has no hope of finding himself and will forever lack his true potential. You blame from Nobi for your downfall and thus wasted an entire clip on him. But for me?”

BANG.

“I never miss.”


(The camera shows one bullet hole through the forehead of The Professional. The camera moves its way over to a picture of Lannister.)



“I couldn’t understand half the shit this man was saying but it looks like he’s still harboring a grudge for a certain bastard on my side of the fence. Well, mongrels gonna mongrel amirite? Well, when this eagle takes flight…”

BANG. BANG. BANG.


“It’s gonna come crashing down.”

(The picture of Lannister is now shown to have a hole in each arm and one in the chest. Stephanie takes aim at another target with a spectacular set of abs…)



BANG.


“Allow me to pull the curtain from this smoke and mirrors act you’ve been putting on since your arrival.”

BANG.


(Stephanie reloads and takes aim once more.)

“All of the money in the world won’t save you from my line of sight.”

BANG.

“My bullets can take down even the slyest of ghosts.”

BANG.


“Men like you think you’re one step ahead of the curve…”

BANG.


“Only to find yourselves caught from the moment you round the corner.”

(Stephnie pulls back her gun as the camera shoes three bullet holes, all through Wraith’s stupidly perfect abs. Stephanie sighs and takes aim at the sub-boss to Claudia’s Bowser: Maverick.)


“The foundation that The World Finest stands upon is the contempt we have for Underworld. It’s the tie that binds us together. There might be cracks within our team but we’re honest about our tension. Can The Underworld survive their cracks within each other? Especially with the bootlicking contest going on between Jason, Andy, and Alessandro? Maybe Maggall is Claudy’s new plaything. There’s a BLACKED joke somewhere in the- no wait, I just said it. Damn it Cloudy, you need to work on your comedy timing. Anywho, before you judge my career sweets I suggest you take a look at those XHF titles you have hanging on the wall and ask yourself if that’s all you have to bring to the table. If there’s any young talent who’s received shot after shot in OWA and Wrestleworld it’s you, and you’ve dropped the ball immensely. Cinderella Story was delayed because unlike you and yours we actually give a fuck about our talent and fans and if you ever...and I mean EVER let JET’s name leave your lips I’ll kick your fucking teeth in. Are we clear JASON!? I suggest you worry less about my leadership and more about how last you’re going to last under Claudia’s watchful eye because she has quite a reputation for stabbing people in the back. Oh by the way if you want to talk titles one of us is a current reigning world champion, sweets. You and I are not the same. Get my name out your mouth and the place that made me who I am because a caterpillar can’t envision what an eagle sees...isn’t that right Lannister? Now, why don’t you run along and get tapped about by Havoc or something.”

BANG.

“Dick.”

(The camera pulls back from the Maverick picture to reveal a single bullet hole through the crotch. Stephanie cracks as a smile and changes her target.)




“And now for the grand finale-”

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.

(As Stephanie reloaded again, she continued speaking.)

“I saw that you posted another video a few hours ago, sweets. I haven’t checked it yet. I’ll save it for my final nail in YOUR coffin.”

BANG.

“You have to take your time with this, Claudy. Everyone else wants to fire early - I swear if this was a sex orgy rather than an orgy of violence I would be SEVERELY disappointed in The Underworld’s performance. Then again, your in-ring tactics might be as boring as your sex life.”

BANG.

“That Youtuber from New York is still a dick for those comments though. Leave it to the boys and girls in the locker room to be the judge, jury, and executioner for their peers.”

BANG.

“You call yourself dangerous, but the only danger lies in the blue trigger aimed at your head. Jaywalker has me leading the charge because he knows I can get the job done. You played your hand too early at King of the World, sweets. And I have a feeling that I forced you to turn over every card in your predictable deck. Here’s the thing: I’m not finished. You think I paid the price, but fighting you has become a layaway plan. Every punch delivered is me cashing in on my investment. Honestly, Claudia, you’re like the kid in high school who sticks around long after graduation, never getting the hint that nobody wants you around. Not Jaywalker - hell even your daughter is doing better without your existence! Even your own “son” betrayed you and his fighting on my side!”

BANG. BANG.
  
“Here’s the thing sweets, you don’t get to tell me when to shut my mouth. You speak about trying and failing but yet you were literally given a title from Jaywalker! You didn’t earn the American Dream, title, or otherwise! You want me to stay silent because it allows you to do whatever you want, in fact, I’m probably the only person reminding you how much of a selfish bitch you really are! That used to be Aria and’s job, but I guess it’s up to me now.”

BANG.

“I’ll admit - I let my feelings get in the way of defeating Havoc. He and I will have to run it back another time.  I’d worry less about that loss and how little my team trusts me and more about whether or not you can trust YOUR people. The way you treat others is like dogshit and one day it’s all going to come full circle for you. Like my late grandmother said: ‘if it doesn’t come out in the wash…’” 

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.

“It’ll come out in the rinse.”

BANG.

(As Stephanie holstered her pistol, the camera turns to a completely decimated picture of Claudia Michaels, riddled with bullet holes. The War Queen removes the earmuffs and goggles and stepped away without looking back as the camera lingers the results of Matsuda’s firing session.)


“Know it. Understand it. Believe it.”