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Raion Kido · (07-03-2023)

“He’s turned his back on everything he’s done, and on top of that, he dares to call me surplus.”

Quite the radical change, thought Raion Kido, from Isaiah King. From would-be King to would-be Kingslayer, and yet he still held the same overblown arrogance, reaching for a glory that existed in another dimension, far beyond wherever the Heir Apparent could reach.

“And I suppose it’s time for me to show him how this surplus came to hold the biggest prize in the wrestling world! But first, let’s get that other matter cleared up…”

So were the thoughts of the Lion as he entered his father’s office in the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters. The yakuza experience with his team had brought to light that the underworld had taken notice of him, so it was best - for Ryleigh’s sake - that he knew exactly what to look out for. After all, no one would be at ease knowing the Japanese mob were on their trail.

“Hello, son. Thank you for coming to visit, and sorry about that event. Your mother was indignant at the snake, but no one thinks any less of you after having to deal with all those people!”

The Lion taps his arm at where the fangs of the snake had sunk.

“Eh, if I kept getting beaten by the same person once and again, I’d probably hate them too!”

“And hello to you as well, Ms. Ryleigh! I hope you have been well, and that Saionji here isn’t giving you too much trouble!”

“Oh, not at all, Mr. Kido! Raion-sama takes pains not to worry me.”

“Now, coffee for any of you?”

“Oh, I’d appreciate that, thank you.”

“And I too, thank you very much!”

It isn’t long before they’re seated, in front of three mugs of coffee, and Raion starts telling the story of Angelica Vaughn’s abduction and the Atomic Bat’s rescue in Tokyo.

“... but one thing that happened, Dad, is that when they looked at us, they knew me.”

“Well, you are internationally famous-”

“No! I mean, they knew I’m your son.”

“What? From all the way in Tokyo!?”

“And that’s what I wanted to ask you about. How would they know I’m the son of an Osaka police officer?”

“Hmm… it must be a huge yakuza family to have business in opposite corners of Japan. Maybe they were a subsidiary of one of the big groups. I’ve had my dealings with some elements of those nation-wide yakuza before, there were some that I arrested, but nothing particularly terrible. Do you recall anything else? Anything that might have made them stand out?”

The Lion takes his hand to his chin to think, and besides him, Ryleigh looks away, as if something were troubling her.

“They were so close…”

“Well - as I recall, their lapel pins were in the form of a diamond crossed by a vertical I.”

Officer Kido wastes no time in searching through his archive, binders full of files, and brings one to the table. When he opens it before Raion, the logo he has described is there.

“Yes - that’s it!”

Officer Kido assents gravely.

“These would be the Takumi group - a subsidiary of the Kobe Yamaguchi group, one of the largest in the country. The Takumi are based here in Osaka, and they are quite rowdy - they raid offices and dish out some beatings, that’s why I’ve had to take them in, and sometimes the occasional shooting. These guys are in another dimension compared to the small-time families, but I think you got off lightly, son. I suppose all they wanted was to scare your masked partner, but I don’t think they were interested in you other than as an acquaintance.”

Then he closes the binder, and smiles.

“That wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. Sometimes guys I take in ask me about you - they like wrestling a lot!”

“That isn’t very reassuring!”

At the mention of the Takumi group, the already troubled Ryleigh almost jumps out of her seat.

“T-the Takumi!?”

“That’s what it looks like, yes. What’s wrong, Miss Dixon? Do you know anything about them?”

The Crown Jewel of the Dixon Family shakes her head vigorously, and when she speaks next, her voice is rather strained.

“N-no, not really! I only know the name because I once saw something about a mobster getting beaten to death. It was a rather gruesome story, and it’s stayed with me since then!”

Raion places an arm around Ryleigh’s shoulders and draws her towards him, while Officer Kido merely nods.

“There is that, but that is a rare occurrence, and it only happens to people in the underworld. The general public are mostly safe - that’s how yakuza usually operate - so don’t worry about anything at all, Miss!”

“I - I will try - thank you, Mr. Kido!”

Officer Kido puts away the binder now, and stretches back into his seat.

“So, will you be leaving for America now?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so - now Isaiah King wants to beat me. He probably thinks his team winning War Games means he could. But I guess I shall show him that it is he now that has stepped… into another dimension.”

Raion’s father now laughs.

“The Gemini Saint’s ultimate move! You’re really carrying this forward, are you?”

“Absolutely! Unlike some other people, I don’t need to discard my whole self in an attempt to get ahead!”

“That’s my son. Show him what for, eh? And thank you very much for coming along, Miss Ryleigh!”

“Thank you very much for your hospitality, Mr. Kido!”

But as they leave the station, the Lion notices his girlfriend is still shaking like a leaf.

“Oh Ryleigh, what has come over you? Something here’s still not quite right…”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Something is indeed not quite right, Mr. King, when someone that has not even become the King he so much desires to be, now has to reverse himself and betray his very self in order to even attempt to come to blows against me.

Tell me, Mr. Isaiah, how does it feel to turn your back on everything you have preached?

The moment you first appeared, you spoke about how your debut match was the first step towards a new, glorious kingdom. How lucky we were to witness it.”

“Almost one year later, and you renounce everything for which you’ve ever stood. Now the Heir Apparent seeks not to be a King, but rather to slay them - and wants me to be his first victim. So one more time it falls to me to show to the world that I can be one of the best wrestlers in the XWF and the world, without compromising who I am!

So answer me this, Mr. so-called Kingslayer. Have you forgotten who it is that you face, or are you just as obliviously dense as Ned Kaye once said you were? You speak to someone against whom three Kings have fallen! From Sarah Lacklan to Bobby Bourbon to Sidney Grey, they have all felt the fangs of the Lion before the Lightning Bolt stopped their hearts, and it is all they can do now to strike at me in frustration - as happened at War Games!

What do you think is going to happen when your turn comes to feel the fangs of the Lion shattering your misguided self!?”

“At first, I thought you were merely arrogant. Pretentious, as many rookies are, and as boring as my detractors make me out to be, because they simply cannot question my ability. But now, I think you are simply contemptible. For all the glory you want the world to perceive about you, you simply fail to hold up when push comes to shove.

With a very few notable exceptions, every time I have gone against greater odds, I have delivered - and you have failed! You went so far as to insult ALIAS, but he was the most dominant Champion the XWF had ever had in years, and his reign came to an end because of me. Only Mark Flynn could take the Universal Title from me, and the only reason he ever held it was because a referee saw something that did not happen. Unlike you, or whatever outside shell remains of you, if we are to indulge your own self-defense mechanism, I never tapped out!

But when that time came, I simply worked back to the top. I was undefeated until before March Madness, and I refused to use the briefcase hoping that I’d win the opportunity, just like I did before - for though I did hold it, I won the Universal Title by my own skill. Bobby Bourbon and Sidney Grey had to get involved, and how much did you hate that, as I recall - but who put that matter right!?”

“And speaking of that, Mr. Oblivious. Pray tell, when did I skip Bourbon!? As I recall, I beat him before I did Sidney Grey! He had been dumb enough to call her out, and I went into that match as a litmus test!

If I could beat the man that had captured the XWF Universal TItle before he stupidly gambled it away, I could also go against the King that held it - which I did, before defending against Bourbon one more time.

Or did you also forget where you were when Noah Jackson challenged you for your Television Title?”

“It’s idiotic enough that I have to remind you of a show in which you also participated, but I suppose you’re too busy looking for 16-bit GIFs in an attempt to ridicule me - especially given your, uh, yakuza troubles. So if you can divert your attention from these important matters for one second, allow me to remind you: I at least was the last one in my team to go down, and that took three people that had been eliminated before. You didn’t even make it to the finals - and you tapped out to Sidney Grey!

Who, I wonder, should be talking about being surplus now!?

You dare to use that word, but who was it among all of the SAGA that did the most? Ned Kaye did make it to the Television Title, but I was Universal Champion first. And not only did I do so twice, but Jason Cashe became Tag Team Champion thanks to me. The SAGA might be no more, but I know I did not fail it - because I was the best member of them all!”

“But I suppose I should thank you, Mr. King. You meant “surplus” as an insult, but a surplus is an excess - something beyond what’s needed, but in the end, something useful and valuable, and you cannot even call yourself that.

What you are, in the end, is dead weight. Someone who watched from the sidelines as others did what you could not - those same others you now want to bring up as if I were scared -, in a pattern that has repeated in your entire XWF tenure.

You watched when Ned Kaye unified the SuperContinental Titles and the T.V. Title you held. You watched as Sidney Grey snatched the Universal Title, you watched when I beat her, and you watched when I defend- oh wait. I guess you missed that.

Now, I fear, it shall happen again. Moda Center, Portland, Oregon, June 17th. You’re going to watch, powerless to do anything, as the Lightning Plasma reduces you to a quivering mess.

And to anyone else coming at my title, I say let them come. Because even though I’ve already done more than many in their entire careers, I’m not yet done proving the lengths the human spirit can reach when the cosmos burns.”

“Don’t worry, King, for you’ll get to see that. From the sidelines - as always, as at Weekend Warfare, the Lion shall send you…

… to another dimension!”

Fade to black.

2000 words (wordcounter.net)

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