Psycho Extras - Beside

The show is over. The Mount Hagen faithful are packing out. The crew is dismantling the ring and stage. The compound's tents are being torn down, and the shipping containers are getting ready to be carried away. Wrestlers are heading to their hotel rooms or crossing the street to go straight to the airport for a late-night flight to New Caledonia, or at least to book one for the following day.

Everyone has some business to attend to, including Zadie Chen. Only her business is the act of searching within what remains of the compound. Search for what, though? No, not what. Whom. She has a pack of ice in her, so one could hazard a guess.

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - Jessie Moore vs Sarah Esposito

Briar Lane: Your main event of the evening is a number 1 contender's match scheduled for one fall! The winner will go on to challenge for the PSW Jewell's Championship at the Valentine's Brawl!

A bombastic regal theme plays, and the Hagenites rise to their feet and scream. Ngozi strides onto the stage, clad in a purple tracksuit and her signature orange visor sunglasses, with the Jewell's Championship around her waist, a microphone in hand, and her head held higher than her 6-foot frame should allow.

She spreads her arms, taking in the cheers as the camera pans around her and follows her down the ramp.

Briar Lane: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your special guest commentator, the Bearer of the Jewell, Ngozi - Empress of the Squared Circle!

Ngozi gives the fans a royal wave, and they only cheer louder; some even bow.

A.B.: She is a living legend! A fighting champion! The most technically gifted athlete this sport has ever seen, and tonight she will witness the crowning of her next challenger at the Valentine's Brawl!

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - Pressure

As the crew extinguishes the flames and prepares the replacement ring mat out in the Showgrounds, an O.R.D.R.L.I. feed appears on the big screen. It shows the interior of Nalah Shabani's makeshift office within tonight's temporary backstage compound. 

A.B.: What's happening

The GM sits at her desk, currently talking with Zadie Chen, who gets a loud pop, fresh off her one-sided victory over Shay Maharaj. Chen has her hands on her hips and is nodding along while Shabani says... something.

Dominga: Hey, can we get some sound? What the hell?

Shabani: ...o you understand?

Chen: I do. (bows) Thank you for the opportunity.

Shabani (shaking head): Please, don't bow. It makes me uncomfortable.

Chen (straightens): Of course. I'll see you in Nouméa. (turns and leaves)

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - The Tribe and the Harem

A growling female voice yells, “Faavalevale!” and the crowd comes completely unglued. A deep male voice yells, “Porangi!” then an even deeper male voice roars, "Vale!” All three then scream together, "MADNESS!" before deep bass guitar and tribal drums hit. 

Lulu Asovale comes out first, her beaded braids covering her eyes. Hunapo Henare and Kaivao Manu flank her, rolling shoulders and frothing at the mouth, respectively. The trio makes their way down the ramp, each holding a mic. 

A.B.: The Madness are Mount Hagen. Wherever they go, trouble follows.

Shamoon: Actually, I think trouble is usually in front of them, running for its life. 

Dominga: And it's never fast enough.

They enter the ring. Asovale spreads her arms while Henare howls like a wolf and Manu headbangs. 

Shamoon: Maybe it's just the whole Pacific Tour thing, but it's crazy how popular they've been! Listen to this place! I mean, not to get "smarky", but they're heels. They're bad guys.

Dominga: Who decided that?

Shamoon: They're constantly jumping people! They almost jumped Sarah Esposito just now.

Dominga: And it's fun to watch!

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - Rose Reverberations

A.B.: We turn, once again, to Chloe Davis. Chloe? First of all, are you alright?

Davis (o.s): Yeah, Alf, I'm good. Thanks. (chuckles) I do feel a bit silly, though.

Dominga: You should be used to that. 

A.B.: Will you stop? Take us away, Chloe.

Compound

Davis: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my guest at this time, the number 1 draft pick and the woman who will meet the "Outlaw" Jessie Moore in the main event to crown the number 1 contender to the Jewells Championship, the Rose of Ferocity, Sarah Esposito.

The bouffant-haired Michoacánian, in full tiger-striped gear with floral-tatted arms bare, steps into frame to a mixed reaction. 

Esposito: Thanks, Chloe, and for the record, you can call me Sarah. I don't play stupid games like that.

Davis (nods and chuckles): Thanks.

Esposito: And you know what? Just for that, I'll make sure to give Moore a little extra. Lord knows she has it coming.

Dominga: Kiss-ass.

Shamoon: It's called being nice. Try it sometime.

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - Shay Maharaj vs Zadie Chen

Shamoon: I just... What the hell?!

A.B.: I told you. Those Jabbars need help.

Shamoon: Those are not the guys I've been following for years. Those guys were fun-loving, happy-go-lucky. Just a couple of brothers doing something they loved. These guys? The hatred in their eyes, the vitriol coming out of their mouths? I just can't reconcile that. 

Dominga: Personally... I respect it.

A.B.: You've got to be kidding me. 

Shamoon: Of course you do!

Dominga: LISTEN! What they did to Eeva was messed up, and that "Will you be our valentine?" thing gave me the creeps. What I respect is that they stood on business. When you turn to the dark side, that's long-term, and frankly, after taking beating after beating since they got here, a villain arc might be exactly what they need. It's like the old saying, "Cheaters always prosper."

A.B.: That is the literal opposite of the saying.

Dominga: Yeah, well, the old saying was bullcrap. So I changed it.

Shamoon: Speaking of bullcrap. There's no way Shabani's actually going to let that Valentine's Brawl challenge stand, right? Elsa'd be on her own. It'd be two-on-one.

A.B.: I saw the state Elsa was in last week. I really, really hope somebody talks her out of any dangerous ideation. For now, it's time for a palate cleanser.

The arena fills with rapid drum beats and shaking tambourines, backed by steady electric guitar strums and a piano playing D Minor. The crowd boos heavily as the Maharaj walks onto the stage and blows a kiss.

Shamoon: You call this a palate cleanser?

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - Influence

A.B.: And there we see Queen Cobra, the former Jewell's Champion and, of course, the wife of El Demonio de las Heladas, helping her husband to the back.

Dominga: Now that he's back under the lights, just look at him. He's bleeding like a stuck pig! 

Shamoon: Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. 

Dominga: Well, I hope it was worth it, because now the Thunderweight title match at the Valentine's Brawl is in jeopardy and that hothead Vités is going to be in jail for a long time.

Shamoon: Wanna bet?

Dominga: No. I will never bet you anything again.

Cobra has the dazed demon's arm over her shoulder, while holding his belt in her free hand. Lanky as she is, it takes everything she has to support him, yet support him she does.

Shamoon: You know, with how much of a terrorist Cobra's been since day one, it's crazy to see her tender side.

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - A Symphony of Frost and Blaze

A cold wind blows in, the lights go blue and a deep Latin instrumental is overlaid with Aztec chants and an orchestral chorus. The Mount Hagen crowd boos heavily. Those who aren't shivering, of course.

Out walks the Demon, the Thunderweight Championship slung around the waist of his stocky, body-painted frame. He looks out at the crowd with his glowing blue eyes, walking down the ramp with a sheet of ice forming at his feet like the rolling of a red carpet.

Briar Lane: The following contest is scheduled for one fall. Making his way to the ring from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, standing 5 feet 9, and weighing in at 215 pounds, it is He Who Wields Thunder, EL DEMONIO DE LAS HELADAS!!!

A.B.: 36 days ago, at Ascension, this man became the inaugural Thunderweight Champion, and tonight, by order of the GM, he has his first match on the Monday Night Madhouse. Non-title, against a non-Thunderweight. 

Shamoon: That is still such an insane stat. A whole month without actually wrestling with a big title match on the way. 

Dominga: I'll tell you what's insane. This match! What the hell is Shabani thinking, putting our Thunderweight Champion in a match with someone outside of his weight class? What did he do to deserve this?

A.B.: As established, nothing. Well, not counting going over to the Fight Pit and mutilating their challenger, Danys Vités, to prove some kind of sick, twisted point.

Dominga: He was just sending a message!

A.B.: And Vités sent one of his own last Friday. That was not the same bright-eyed, cocky young athlete we saw at Ascension. Heladas lit that flame.

Dominga: Good thing he's the master of ice, then. This match is still BS, though.

Shamoon: We don't even know who he's facing yet, though.

A.B.: Knowing Shabani, it's probably going to be a brutal, punishing monster who will take the champion to his absolute limits.

Heladas enters the ring and looks up at the stage, anticipating his mystery opponent.

The arena darkens, and the titantron shows a ruined city. The lights flash white, and Hotaru Ishikawa comes out, mic in hand. This is the first time he's been seen since Episode 2, when he was destroyed by then-Bloodbath Champion Roger Evans in a Tables Match. 

Dominga: Wow...

Shamoon: You have got to be kidding.

A.B.: I take it back. 

Briar Lane: And his opponent. From Kyoto, Kansai, Japan, standing 6 feet 5 and weighing in at 255 pounds, HOTARU ISHIKAWA! 

Ishikawa bends over, dangling his upper body, then stands up straight and spreads his arms, and the lights return to normal. The crowd goes mild. 

Ishikawa (walking down, wagging his finger): Well, well, well. Someone's been a bad boy.

Heladas remains impassive as the Japanese man approaches. 

Ishikawa (stops at the base of the ramp): You know... You're really lucky. (walks to the stairs) Really, really lucky. (climbs the steps) Because I'm just too damn big (flexes free arm) and too damn bad (points at himself, then at Thunder) to challenge for that shiny little belt of yours. (enters the ring) But... (gets in close, towering over Heladas) I'm just the right size to put belt to ass (leans in, wide eyes), little man!

A.B.: How long?

Dominga: 30.

Shamoon: 15.

Referee Fabiola Acquarone gets between them. Ishikawa discards the mic and backs off. Heladas hands Thunder over to the ref, who hands it to a crewman at ringside before calling for the bell. 

The big man immediately goes for a big boot. The smaller man catches that boot.

A.B.: Dragon Screw!

Ishikawa tries to get up, but eats a Jumping Cutter that brings him back down on his face.

Dominga: FROSTBITE!

With his opponent grounded, the Thunderweight Champion locks in his signature crossface. 

Shamoon: SHARD! 

Ishikawa, dazed and his body temperature rapidly dropping, can only manage the weakest of tap-outs. 

Acquarone calls the bell. 

Briar Lane: Here is your winner... ¡EL DEMONIO DE LAS HELADAS!!!

Dominga: Three words: TUNE. UP. MATCH!

Shamoon: That's actually two words. There's supposed to be a hyph- 

Dominga: Shut up, Shamoon!

A.B.: The point is, this was never intended to be a punishment, as we had previously believed.

Shamoon: I don't know; Ishikawa looks pretty punished to me. I don't like the guy, but LET HIM GO ALREADY!

The bell rings again, and again and again as Ishikawa starts turning blue. Heladas stays impassive as the ref tries to pull him off, then pulls away and warms her hands. Acquarone then calls Briar Lane over. 

Acquarone: I've reversed it. Make the announcement.

Briar Lane (nods): Ladies and gentlemen, referee Fabiola Acquarone has reversed the decision. 

Heladas finally releases Ishikawa and turns his head.

Dominga: What? She can't do that!

A.B.: She quite literally can.

Briar Lane: And so your winner is now... HOTARU ISHIKAWA!

The Demon pops to his feet. The referee hops out of the ring, her decision final. 

A.B.: That will be a loss on the record, but I don't think Heladas cares. 

Heladas walks to the edge of the ring, points at the crewman holding his title, and beckons him over. The crewman approaches hesitantly and holds up the belt for the champion to snatch, then walks past Ishikawa's pseudo-corpse to pick up the microphone he discarded earlier. 

Heladas (points at Ishikawa): Another victim, but where is the hero? Where is the saviour? Hmm? (looks into the camera) Vités, deed you think you impressed me with your little video? ¿Un niño pequeño jugando con su carne? 

Dominga: (stifles laughter)

Shamoon: What? What did he say?

A.B.: It is not worth repeating.

Heladas: I am not a lifeless slab of beef, boy. I am the bootcher.

Some people in the crowd start screaming. 

A.B.: Oh, my- Oh, my God! There's smoke. There's smoke in the crowd!

Heladas: And the Valentine's Brawl...

Shamoon: That's not smoke. That's... That's-

Heladas: ... I will feast on your- 

Dominga: Turn around, Champ! 

He does indeed turn, via his own senses, and eats a Superman Punch. 

A.B.: It's Danys Vités!

Heladas topples through the ropes to the outside. Vités, in full bodysuit and his scarred mask, stares down, smoke emanating from his mouth, eyes and hands glowing bright orange before he leaps out of the ring when Heladas gets to his feet.

A.B.: Danys Vités, the Fight Pit's top Thunderweight, the No. 1 contender, is attacking the Champion. He is exacting retribution!

Dominga: What the hell is he doing here?! The Fight Pit is in Port Moresby!

Shamoon: Port Moresby's an hour-plus flight away! 

A.B.: And there they go! Vités on Heladas! Fists and fire, pounding away at the Thunderweight Champion on the grass!

Vités drags Heladas up by the hair and throws him into the ringpost. 

A.B.: Face-first into the post goes Heladas!

Dominga: Somebody stop this hot-head!

Shamoon: Vités' not done! He's got Heladas up again, and he's- Guys, I think he's bringing him over here! He's bringing Heladas!

Dominga: Somebody get out here, dammit! Stop this hothead!

A.B.: Heladas fighting back! Elbows to the gut. And now a rake of the eyes!

Dominga: That's more like it!

Heladas grabs Vités' head and drags him to the commentary desk. He tries to slam his face into it, but the Haitian blocks and elbows him in the gut before retaking control.

A.B.: And now Vités bouncing Heladas' head right in front of us! Again, and again, again, and again and- 

Vités (slams desk with both hands and leaning over, screaming at the commentators): MMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVEE!!!!!!!!!

Balducci, Alvaréz and Shamoon all jump out of their seats a second before Vités throws Heladas over the desk.

Shamoon: Look out!

Brendan Steele and his men, along with some medics, rush down in special white hazmat suits.

Dominga: Took you long enough! Get this fire hazard out of here!

They grab the masked man and try to restrain him, but he wriggles free and begins dropping them with thrust kicks, roundhouses, back kicks, elbows, and backfists, with Steele himself getting another Superman Punch. 

Shamoon: Vités is out of control! 

Dominga: Fight back, you idiots! Stop him! 

Vités chases off the medics and turns back to Heladas.

A.B.: Heladas with the chair! 

Shamoon: Hey, that's mine!

A.B.: Heladas using the chair as a projectile to knock down Vités, and now he's escaping. The Demon is escaping through the crowd.

Shamoon: But Vités' not stopping! He's getting up and going after him.

Dominga: Get up, Steele! Get up!

Security rises, and the medics return to give chase. 

A.B.: They are brawling through the crowd. Vités, Heladas, rights and lefts, battling through the people of Mount Hagen.

Shamoon: Get out of the way, people! Get out of the way!

A.B.: They've the street! The streets of Mount Hagen are being serenaded to a violent song of ice and fire! Look at Vités, that martial arts background, the speed, the fists, the feet, the knees, the elbows. Heladas is trying to get his hands up to defend himself!

Shamoon: He's been busted open! The Frost Demon is bleeding! Just like he did to Vités in the Philippines!

Dominga: They're causing a traffic jam! Call the police! Call the fire department! Call the armed forces! 

The Jaliscan weathers the storm of strikes and gets his hand on Vités' face.

A.B.: PER L'AMOR DI DIO! HELADAS HAS FROZEN VITÉS' FACE! VITÉS CAN'T SEE! VITÉS CAN'T BREATHE!

Dominga: GOOD! GOOD! PUT HIM DOWN LIKE THE ANIMAL HE IS!

A.B.: Vités writhing in suffocation! Heladas trying to crawl away, to get to the airport!

Shamoon: He's melting the ice! Vités is melting the ice. 

The speedster sits up and gasps, his eyes bloodshot. In no time at all, he catches up and pounces on the Demon once again. 

Dominga: He's a damn monster! HE'S the demon!

A.B.: Vités' not stopping! HE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL HIS HANDS ARE COATED IN THE THUNDERWEIGHT CHAMPION'S BLOOD!

As Vités unleashes a furious ground-and-pound, the guards and medics blast him with fire extinguishers. 

Dominga: FINALLY!

Steele tackles the young striker to the ground and pins him down. Suddenly, police cars appear on the scene. Mount Hagen's finest rush out, guns and cuffs out. 

Dominga: DOUBLE FINALLY!

The guards and medics disperse, making way for the cops. 

Lead Officer: Which one is Vités?!

Steele (still holding the Haitian down): HIM! GET HIM OUT O' HERE!

A.B.: They are cuffing Vités! The number 1 contender to the Thunderweight title is being dragged into the back of a police cruiser. What else is going to happen tonight?!

Dominga: Lock him up and throw away the key! Put him in a freezer and bury it!

Shamoon: Heladas is in bad shape! He was beaten up bad! What does this mean for the Brawl?

A.B.: I have no idea.

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - The Learning Tree

Compound

Chloe Davis stands in a dedicated interview zone within the compound. 

Davis: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the "Outlaw" Jessie Moore. 

The towering and heavyset Salt Laker slowly walks into view, black hat and red bandana on, hands in pockets, to loud cheers and boos.

Davis: Now, Jessie-

Moore: Jessie? Do ah know ya? Ahr we fuh-amiliar? We friends? Who thuh blazes you callin' Jessie?!

Davis (flinches): S-Sorry, Miss Moore-

Moore: Miss? Ah've bee-yn married 11 yars.  Ah done thought ya'd know, bein' a journalist an all, but ah guess thay jus' huhre any ole purty face awff thuh street!

Some in the crowd laugh.

Davis (closes eyes and shakes): R-Right! Mrs Moore-

Moore (slowly leans in, her beady lime green eyes boring into the purple-haired interviewer): Moo-wre is maah maiden nuh-ame. 

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - Lethbridge & Lei D vs Dubois & Talon

An upbeat rock track plays as the crowd reacts strongly. A fiery young Chinese woman with black dots in her white hair, clad in purple gear with a dice pattern that adds up to 8, runs out onto the stage. She throws up a point to the fans one side, then points at the fans on the other.

Briar Lane: The following is a tag team match scheduled for one fall! Introducing first, from Macau, China, standing 5 feet 2 and weighing in at 118 pounds, "LUCKY" LEI D!

Shamoon (stars in his eyes): She's so cuuuuutee!!!

Dominga (sticks tongue out): Blagh. She looks like a Dalmatian. 

A.B.: Lei D, the former idol, is about to have her second match ever in PSW. Her first was on our very first episode, an utter decimation at the hands of Athiambo.

A rocking melody plays. A young Caucasian woman with short brown hair and bangs, wearing blue and red gear, jogs onto the stage, throws up her hands, and beckons the crowd to cheer.

 

Briar Lane: And her tag team partner. From Calgary, Alberta, Canada, standing 5 feet 6 and weighing in at 140 pounds, MAYA LETHBRIDGE!

Lethbridge fist-bumps Lei D, and they both make their way down to the ring.

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - Plausible Deniability

Another O.R.D.R.L.I. shot captures the inside of the gorilla tent, where GM Nalah Shabani, Producer Mike Miller, and the "Mother Hen of Holds," Kalavina Leota, in her Road Agent slacks, watch the chaos outside. 

Miller: Brendan! Brendan, pull back! Just pull back! We don't need airport authorities on us. Just let him go, alright?! Let him go! (throws off headphones) What a damn mess. 

Leota: It was no DQ.

Miller: That's not what I'm talking about! That kid's fighting 14 different infections, hopped up on all kinds of drugs. He shouldn't be here. What the hell was he thinking?

Leota (shakes head): I saw his eyes. (looks at monitor replaying Evans powerbombing Stewart through the table and then looking down at the wreckage) Dere weren't any doughts. Just hate, da strongest drug dere is.

Miller (looking at it as well): Fricken hell, and now Festa's champion. Girl barely knows who she is half the time, and now she's got the most dangerous belt in the company.

Leota: She knew who she was when she challenged. 

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - Luisa Festa vs Ethan Stewart (c) - Chairs, Ladders & Tables

Crewmen bring out the eponymous furniture and arrange it around the ring. Stewart stands at one corner, leaning against the turnbuckles with his arms folded and the Bloodbath belt resting on his shoulder. Festa stands in the opposite corner, doing her signature tubeman dance. 

Dominga: I don't know what I did to deserve this, but I am so incredibly grateful. Last week, I got to see the end of Evans, and this week I get to see the end of Festa!

A.B.: You know, I'm old enough to remember a saying about counting your chickens before they hatch.

Dominga: She doesn't stand a chance!

A.B.: She has an uphill battle here, but a match like this favours wily ingenuity over brute force, and Festa has proven herself to be quite the trickster.

Dominga: Yeah, when she's sober, and even then, so what? You think that "Brazilian tap" crap she pulled against Talon a month ago will do anything here?

Referee Marcia Lima runs out and slides into the ring.

Shamoon: Hey, I got a question. The whole point of this match type is to climb the ladder and get the title, right?

A.B.: Yes.

Shamoon: We're outside. What are they hanging the title from?

PSW Madhouse Episode 6 - Absolution

- 3 February 2031

An O.R.D.R.L.I. flies over mist-veiled peaks and coffee plantations just across the road from the regional airport to show a vast expanse of fenced mountain turf where thousands of spectators crowd along low perimeter fences and rustic earth mounds to watch the ring below.

Hidden behind the field sits a secure, generator-powered compound of heavy canvas marquee tents and modified shipping containers that serve as makeshift locker rooms, warm-up bays, and taped interview sets.

Tucked behind a towering scaffolding entrance wall, a pallet-floored canvas lean-to serves as the Gorilla position.

A.B.: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Psycho Style Wrestling's Monday Night Madhouse! I'm Alf Balducci; the livewire, Dominga Alvarez, to my right; the ever-analytical Aazif Shamoon to my left. We are less than two weeks away from the Valentine's Brawl in Dunedin, New Zealand, and tonight, we are coming to you LIVE from Mount Hagen in Papua New Guinea!

Shamoon: Listen to this place! Listen to these fans!

Dominga: Whose idea was it to stage a show next to an airport?

Shamoon: It adds to the atmosphere.

Dominga: I'd like to throw you into the atmosphere.

A.B.: Behave, you two. The GM is out here.