"The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."

~ Sun Tzu, The Art of War

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15 February 2018
El Khan Hotel
Tripoli, Libya

THUD.

The door slammed shut as Finn Kühn walked forward, physically, mentally and emotionally drained. His feet shuffled against the plush, white carpet as the wear and tear from last night began to settle in.

Indeed, Jim Caedus and Finn Kühn put on one hell of a contest. The Big Dick Daddy and the Kaiser went head-to-head in an epic match in the semi-finals of the Universal Championship tournament. The fans were electric, everybody was on their feet throughout and the tension was palpable as Caedus and Finn both got into a very tense war of words leading up to the bout. Finn Kühn saw himself with a star-making performance against the Tag Team Champion, but ultimately he came up just short.

Chris Chaos and Jenny Myst were also seen active at ringside, distracting both Caedus and Finn. They had beef with both, Caedus for their prior history and Chaos trying to surpass him, and Finn for continuing to 'test' him despite Finn defeating Chaos in their last encounter. Hours after Warfare, Finn was seen delivering a message through the chain of command that he wanted Chaos.

But, he didn't get what he requested. Perhaps it was due to waking up after his match too late. Regardless, before he left the arena, he saw what awaited him at Turning Point. In what was deemed 'Vinnie Lane's Redemption Reboot,' Finn Kühn was to take on the other semi-finalist involved, Danny Imperial, inside Finn's first-ever Steel Cage match. Indeed, pain awaited both the Kaiser and the King of the Jungle inside the looming cage.

As Finn threw his travel bag across the room, landing with another THUD, he was prepared to flop down on the bed, curl up into a ball and sleep his worries away. However, a voice cut through the silence and grabbed Finn's attention.

"Dude," Jon said, "That. Was. Fucking. Awesome." Finn gave a tired half-smile as he sat down on the bed and gave his friend a fist-bump. "I don't even care if you lost, that was the fucking match of the night. You were right, Finn. They're looking at you seriously now."

Finn's face turned stern as his mind flashed back to his match. "Fucking Chaos and Myst, the little weasels getting involved again, and costing me what should have been a fair fight. They fucked with BOTH of us, and now Caedus is probably going to flaunt this victory over my head..."

"Uh, Finn...?"

"Probably going to go on some shit about how he 'owns me'..."

"Finn!"

"Or worse yet, say how my position is at the bottom of the card and steal my shit..."

"FINN!"

Finn paused as his friend's shouting finally resonated within his tired mind. "What?"

Jon whipped out his phone, and after pressing a few buttons, showed Finn the screen. "Watch this," he said.

(02-15-2018, 02:39 PM)JimCaedus Said: ::Jim opens the door and takes a step in-

-spies Finn and moves to advance-

-only to halt at the sight of The Kaiser at rest and instead turns to quietly pull the door closed::

"Jim!"

Nearly leaping outta his boots. "Jesus fuckin' Christ- the fuck Sayors!?"

"I'm sorry, didn't mean to startle you. You seem a little on edge. Were you uh...were you about to go in there and start something with Finn?"

"Fuck would I do that for?"

Shrugging. "You two did get pretty heated with one another these past couple of weeks."

"That's the name of the game, Steve, stop tryin' to 'cause trouble for sweet footage. If Finn's got anything comin', and he does, it's respect."

"I thought you said you weren't going to do this in your final words before Warfare?"

"He deserves it. Period.

Did he lose?"

Steve remains silent, holding the mic out. Jim's not paying attention to the microphone however, he's looking dead into the lens.

"So fucking what?

That...that kid in there brought it to me without fear in vignette. He took everything in the match I threw at him, smiled and flipped me off. Like the true fuckin' warrior I told him he should've been this whole time from promo one.

He's earned my respect. Not only that...

Finn Kühn has proven he's Universal Championship material and vindicated the booker's decision. He _will_ one day soon achieve greatness in the most highly competitive promotion in this business, the Xtreme Wrestling Federation."

Finn was silent, and stunned, however before he could say anything, Isabel Mercier walked through the doors, trying to hold three large coffees in her arms.

"Here you are, boss," Isabel said, handing off one of the coffees to Finn. "And for you..." Handing another coffee to Jon, she sat down on the bed next to Finn.

"Thanks," Finn said as he slowly took a sip, relishing the coffee's strong taste. As Jon took his first sip of his own coffee, he had to bite back the urge of spittaking across the carpet as his taste buds began to burn.

"MMMPH! HOT!"

Finn and Isabel chuckled to themselves as Isabel turned back to Finn. "I know you wanted to talk to me right after Warfare, but I suppose you'll have to forgive me for leaving a bit too soon after seeing you were still unconscious?"

Finn shrugged in response. "Fair enough," he said. "To be fair, I wasn't expecting to lose like how I did, let alone remain unconscious for so long. Jim Caedus hits like a fucking truck." Another small chuckle from Finn as he thought back to Warfare. His anger was boiling towards Chaos and Jenny, sticking their noses and robbing Finn of his fair, one-on-one match. He'd repay them... soon. In the meantime, he supposed that he needed to get ready for his match against Imperial. But first, what he did have to do...

"I've already got a flight booked and reservations set for Cairo. The hotel there is wonderful. It's called the Ramses Hilton, and it's renowned for--"

Finn stopped Isabel with a raised hand. "I'm sorry for interrupting you, but..."

"I need to go home to Germany first."

Isabel paused, a quizzical expression painted onto her face. "What do you mean?"

Finn sighed as he recalled the events in his mind. "Before I had met up with you at the Royal Restaurant, when I texted you, I went to the bathroom before I left. In there, well..."

"There was this woman, and she had this... weird sword." Jon began to perk up and listen in too as he set down his coffee, as he himself was unaware of this story.

"It was strange, but I felt... drawn to her. Drawn to her sword, more like. She pressed it up against my neck, and basically ordered me to go to Germany. Said something about 'reclaiming what was once a part of my family.' I don't know what she's talking about, but I have to inquire into that."

"This sounds pretty sketchy... Finn, you weren't even in the bathroom for five minutes. How the hell did this happen?" Jon scratched his chin.

"Can't blame you for thinking that. But, something was off about that meeting."

"What was?"

"Well..."

"When she spoke to me, it was like time had slowed, slowed to a crawl. Every word she spat was like poison, dripping in from the back of my mind. There's only one other person whose given me that feeling before, and it was in a dream."

Jon and Isabel exchanged worried glances with each other before Jon spoke.

"Are you sure you're not... on something?"

"The hell kind of a question is that?! Of course I'm not on drugs!"

"Well, can never be too sure in the big leagues nowadays," Isabel sighed. "Alright, Mr. Kühn, I'll get you your flight and hotel reservations secured for Germany, and I'll push back your Cairo dates until... March?"

"Yes, that sounds good. Thank you, Isabel."

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18 February 2018
Tripoli International Airport
Tripoli, Libya

Finn sat back in his seat, waiting for the airport to be ready to board. He had to give his talent agent credit, she got a flight lightning fast for Finn to go on. She's had her job for a little more than a week by this point, she was excelling in the tasks given to her. Perhaps Finn had had the wrong idea about Isabel?

Regardless, it was here he noticed the camera as Jon walked over and sat down in the seat next to Finn. "Hey," he said.

"Yo," Finn yawned as he stretched his back while standing out of his prison known as a seat, "What's up?"

"Nothing much, I'm just... anxious."

Finn chuckled in response. "Y'know, I thought I would have been the anxious one here, not you."

"What, you're not anxious at all?" Jon quizzically asked as he arched an eyebrow.

"Of course I am. I know nothing about that woman outside of the fact that she evidently has some sort of connection to my family, and her sword... But, I'm trying to just block it out for now and focus on my match with Imperial at this point. But, what about you?"

"I just... hadn't expected to go to Germany for a while, really. What with your stories about being in the slums, I figured it was a hellhole."

"Nah, Germany's great. In the right areas of course, and I wouldn't wish even my worst enemy to be stuck in their slums, but it's a quaint place. Even then, I'd rank Germany's worst slums above those of America's."

"I see," was Jon's response.

"Now I suppose it's time to get to the man of the hour. The King of the fucking Jungle, Danny Imperial."

"Boy, oh boy, you've become a far cry from who you once were. Call me a broken record, claim that I'm beginning to spout the same shit ad nausem, but... can anyone blame me? Can anyone with a straight face tell me that Chris Chaos is the same Chris Chaos who went in, took over the XWF by storm, DEFEATED DOCTOR LOUIS D'VILLE, and won the Universal Championship? Can anyone tell me with a straight face that you're still the same energetic foe who was always willing to engage in a war of words? Sure, I might have misjudged Caedus, but that was then. This is now."

"The point I'm getting at, Danny boy, is that you've suddenly begun to clam up, and not even grace us with even a couple of words. Is it..."

"Is it because you're scared? Because a part of you is knowing that all that awaits you at the end of this tunnel is defeat?"

"I mean, it makes sense after all. Dexter Bright attacked you verbally. He eviscerated you. He called you a grunt, he called you a 'self-serving asswipe,' and he said you're nothing but 'a useless toy.' He insulted you and your honor, Danny, when you made the decision to not take the Universal Championship and claim what belonged to the Danny Imperial who won the Television Championship and the November Star of the Month. He stripped away your character and left nothing there, and in response?"

"..."



"You took it like the good little bitch you really are."

"It's time to face facts, Danny boy. The fact is, you're on the downswing. And me? I'm on the fuckin' upswing. Hell, if trashing you is this easy and you're not even going to bother responding to me, you might as well not even show up to Turning Point. Because if you do? I'm going to make what Dexter did to you look like child's play. I mean, it's just a fact, Danny."

"You're just not on my level."

Before Finn could continue on with his promo, a new voice came on over the air.

"Attention, passengers. You may now board Flight FRA 1508. Flight FRA 1508 will be leaving in the next half an hour. I repeat, you may now board Flight FRA 1508, which will be leaving in the next half an hour."

"I dare say that's our cue," Jon commented.

Finn acknowledged Jon's line with a quick nod and a quick text to Isabel to get out of the bathroom and join them in boarding the flight. "Right. Imperial, if you have a single brain cell, heed my warning. This is only going to turn out painful for you otherwise."

~FIN~