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- 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.
General Manager Nalah Shabani stands in the ring, clad in her pinstripe suit jacket, black pencil skirt and golden-rimmed oval glasses.
Shabani: Good evening, Mount Hagen.
The crowd cheers the name drop.
Dominga: Cheap pop.
Shamoon: How else is she supposed to address them?
A.B.: Quiet.
Shabani: Welcome to the Madhouse!
Anoth pop.
Shabani: We'd like to thank the local government for giving us your Showgrounds this evening. I personally guarantee we will leave it the way we found it, and we will give you an incredible show because you deserve it!
They cheer again.
Dominga: "Deserve" is doing a lot of work here.
A.B.: Those tickets aren't cheap.
Shabani: Your main event this evening, announced last week by your Bearer of the Jewell and sanctioned by myself, promises to be a hard-hitting affair between two alpha females as the Madhouse's Number 1 draft pick, the Rose of Ferocity, Sarah Esposito...
A mix of boos and cheers, the former of which catches the GM slightly off-guard, but she regains her composure in a millisecond.
Shabani: ... and the veteran, the Outlaw, Jessie Moore...
A mix of cheers and boos, the former of which once again catches the GM off-guard, though she isn't as quick to put the mask back on.
Shabani: ... will... go one-on-one to determine who will go on to challenge Empress Ngozi for the PSW Jewell's Championship at the Valentine's Brawl!
More cheers.
Shabani: But that... is the end of tonight's show. Before we get to that, I... would like to take a moment to discuss the end... of last week's show in Honiara, Solomon Islands. If you would turn your attention to the big screen (points at titantron)
A montage video plays of Ethan Stewart making his long-awaited return to the Madhouse and challenging the wounded Crimson King, Roger Evans, to a Street Fight... in the actual Street surrounded by cars.
It shows Evans failed flying forearm, Stewart stomping on him mercilessly, beating the boy with his fists until he's coughing up teeth and blood, slamming his face against the hood of a car, whipping him with his own pants belt and then strangling him with that same belt. The whole time, Evans refuses to give up.
Shamoon: It was a brutal mugging from the get-go. Stewart wanted
It shows Stewart attempting to run Evans over with a white pickup, only for the latter to dodge; Stewart arguing with Deputy Head Referee Georgia Holliday, which allows Evans to throw a traffic cone at him; Evans beating down Stewart with the cone, dropping the Scotsman tailbone-first onto the standing cone, carving Stewart's face with his belt buckle and strangling him with his.
A.B.: Evans put up a hell of a fight.
It shows Evans attempting a Superkick, only for his foot to get caught and for him to be kicked in the balls.
Dominga: BUT IT WASN'T ENOUGH!
It shows Stewart performing the Steak Knife DDT through the windshield and pinning Evans to become the new Crimson King.
A.B.: Stewart had finally claimed the Bloodbath Championship, but he wasn't satisfied with just victory. No, he had to go beyond. He opened a nearby manhole cover and dropped Evans' body, open wounds and all, into the Honiara sewer system!
It shows Stewart beating down security with a crowbar when they try to intervene before committing the aforementioned act. Security Chief Brendan Steele, Chief Medical Officer Dr Anya Sharma and Shabani herself all rush out screaming for him to stop, but they are too late. The final sequence is Stewart walking down King George VI with the title held over his head.
Shamoon: It was just evil. Evil and unnecessary and-
Dominga: Exactly what we all knew would happen when Stewart got his hands on that tonto. I called it on episode 1; he made the wrong enemy, and now he's lucky to be alive!
A.B.: Lucky? It's a miracle! All this over getting kicked in the balls a few times.
Dominga: Perfectly reasonable.
Shamoon: How would you know? You don't have any.
Dominga: That makes two of us.
The video ends, and the GM looks down at the ring mat as a new one plays, showing the security team and Honiara's rescue services pulling Evans out of the sewer, fitted with breathing gear, given shots and loaded into an ambulance. It also shows Sharma briefly glaring at Shabani before entering the ambulance, then leaving.
Shabani: Roger Evans, for obvious reasons, isn't here tonight, but Ethan Stewart is, and I would like him to join in the ring right now.
The crowd erupts.
The crowd erupts.
Shamoon: WHAT?!
A.B.: Oh no, no, no!
Dominga: Is she loco?!
A heavy metal song is heard throughout the arena. The crowd comes even more unglued. Stewart walks out, his face covered in plasters, his nose in splint, before walking down the ramp; in his right hand is the blood god itself, Crimson, the Bloodbath Championship belt, which he raises above his head. Shabani frowns deeply
Dominga: Chicos, never before has a champion and his belt looked better together. This is what we were robbed of for FIVE WEEKS STRAIGHT!
Shamoon: We weren't robbed of anything! Evans won the title and defended like a champion.
Dominga: And now he's gone!
A.B.: He's in recovery. There's a difference.
Dominga: There's no way he recovers from last week.
A.B.: For how tough that kid is, I wouldn't be surprised if we see him sooner rather than later, hopefully with a better sense of self-preservation.
Dominga: If he has any sense, he'll quit. Just to reduce his chances of ever stepping in the ring with Ethan Stewart again.
A.B.: On that note, what on Earth is the GM thinking, inviting him into the ring alone?
Stewart, with the belt now resting on his shoulder, takes a microphone from a crewman, climbs the steps, and enters the ring.
Shabani: Stewart-
Stewart: Ye dinnae need tae say a word, High Heid Yin. Ye're welcome.
Shabani (double-take): Excuse me?
Stewart: Clearly, ye called me oot here tae thank me fer wipin' the shite-stain aff this beautiful belt, but ye dinnae need tae. Ah'd've done it six days a week an' twice on a Sunday. Though, Ah widnae say no tae an early bonus, mind.
A.B.: Unrepentant sociopath.
Shamoon: Sick and twisted monster.
Dominga: Badass.
Shabani: You... Are you serious? You think I called you- Do you have any idea what you did? Have you any concept of the sheer extent of depravity you engaged in when you threw that young man down that manhole?
Stewart: Aye. Why dae ye think I done it? A wanted that wee bastard oot. A wanted him tae suffer jist forever, mindin' it day in an' day oot that it wis me that did it, an' mak' an example o' him tae the hale locker room o' whit happens when ye embarrass Ethan Stewart.
There boos, but some cheers.
Shabani: It seems you've forgotten something very important. You are part of the locker room, a locker room to which I gave an edict: no further acts of unsanctioned aggression on this tour, and that there would be consequences.
Stewart: Yeah, and?
Shabani: And you violated that edict, not only with your repugnant actions against Roger Evans AFTER the match ended, but with your assaults on security with a crowbar. I hope you've enjoyed your time with the Bloodbath title because it is up. Hand it over.
Crowd: OH!!!
Stewart: ... Pardon me?
Shabani: You heard me.
Stewart (scratches nose): Naw... A dinnae think A did. Maybe ye want tae repeat yerself?
Shabani: Don't play games with me. (holds out hand) Give me that belt, right now.
Dominga: She's serious about this?
Stewart (looks down at her hand and laughs): I see what this is aboot. It's my understanding that righ fore he came oot tae dye, ye tried to talk Evans out of it, and he lookit ye in the ee an daurt ye tae strip him of the title. (leans in) But ye dinnae dae it.
A.B.: Everyone tried to talk him out of it, but the kid wouldn't see reason!
Dominga: She's not everyone, she's the GM.
Shabani's jaw clenches.
Stewart (turns away): Ye didnae protect that eejit from hissel, an mair important, ye didnae protect him from me. Noo, ye're tryin tae seek absolution, as if ye werena the yin wha signed the papers an made aw the calls tae Honiara's munies fer that Street Fight. BAH! Gang an droon yer sorrows at the nearest pub, lass. I'm no gonnae be yer scapegoat.
Dominga: You tell her, King!
Shabani: I'm not your "lass". I am your boss, and I am ordering you to hand over the Bloodbath Championship and leave these grounds immediately!
Shamoon: Tell him, Queen, er, boss!
Stewart: ... Interestin' how ye've dragged me oot here wi' nae backup tae speak o' it.
A.B.: Oh no.
Shabani: I know you're not that stupid.
Stewart turns to face her, moving into her personal space, his full 6-foot-3 frame dwarfing her dainty 5-foot-4 frame. She looks up at him, but not at his eyes.
A.B.: We need some help out here.
Shabani: S-Stewart. I'm warning you-
Stewart: Ye want this belt? Take it from me. Come on. Reach up an' grab it.
A psychedelic pop track plays on the speakers, and the crowd pops. The stage is lit in neon purple.
Shamoon: What the-
A.B.: That's Luisa Festa's music!
Dominga: NOOOOOOOO!!!! What does that junkie want?!
The zany Afro-Brazilian walks out, but instead of the usual spectrum of colours, her eyes are their natural copper brown. She holds a mic in one hand and wears a look of terrifying, sober focus.
A.B.: We haven't seen Festa since her match against Roger Evans two weeks ago in Apia, Samoa, where she ate a 450 Splash from the now-former champion through our announce table.
Dominga: I was hoping that would be her retirement.
Shamoon: You just hate everybody.
Dominga: I hate drug users.
A.B.: She's not on any drugs.
Dominga: Just give her a minute.
Festa: Sr. Stewart, she's not going to take it from jyou. Aee am!
The crowd explodes again. Stewart smirks.
Shamoon: SHE'S GOING TO WHAT?!
Dominga: Hahaha-Oh, wait. She's serious. HAHAHAHAHA!!!
Festa: When Aee challenged Roger Evans, Aee thought he was a garotinho estúpido e arrogante, but he earned my respect and proved he deserved to be champion!
The crowd cheers.
A.B.: That's one way of looking at it.
Festa (points at the ring): But jyou? What jyou did to him? It was demonic! You DON'T deserve to be champion, so Aee'm challenging you right here, right NOW!
Shamoon: Festa, no! This is a really bad idea!
Dominga: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
A.B.: Festa with a bold challenge. Will the Champion accept?
Shabani: Absolutely not!
The crowd boos.
Shabani: Ms Festa, I appreciate your passion, but-
Stewart: A challenge has been laid doon, "boss". An' as the Crimson King, ah'm contractually bound tae accept! Is that no right?
Shamoon: She was about to strip him anyway, so-
A.B.: She can't now.
Dominga: HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!
Shabani: It is, but-... Very well, Ms Festa, as the challenger, you may name the stipulation. (narrowed eyes, speaking through her teeth) Choose wisely.
Festa smiles, then puts down the microphone, covers her face with both hands, and seems to inhale, which draws a loud pop from the Hagenites.
Dominga: Sh-She's literally doing it in front of the GM. Shabani! Hey, what are you waiting for?! Drug test her! Drug test her now! (bangs table ) DRUG TEEEEEEEST!!!
Shamoon: For the last time, she's not on drugs!
Festa pulls her hands away and holds them out with her signature starry-eyed haze and wide-open, exhaling mouth. Speaking of eyes, they are now yellow. Stewart just stares at her with a raised eyebrow.
Festa (picks up mic): *breathes* Aee want a tribute to the fallen King... Aee want tables...
The crowd pops.
Festa: ... because Evans defeated Hotaru Ishikawa in a tables match...
A.B.: Episode 2, his first real title defence. Showed off his mean streak.
Shabani: Alright, a tables-
Festa: sssssshhhhhhh.... I also want Ladders...
Even louder pop.
Festa: Because Evans beat Chakir Jabbar...
INCREDIBLY LOUD BOO for the Jabbar twins.
Festa: Aee know... But he beat him in a ladder match.
A.B.: An exciting and brutal affair that saw Evans powerbomb Chakir onto the ladder.
Shamoon: Turns out, in hindsight, he deserved it. But wait, she's not asking for-
Dominga: Oh, yes she is!
Shabani: Alright, is there anything else?
Festa: Yes... Aee want chairs...
Loudest pop.
Festa: Because... uh... Because... (bangs head) Because... I... hit him with a chair in my match with him!
A.B.: Superkicked a chair into her face, but I don't blame her for not remembering that!
Shabani (cringes slightly): ... Alright, Mr Stewart, do you ac-
Stewart: Just make the match already! (looks at Festa) I'm fair desperate for a pint o' blood, so I am.
Shamoon: Eeeerrghhh!!!
A.B.: That is a terrifying human being, if he even is a human being.
Crowd: Make the match! Make the match! Make the match! Make the match!
Shabani (closes her eyes and shakes her head): I hope you know what you're doing, Festa.
Dominga: Look at her! She doesn't even know what planet she's on! DRUG TEST!
Shabani (looks up): You heard the woman! Bring out the chairs, bring out the ladders, and bring out the tables!
The crowd cheers loudly once more.
Shabani (leaving the ring): The Bloodbath Championship is on the line next!
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