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QUEEN OF THE MONSTERS

The entirety of the PureGym in Waterloo had been sectioned off per Lien’s request, it was the only way she could justify the trio work out during regular operational hours. She had enough to worry about, especially when it came to Katia’s safety, and she wasn’t about to take any unnecessary risks. Chris, the owner was more than happy to oblige once Lien held out a cheque with no amount written down, and pre-signed; she only asked for a fair price. Her friends didn’t seem all that surprised by Lien’s recent string of particular demands, chalking most of it up to her just being the “spoiled little princess from the castle in the sky”. Truth be told, they didn’t see this side of her very often, especially considering how earth-shattering the fall from grace had been for Lien; but when it did rear its ugly head, it seemed to serve her purposes just fine.

“B?ochí j?ngtì (Stay vigilante),” Lien commanded Solace, circling around her. “T? b? kàn q?lái gèng kuài (She is faster than she appears).”

Solace stood in the center of a small circle, multiple rings expanding outward from it, each one growing in size and diameter. The two had done this dance before many times, their “battles” starting in the farthest ring and collapsing inward. Being restricted in such a tight space where a simple misstep could be the difference between victory and defeat brought out the competitive edge in both women. It was the very definition of fighting against a feral tiger that had been backed into a corner; it’s primal instincts the only thing that mattered in that moment.

“Chún zi shì n? de zhàng'ài (Junko is all that stands in your way),” Lien moved in, a flurry of kicks moving up from Solace’s thigh, to ribs, to shoulder, to head.

Solace parried each of the blows with ease, ducking as Lien’s last kick – which was aimed for her cranium – passed over head harmlessly. She reset her feet as her sparring partner continued moving around the circle outside of hers, forcing her to follow with her. Katia lay on a bench nearby, her “5 minute break” having now turned into a half-hour binge session of falling down the rabbit hole that was TikTok.

“Bùyào ràng t? de wéixiào ji?chú n? de w?zhu?ng (Don’t let her smile disarm you),” Lien instructed, moving in now with a barrage of fist and elbow blows. “T? shì liúxíng g?ngzh?, ér bùshì zh?huán wáng. N? bìx? zài zhè f?ngmiàn j?lì t?. (She is a Pop Princess, not a Queen of the Ring. You must enlighten her on this).”

Solace's eyes narrow, peeking between her fists, waiting for an opening. As Lien's elbow comes into contact with Solace's blocking forearm, she makes her move, dropping down with a pivot to Lien's right side to grapple her with a takedown to the gym mat.

"Advice... from the... one who... lost..." Solace smirks, feeling Lien's arm wrap around Solace's neck in a choke. Solace attempts to drive her shoulder towards Lien's chest, but when she propels her legs, the injured knee gives out causing Solace to yelp and lose her leverage. Lien applies the choke anyway, causing Solace to have no choice but to tap Lien's shoulder.

“Into the thick of it, Into the thick of it…..” Katias phone ringing off the latest Tik tok craze…. “Oooohh Lien, we get big cat…?” “We have them in Russia… good pets” she flashes a video of what looks like a cross between a tiger and a lion to Lien and Solace as completely ignoring the sparring match in front of her

Feeling her friend tap, Lien released the hold on Solace as she lay back down onto the mat, taking a breather, a victorious smirk twisting her lips upward.

“N? qi?o ch?láile (You tapped out),” Lien declared, a smug look on her face. “Does that make me the woman who just beat the next Queen of the Ring? Maybe I should get the crown instead…”

She playfully slapped Solace on the back, as if telling her “better luck next time”. Lien turned around and glanced up at Katia, seeing her friend waving videos of Ligers in her face.

“Net koshek, u menya allergiya (No cats, I have allergies),” Lien responded in Russian, winking at her friend.

Lien pushed herself up off the mat and offered her hand to her friend, willing to help her up.

"I swear if this legs costs me the match, I'm going to put each of those Coven bitches in wheel chairs." Solace growls, "And they expect this to be good to go by First-"

Solace is caught off halfway through her sentence as she squints to see what's on Katia's screen.

"Awwwww" Solace gushes, "It's sooooo cute! Ducky would freak."

“Right….?” Katia putting down her phone “So what’s so good about these Coven… people anyways.. Solace?” She said “they gonna use their hippie powers..?” Katia said laughing.

As Solace forms a puzzled expression at Katia, all three Triumvirate members are distracted by the echoing clank of the rear metal doors opening at the other end of the empty gym. The bright daylight blasts through the doorway but the dark silhouette of a massive body blocks the sun as it enters the gym. A smaller woman enters after, shuffling around the female beast as she heads right for the weight bench.

Chris, the owner of the gym rushes over to the duo as the heavy doors slam shut.

"I'm sorry, today the gym is reserved." He says in a stern, but polite voice. The large woman ignores him, piling on the biggest weight plates hanging on the wall at each end of the Olympic sized barbell. He, instead, turns his attention to the smaller woman.

"Ma'am, I said..." He begins but is cut off by a voice that Solace recognizes.

Solace leans into Lien and Katia, "Isn't that... that new chick? Volkova, right?"

D?ngrán shì (sure is) Katia mumbled in Chinese .. looking at this massive woman up and down… T?men yuè dà, t?men shu?I dé yuè c?n (the bigger they are, the harder they fall) Katia smirked at Lien and Solace.

"I thought you rented the gym out..." Solace mutters to Lien, watching Chris appear to lose an argument with Marissa as Viktoria lifts the Triumvirate's combined weight with ease.

“W? zuòle (I did),” Lien responded, the fury of the Dragon beginning to stir in her chest. “I guess I’m going to have to knock out another ‘Victoria’.”

Chris walks up to the trio, "Listen, Uhh... I forgot that those two made reservations for today also... so if you wouldn't mind."

"Don't lie, bro." Solace interjects, "I saw the sheet in the office, they weren't on it. Just admit you scurrred." Solace taunts with a smile, just infectious enough to make his tough guy face break.

"You guys okay with that?" Chris evades Solace.

"Don't matter me none. We're using the mats, not the weights, but this is Lien's dollar, Lien?"

If looks could kill, Viktoria and Marissa would be dead twice over.

“If they get in our way…” Lien turned to Chris, now directing the fire in her eyes upon the owner. “I’m not going to be responsible for cleaning their blood out of the mats.”

Lien went over to the bench, threatening to sit on Katia unless she sat up. Her friend pouted her lips, muttered something about “just getting comfortable”, but complied with Lien’s demand regardless. She sat down next to her Soviet counterpart and reached underneath the bench, her fingers fumbling over the leather sheath of the Dragon’s Edge, her most prized possession from her time in the Qian Palace. Her hands moved past the blade and finally fell on the bottle of water she had been searching for. She pulled it to her lap and twisted the cap off, casting another wary glance over at the powerhouse.

“G?is? de èluós? rén, rènwéi t?men k?y? wéisu?yùwéi (Damn Russians, think they can do whatever they want),” Lien muttered, teasingly bumping Katia’s shoulder.

"Okay, Romanoff, let's go." Solace gestures for Katia to spar with her next as she stretches her bad leg, "By the way, did I tell you guys Daddy called me on some shit the other day?"

“You might want clarify, who daddy is there… you’re going to give the wrong impression my friend” Katia winked at Solace moving quickly wrapping Solace’s arm behind her back… and whispered dolzhen byt' bystreye drug (got to be quicker friend)

Solace struggles against Katia's hold, "Funny, Kat." Solace throws back an elbow but Katia dodges, still holding Solace's arm, "He calls me... gives me all this shit about back in WoW when I beat up Lazarev. Made me feel like shit about doing promos..." Solace fakes another elbow, and when Katia flinches, she throws a real one catching Katia's nose. As Katia releases Solace's arm to favor her nose, Solace looks down at Lien, "Isn't that nuts?"

“I’m sure he’s just worried about you,” Lien shrugged, taking a quick sip of her water. “He’s probably just wanting to make sure you don’t go all Ch?ojí sài y? rén (Super Saiyan) again.”

Lien grimaced at Katia, motioning at her own lip with her finger so as to indicate that her friend had a trickle of blood flowing down from where Solace had caught her.

“As for your cùxi?o (promos),” Lien smirked. “You do seem a bit hell-bent on wiping that pretty little smile off Junko’s face. Just remember your place Solace, this isn’t Wow; things are done differently here. Junko didn’t have anything to do with the Coven attacking you after your match; nor did she have anything to do with that sh?ngwù bi?o zi (biotic bitch) assaulting Katia backstage. Just focus on beating Junko, becoming Queen of the Ring, and then we’ll handle those bù gu?ngc?I de jìn? (dishonorable whores) after.”

Lien took another sip of her water and then stood up; checking on her friend’s nose to make sure it wasn’t broken.

“Vspomni Katyu, my svoyu istoriyu publichno ne oglashayem (Remember Katia, we do not announce our history in public),” Lien stuck her tongue out at her friend, slapping her on the back.

"Whoa..." Solace interjects, "Hold up. Don't tell me your on Daddy's side... you, of all people, Mink."

Katia sits down on the bench, holding her bloody nose with one hand, picking up her phone to cope with TikTok once again.

Lien sets her bottle of water down, works out her shoulder, and eyes up Solace. Without saying a word, the two prepare to engage in sparring once more.

“Never said I was,” Lien responds, smirking. “You know I’ve always got your back. I just prefer to keep the body count down, at least until we’ve gotten the lay of the land first.”

Lien goes for a sweep kick, trying to target the wounded leg of Solace but her friend was ready for it, able to leap out of the way. Lien then spins up to her feet, leaping in the air and going for a spinning heel kick directed to her face. Again, Solace is prepared and ducks underneath it, but the stress seems to make her leg buckle slightly and she falls to a knee. Lien freezes for a moment, eyeing Solace up suspiciously.

“What did you say the diagnosis of your leg was, again?” Lien questioned, beginning to suspect that her friend may not be healthy enough to compete in the finals.

Solace's eyes turn from Lien's, evading the question, "Stop stopping!" Solace drags her leg up and lifts her fists, "Come on!" As Lien reluctantly retakes a fighting stance, both women are caught off guard by deep laughter echoing from the other side of the gym.

"Ignore them." Solace says, her eyes now focused loyally on The Crimson Lotus as she circles her friend.

Lien tried to temper her own competitive fire as she kept her guard up.

"I think we should take a break," Lien calmly stated.

Out of the corner of Solace's peripheral, she catches Viktoria and Marissa still gazing through the gym, expressions of humor painted on their faces. This only agitates Solace more, turning back to Lien and with both hands, grabs her Gi with a clawing grip. Lien's own hands grip Solace's to resist her grapple, but The Quiet Storm was seeing red, yanking the Crimson Lotus violently around and pulling her downward to the mat.

Solace growls, her temper flaring, but a hint of anguish from forcing her leg to behave as she demands, but not as nature allows. Lien attempts to grab Solace's T-shirt in a similar way, but Solace is too aggressive, yanking Lien to her chest where Solace twists her own body to side mount her. "NO BREAKS!" But as she says it, her leg twists too much for her to bare and once again yelps like a wounded animal, unable to exert leverage over Lien how she prepared to.

Lien wasn’t as technically sound as Solace, but she still knew her way out of a ground grapple, especially when her friend wasn’t able to apply the type of leverage she needed to keep the pressure on. Lien wrapped her arms around Solace’s body, linking her hands together and focusing them directly in-between her shoulder blades. With her left arm, she brought her bicep up and forced Solace’s chin away from Lien’s chest. Lien then brought her right arm over and wrapped it around Solace’s left leg, lifting it off the mat. Though intentional in her counter, this forced the majority of Solace’s weight down onto her bad knee, sending stabbing pain up and down her left thigh, quad, and calf. Solace gritted her teeth and bit her tongue, trying to prevent from crying out in agony, as Lien arched her lower-back up, pushed Solace’s chin down towards the mat, and used her momentum to roll her friend down onto her back, Lien now firmly on top.

“Gòule (Enough)!” Lien shouted, keeping her hold locked firmly on Solace, not willing to give her another chance at turning the tables on her.

Solace growls and squeezes, a voice telling her she can't physically do this, but the other voice refusing to accept it. She takes a deep breath and lets out a kaiju sized roar as she gave it one last go, Lien pushes hard against her might, but it's no use. Solace relents in frustration, tears streaming down her cheeks, panting in between sobs.

"How... am... I going to... do this, Minky?" Solace looks up at Lien, a rare window into Solace's vulnerable desperation, a side she would only show a select few- the kind of eyes Lien had only seen from Solace once before, and was enough to strike an emotional cord in her otherwise hardened personality.

Lien knew all too well the competitive nature within her friend, knew that she would fight until the bitter end, injured leg be damned. Though she could admire that fighting spirit, Lien had seen just what that type of mindset could do to friends and foes alike. Sometimes, it was better to live to fight another day; not sacrifice yourself for what you perceived was an honorable notion. Slowly, Lien began to release her grip on Solace, not wanting to see her friend do something foolish that would only further aggravate the problem-at-hand. As she backed away, Lien caught a glimpse of Katia on the bench, no longer focused on her phone and now watching the two on the mat with keen interest.

“Forget the ch?ozuò (hype),” Lien instructed, matter-of-factly. “This is just one more match Sol, just like we’ve done hundreds of times before. Junko Souma is just one more person standing in your… OUR… way. As the Triumvirate, we were unbeatable in the Wow Maybe it’s time we show the IIW just why that is. Maybe it’s time we stop playing by their rules and we show them just why we were nicknamed the ‘K?ngbù S?nji?o’ (Triangle of Terror).”

Lien pushed herself up, rising to her feet and – again – offering her hand to Solace.

“You do this by quieting those voices in your head,” Lien reassured her. “Those ones that tell you that ‘you’re not good enough’ or that ‘Junko is better’. Your father doesn’t see all that you put into this business, not like Katia and I do. He wants what’s best for you; T? m? de (fuck), we all do. But he doesn’t get this part of it, Sol. You know yourself better than anyone; you know what your true limits. So you tell me right here and right now, has ‘?njìng de f?ngbào’ (the Quiet Storm) subsided into a state of nirvana; or are we just witnessing the calm before the fury?”

Solace hears laughter once again from the Russian monster and her petite manager, but it's not enough to distract her from Lien's motivation. She grabs her hand and allows Lien to pull her back up to both of her feet, even with the pain, Solace can't help but smile; blessed that she has found these souls to call her friends.

"You already know, Mink." Solace wipes the tears off her face, favoring her sore leg as she stands firm as she can, "One more to go. I got this."

Just then, the metal doors on their side of the gym open a bit more gentler than when the 'others' arrived on the other end. Solace, Lien, and Katia turn their attention to those doors to see 'Tiger' carefully balancing three iced coffees in a beige cupholder.

"Lattes!!!!!" Katia forgets her bleeding nose and nearly drops her phone as she jumps up from the bench to run for her coffee.

As she gets to Tigran, he pulls back the coffees as he notices her face is covered nose down in a crimson coating of life force.

"Ew!" Tigran is repulsed.

"What?" Katia's arms lift in confusion as Tigran moves passed her.

"About time, dude." Solace says as he approaches the bench.

"Sorry, I had a horrible time finding my mask." Tiger says, "I had to ask for a coffee filter to hold over my face before they'd let me come in."

Katia surprises Tiger from behind, reaching over, and grabbing her latte from his possession. The bloody mouth staining part of his shirt at his shoulder as she squeezes to successfully retrieve it.

"Oh my god." Tiger is mortified.

"Just hold em' for a bit, we're almost done." Solace says, turning to Lien once again.

"Fine," Lien sighed, getting into her fighting stance. "But no grapples, you're not twisting that knee any further on my account. Just standard strikes, agreed?"

Lien didn't wait for Solace to answer as she leapt into the air, looking for a jumping front kick. Solace knew Lien too well, knew her feet were her most dangerous asset in any given fight, so she kept her gaze down, watching her footwork. She saw the blow coming, telegraphed it perfectly, blocked it with ease. Had grapples not been prohibited, Solace would've twisted her ankle, dropped Lien to the ground, and worked the lower body with any variety of submission hold in her arsenal. She adhered to the rules, blocked the blow, and waited for the next to come.

"Can you at least do combinations so it's a little challenging?" Solace's crinkles her eyebrows, her hands prepared for either strikes or kicks Lien has in store.

Lien's head turned slightly, her eyebrows arching up as a smirk twisted her lips upward, as if asking her friend "you sure you want that?".

Lien pushed in, closing the gap, forcing Solace back into her circle. She came at her with a flurry of punches and elbow strikes, most of which were easily parried by Solace. A jumping knee strike almost caught her under the chin, forcing Solace to take a step back, her foot falling outside the smaller circle. A slight laugh escaped Lien's lips as Katia turned her phone around, recording the two as they sparred. Solace went on the offensive now, throwing her own combination of punches and strikes. Since Lien had more space to work with, as per the exercise, she could block, dodge, and flip out of harms way with relative ease. Whether out of habit or just the temporary forgetfulness of her injury, Solace kicked at Lien with her bad leg. Typically, Lien would've blocked the blow but since she was aware of the wounded appendage, she cartwheels over it, her feet almost catching Solace in the face as a result. Solace nodded to Lien as the Crimson Lotus bounced up and down, the adrenaline of combat pumping through her veins.

"C'mon, I have one leg..." Solace taunts, "How you going to beat up Robin Vengeance if she attacks Katia again?"

Solace throws up her palm to block a quick kick, pausing to laugh because she knows Lien hated that comment. Meanwhile, Katia and Tigran are approached by Chris while Lien and Solace continue to spar.

"I'm very sorry, I wasn't aware..." Tigran says. Lien and Solace hear but stay focused on each other.

"No drinks. It's right on the door." Chris is stern as before, but this time lacks the politeness.

"I said I am very sorry, I can take them outside." Tigran offers, beginning to stand up.

"I just don't get why you brought them in here to begin with?" Chris raises his voice, "Can you not read English or what?"

"Hey... Take it easy, guy." Katia says to Chris.

"Nah, it's a total lack of respect." Chris says, "You people come to this country and start takin' over the fuckin' place."

"Whoa..." Katia says, "You people? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Lighten up, Chris." Lien says, never taking her eyes off of Solace as they continue to square off.

"It's fine, I am going to just take these outside..." Tigran timidly announces, attempting to balance the two latte's still in the cupholder. Chris follows behind him as he makes his way towards the exit.

"Oh, you're not going to say anything about mine?" Katia calls out to Chris, "Why the problem with this boy but not me?"

Chris turns aggressively to Katia, his foot turning abruptly and suddenly into Tigran, causing him to stumble with the drinks until they tilt enough off balance to fall to the gym floor, and spill on the mat.

"What the FUCK!" Chris erupts as Tigran quickly lowers himself to attempt damage control.

"I am very sorry!" Tigran's voice is desperately nervous as he removes the shirt off his back to wipe up the brown liquid.

"The fuck you are, you little fuckin' rat!" Chris shouts and pushes him down into the mess.

"Compensating for something, Chris? Leave the boy alone." Katia demands, leaning down to help him up, "Are you okay, Tiger?"

"All you immigrants are the fuckin' same." Chris starts to walk away, but Solace has had enough. She turns mid-spar out of instinctual fortitude, "Bitch, what did you say?"

"Focus..."

Lien never heard her father's voice quite as loud as she did in that moment. She had blocked out the noise, cleared the clutter of their childish bickering, but something had irked Solace; enough so that she took her eyes off her opponent. Never do that, ever! Lien couldn't stop if she wanted to. She was mid-spin, turning eloquently in the air. Everything seemed to come to a crawl, all of it happening in slow motion. Tigran mopping up the spill, Chris berating him, Katia trying to separate the two, Solace turning away from Lien, and Lien... well... the sole of her foot caught Solace right across the face with her signature move, Blood Fang; the most devastating kick the Wow audience ever witnessed in its entire existence. One shot from that and most people were knocked out instantly, especially when Lien catches you just right... and she had caught Solace "just right". No more words escaped her lips as she crashed to the mat, Lien yelling some sort of curse in Chinese as she sprawled on top of her friend, doing her best to rouse her. Solace hadn't even really felt the blow, nor the crash that followed. All she remembered was Lien and Katia leaning over her, their mouths moving, but their words going unheard. Solace tried to fight against the darkness as her eyes suddenly felt heavy, fluttering. As the eyelids closed tightly into place, the sounds began to fade and all she could hear was Junko's voice....

"What do you dream, Sol-chan?"

What do you dream, Sol-chan?

What do

you

dream?

The illusion of control; a magic trick we all think we are in on, but time and time again, the mind deceives us all. We meditate, we focus, and we incite power of suggestion to tame the river of thoughts, but the torrent of wild thinking carves it's own path in the banks of our consciousness. A lifetime of convincing ourselves that it's we that are driving the vessel, but at the end, we accept the inconvenient reality that our perception was all we could actually sway, for the subconscious was truly the operator behind the curtain.

In the physical realm, we at least have a fighting chance to choose how we experience our reality, but the truth always lurks right beneath the surface, collecting our unnoticed surroundings... soaking in our unrecognized emotions... and storing what we don't realize is, what we believe to be, our most astute observations.

It waits, like a nocturnal predator, constantly aware of when our guard is up, and the moment our defenses succumb- ready to assume control over our state of existence. Then, there's very little we can do in terms of control... it possesses our brains like ransomware, forcing us to become the observers in it's place, entranced by it's virtual scrapbook of chaos. We become the audience to the presentation of our deepest self, and until our bodies are removed from this state, we are but slaves to it's dominion.

It's not clear how the subconscious selects which images to include in it's creative work, and to the waking mind, the sequence of events that is actually remembered might be nonsensical, or random; the deep feelings attached to such inconceivable concepts, but nevertheless, the depth of those feelings sustain and can even alter the physical realm.

It could have been the stress stirring up these images. It could have been small details about her opponents, or the metaphorical relation to uncommon acknowledgments unthought of at the forefront of her mind but all of her focus, free will, and self-control was useless here... Solace was suddenly asleep, away from the physical realm that was very much within her grasp, and like a free meal to her subconscious, an impromptu visit to the abyss was welcomed in the middle of the day, primed for the dream realm to flourish.

KOTO CITY, JAPAN

The summer sun was calling it a day, whether the city was ready to welcome the night, but the natural world was free to do as it pleased, and the humans dwelling on the Earth's skin could only achieve it's own means of dealing with it.

The climate, the air quality, the occurring events that would happen with or without human presence would persist, regardless of the tragedy it caused these creatures, because ultimately, they were free to live and they were free to die... nature didn't care one way or another.

Their lives were their responsibility, and although, collectively, they could survive together by sharing ideas, and protecting one another. Koto existed as a part of Tokyo, and was like any other city in the world filled with human on human violence, preventable accidents, and the flaws of human desire. As if the natural world wasn't brutal enough, the humans had their work cut out for them just trying to coexist with their own species.

Today, the humans would learn that the natural world, as dangerous as it is, was also host to any number of other species that cared even less for their existence than what they had already believed of the natural world.

As the workers followed the warm sun's lead, driving home before dark fell upon Koto City, the daily commute of tired travelers found themselves gridlocked in unforgiving traffic; to be expected in one of the most populated wards of Tokyo, a truth that would soon change, without the tragic creature's consent.

The common people didn't receive the same alerts that the Japan Navy received about the disturbance in Tokyo Bay earlier that afternoon. They had sent teams out on small ships to collect information, but despite having advanced technology, it was almost as if the disturbance was a figment to the imaginations of world leading experts; this was highly irregular, and without proper intelligence, it was a waiting game.

A new disturbance would alert Naval crews still in the bay before it was able to understand the gravity of the occurrence. Even as the information was delivered to Tokyo's mayor, the monster had risen from the waters near The Sea Forest Waterway and had already attacked two Naval cruisers anchored by Tokyo's coast.

The news reports would soon be following the story as those close enough to the monster's arrival panicked in the streets, scurrying in any direction opposite of the giant dark green lizard that was now stomping whatever is in it's path.

What was chaos to those under it's attack, was rumbles of stomping to others, but when the monster finally let out a terrible roar, everyone in Koto City trembled with paralyzing fear.

TV NEWS: We are coming to you live via helicopter above Koto City where an animal has emerged from the sea! We take you to Hideo Carlson who is following the story! Hideo!!

Hideo: This. Very. Scary. What looks like a female creature is currently attacking Koto City. We have leading scientist here who says they have studied this creature, Dr. Osh. Doctor, why is this the first time we are hearing about this??

Dr. Osh: The government has been researching the possibility of, what we've been referring to as "Titans" for some time, and just recently, we learned that not only is Solzilla alive and migrating through our seas, but there are many other species as well!

Hideo: Solzilla? What is this name?

Dr. Osh: Oh, my apologies! That is what we have been calling this Titan in our laboratories. This creature is powered by nuclear waste in the aftermath of our American friends at the end of World War II. We call her Solzilla because as the sun's radiant light reacted with the atomic waste, this lizard has evolved to, well... to this.

Hideo: I'm sorry, we are getting word that ANOTHER creature has now entered the city! This time, gliding from the air!

Dr. Osh: Ah, yes... VarANYA.

Hideo: You know this one as well!?

Dr. Osh: Yes, this one was found in the mountains of Russia.. But from our research it was determined this one doesn't account to much of a threat to pretty much anyone... at all.

Hideo: Well, it looks like she's a threat to Solzilla!

Dr. Osh: Meh.

Solzilla roars again, this time at this intruding creature, VarAnya. Varanya glides towards the Titan, but Solzilla spins, using her large tail to knock the flying creature out of the sky and into a tall building. The building collapses from the impact and most of the concrete and debris tumble down onto the Russian monster.

It lets out a caw like a wounded crow as it struggles to remove itself from the rubble, Solzilla moves on, crushing the infrastructure of Koto City beneath her heavy steps.

Dr. Osh: See?

Hideo: Wow. So, some of these creatures aren't much of a threat then.

Dr. Osh: I said that!

Hideo: We are now getting word that the Japanese Military has arrived! Great timing!

Tanks and ships in the bay begin launching missiles at Solzilla's scaled back, which only annoys her. She turns to the unwelcome explosions activating as the projectiles connect with her looming body, and she swings her tail to scrape the first line of tanks off the map, but as she turns, Varanya has returned to land on Solzilla's back, just to the side of her protruding spikes.

Hideo: See, don't count her out yet!

Dr. Osh: I think Solzilla is more annoyed than hurt here, Hideo.

Hideo: But wait, reinforcements have arrived! What is that thing???

Dr. Osh: We call this one... Victorah.

Hideo: That's a goofy one! We are being told it squeezed itself from the sewers and reassembled into this... blob of a monster.

Dr. Osh: Interesting. They seem to be double teaming Solzilla. I sense an unholy alliance of the greater threat, this happens all the time in the animal kingdom.

Hideo: Really??

Dr. Osh: Nah.

Nonetheless, both Varanya and Victorah together seem to be enough to keep Solzilla at bay, even as the Navy continues to send a barrage of missiles at any monster they see. It would seem that Victorah's weight on Solzilla's tail and Varanya at her top would be enough to topple her, all three monsters falling to the ground so hard the Earth shakes.

Hideo: We are being told evacuations are- wait a minute, is that true? Confirmed? Yes, we have yet ANOTHER flying animal approaching from the same direction Varanya came from.

Dr. Osh: Then it must be... Kattra!

Kattra flies in, swooping down and with sharp talons pulls Victorah up from on top of Solzilla and into the air, lifting her higher than the clouds before letting go. As Solzilla climbs back to her feet, she grabs Varanya's tail and twirls her around and around, smashing her head into building after building. When Victorah plummets down into an oil facility, it explodes, and that's where Solzilla finally tosses the now dizzy and battered Varanya the same.

Kattra flies down and hovers face to face with Solzilla, but no attack ensues.

Dr. Osh: Interesting. It would seem these two have an understanding of sorts.

Victorah has been defeated, laying motionless in the fire as it melts back into the muck it slivered out from the sewer as. Next to it, still alive but severely hurt, Varanya struggles to escape the flames until Kattra lowers herself to grab Varanya out of the relentless inferno.

Hideo: Is that bat monster helping Varanya?

Dr. Osh: I don't think so...

Kattra holds Varanya's shoulders in her sharp claws as Solzilla stomps her way towards her. Sensing her doom, Varanya lets out a desperate caw as loud and obnoxiously as she can before Solzilla can get to her.

Hideo: Is Varanya trying to plead with Solzilla??

Dr. Osh: In the animal kingdom, when an animal is in danger, some species will call out for help to their fellow pack. That seems to be the case here.

Solzilla has had enough, grabbing Varanya's head with both claws and ripping it clean off, but the call was already heard. Behind Solzilla, a large red demon-like creature drops from the sky, shaking the buildings so much that some collapse from the turbulent swaying.

Dr. Osh: Junkoyah.

Hideo: That is one threatening looking monster!

Dr. Osh: That one is a very dangerous Titan, perhaps too much for Solzilla to handle on her own.

The two monsters lock gazes, fire burning around them. Kattra doesn't hesitate, flying towards Junkoyah and is immediately forced away by the red monster's flaming breath. Kattra lets out a sound of anguish from the intense fire chasing her, and Solzilla knows this fight will not be easy.

Solzilla roars at Junkoya, and Junkoya roars back, but louder, prompting the green lizard to chuck Varanya's detached head at her rival. Junkoyah swats it away before letting out another devastating roar, building up another burst of fire but as it begins to reach her throat, an airplane is launched from behind, smashing her in the head, and saving Solzilla from the horrifying torrent of heat.

Dr. Osh: How could I forget MegaLien?

MegaLien has another airplane in the other claw, launching the second at Junkoyah once again. This aggravates the red beast and she lifts up from the rubble and flies towards her aggressor as MegaLien charges forward. The two monsters collide and enter a brutal grapple that costs an unfathomable toll of human life below them as they tussle against each other's strength.

Hideo: We are now getting word from the State Department, Japan's president has activated the Mecha-Robin Defense Protocol. HOW LONG HAS THE GOVERNMENT KNOWN ABOUT THESE THINGS?

Dr. Osh: That's classified.

Solzilla and Kattra move towards the other two, planning to assist MegaLien against the greater threat, but Junkoyah's humungous tail knocks Solzilla down into a bridge, causing a massive explosion as her body tumbles to the ground.

Kattra almost reaches the enemy but before her claws can touch Junkoyah's wings, a red blast of energy interrupts her plan, synging her wing, and sending her in a downward crash landing to the center of Koto City.

Dr. Osh: Mecha-Robin is a bionic, man-made Titan that was engineered in case these monsters ever decided to show themselves and / or attack our society. That day has come.

Hideo: Is that a... a robot?

Dr. Osh: Well, it's controlled by a pilot. It's the mind, instinct, and creation of man; the robotics are the function... but it's the human that's in control... usually.

Hideo: USUALLY??

Dr. Osh: It'll be fine! These things always work out.

With Kattra too wounded to fly, and Solzilla unable to help MegaLien, Junkoya manages to take control of the fight and forces MegaLien out to the Bay where the two continue to battle.

As Mecha-Robin analyzes the still living Titans, his target locks on Solzilla who is still struggling to pull herself up again.

Dr. Osh: Without the sun, Solzilla will be unable to heal quick enough if she keeps taking these blows.

Mecha-Robin begins moving towards Solzilla to finish her, but before she can, a lightning storm strikes up in the sky, turning Mecha-Robin's attention upward to find a three headed dragon flying down from the heavens, a lightning storm accompanying it.

Hideo: What are we calling that one??

Dr. Osh: We call that one... Covenorah. The three headed dragon!

Mecha-Robin attempts to load an energy beam but as it is about to release it, a lightning bolt strikes the metal casing, causing the computer inside to overload and shut down. As Covenorah descends, it's large golden feet drop-kick the hunk of metal into disassembled scrap on Koto's streets. Shrapnel explodes in all directions, and a shard of titanium flies into Solzilla's leg, causing her to wince in pain.

By this time, Kattra attempts to use her wings, but isn't able to get air. She is forced to crawl towards the coast where she witnesses Junkoyah force open Megalien's mouth and blow so much fire down her throat, she burns from the inside out before falling into the water in plume of steam. Kattra cries out in fury, unable to fly at the killer of her ally, but Junkoya cares not, roaring back with a taunt of victory.

Dr. Osh: Good news is, there's no more creatures that we've researched, now the hope is... this battle remains here in Koto City and doesn't spread to other human inhabited locations!

Despite the shard still in her leg, Solzilla is back up, sizing up the three heads of the golden dragon that has arrived from the great beyond, as Covenorah does the same. The two rush at each other, Solzilla grabbing Stephorah and Cassorah's heads and crushing them against Mercedorah's middle skull.

Solzilla grabs Mercedorah's head, turning her own body, and pulling the head over her shoulder, flipping the huge mass of Covenorah over her and onto the spire of a skyscraper, impaling the center of her body through it. The three heads of the dragon cry out in severe pain, but are unable to remove themselves from the spike.

Solzilla roars, but is interrupted by the cries of Kattra from the distance on the coast. She looks and finds Junkoyah holding both of Kattra's wings just before ripping them from her body, then looking up to roar at Solzilla with ruthless intent.

Dr. Osh: Solzilla has her work cut out for her! Junkoyah looms much larger than Solzilla!

Solzilla roars at the enemy before they begin charging towards each other..

Hideo: This collision will be a battle of the ages!

Just as Solzilla passes Covenorah, the head of Mercedorah swings her long neck and bites the back of Solzilla's leg, pushing the shard in deeper, causing the lizard to scream out in agony before tripping forward into still standing buildings.

Solzilla is furious that her momentum was interrupted. Still on all fours, she turns her head with a look of disdain and crawls with one leg dragging to mount Covenorah. She grabs Mercedorah's jaw with one arm and breaks off the tip of the spire protruding through their body, turning it like a dagger, and thrusts it through her skull.

It's satisfying to get revenge, but with her attention occupied, Junkoyah takes the opportunity to grab Solzilla's own head and yank it backwards to throw her into the Bay. A huge splash causes tsunamis along the entire coast of Tokyo . As Solzilla tries to pull herself up to the land, Junkoyah is there with rigid claws to dig right into her scaled shoulders with a vicious grip. She lifts Solzilla up out of the water and into the sky, flying up above the clouds before changing direction and plunging her back down to the Earth. A blast from the impact eradicates any building left standing Koto City as Solzilla lays in a crater under Junkoyah's weight.

Dr. Osh: It seems we have a victor!

Hideo: What now? What will Junkoyah do the the rest of the world now??

Dr. Osh: There is no telling!

As Junkoyah pulls herself up, she knows better than to underestimate an opponent, glaring down at Solzilla to observe she is still breathing. Junkoyah allows the fire to grow inside of her hotter than she ever has before, allowing it to build and build until her entire body is smoking, concentrating so deeply on victory that she doesn't notice Solzilla yanking the shard of Mecha-Robin's plating out of her wounded leg.

As Junkoya's fire reaches her throat, she is ready to exert it with furious vengeance to finish Solzilla off, but when the intense, fiery blast lets loose, Solzilla fights the resistance of it's power by blocking herself with the shard. It absorbs the heat to the point that the Titanium is just near melting point, and pulls it away. Solzilla has no choice but to take the brunt of what energy is left to salvage the shard, and the fire burns her face to the point of near death before it stops.

Exhausted from her final sacrifice, Junkoyah relents, collecting her composure after the immense blast she had delivered to Solzilla, sure it was enough to finish the job... and despite the excruciating agony Solzilla found herself in, she had just enough in her to lift the scorching hot shard, and thrust it into Junkoyah's underbelly.

Junkoya wails in uncomfortable and tremendous anguish, trying to pull herself up to get enough leverage to yank it out, but as her claws touch it, Solzilla surprises her enemy with the buildup on her own Atomic breath she had been collecting since thrusting the hot metal into Junkoyah's stomach.

As Junkoyah continues to cry out, she notices below her, Solzilla's own body glowing a bright, neon purple. The purple becoming brighter and brighter until it becomes a pink aura around Solzilla's entire body... and when she opens her mouth, the same pink glow begins to grow as her mouth widens, and like a laser, it blasts out at Junkoya in an unfathomable array of beaming energy... melting the red demon's first, second, and third layer of armor off until the vulnerable parts were rendered into ash. Junkoyah was finally obliterated, despite her endurance... despite her godlike strength... Solzilla was Queen of the Monsters.

Solace...

Solace...

Solace...

“Su? ?r, x?ng x?ng (Sol, wake up)!” Lien clapped her hands together in front of Solace’s face, trying to rouse her friend.

“Maybe she’s in a coma,” Katia reasoned, standing over Solace and looking down at her.

“I didn’t hit her that hard… I don’t think,” Lien scowled at Katia, before turning her attention back to her unconscious friend.

“Make sure you tilt the head so she doesn’t choke on her own tongue!” Tigran commanded.

“Great! Just great! This is JUST what I need,” Chris grumbled, stomping off to go fill out an incident report.

“Should we call an ambulance?” Katia questioned, leaning in so that her face was directly right in front of Solace’s.

As Solace’s eyes began to flutter open, Katia screeched in surprise and stumbled backwards, tripping into Tigran. Lien watched in slow motion as the rest of the Frappuccino liquid that hadn’t already spilt onto the floor toppled out of Tigran’s hands and hit the ground, making another mess all over the gym floor. Chris yelled something derogatory in the distance but Lien ignored him, focusing on her friend.

“Sol…?” Lien frowned, worried about her friend and how much brain cells she had knocked loose. “You okay?”

"What the... Mink? Katia? Where are... Your wings?" Solace is unquestionably out of it.

Lien scowled warily at Solace as Katia looked behind herself, half-expecting to see a pair of fairy wings suddenly sprouting from her back. Disappointed, Katia sighed and looked back to Solace.

“You took quite the shot to the head there moy drug (my friend),” Katia announced, moving to her side to help her up.

Lien reached out and grabbed hold of Solace’s other hand, steadying her up onto her feet.

“Sorry Sol,” Lien bit her bottom lip, apologetically. “You okay?”

"What happened? I don't even remember..." Solace begins but all of a sudden, feels a throbbing in the side of her head accompanied by the rush of blood causing her to lose her footing.

Lien and Katia do their best to steady her, but apparently their best wasn’t enough as Tigran suddenly abandoned attempting to clean up the mess he had made and rushed to Solace’s aid. In the process, he damn near knocked the other two to the ground as he scooped Solace up into his arms and brought her over to the nearby bench, setting her down.

“Don’t ever do that again Solace!” Tigran fretted. “Your father would…”

“Relax, Solace is fine… right?” Katia put a hand on Tigran’s shoulder, trying to calm him down. “As for what happened, Lien tried to take your head off…”

“It wasn’t my fault!” Lien interrupted, nodding her head in the owner’s direction. “Maybe if that húndàn (asshole) hadn’t started running his mouth, you wouldn’t have let your guard down.”

"What... Wait.. Right." Solace has a splitting headache, realizing now what had led up to being knocked out. "We were sparring... Then douche bag started talking shit, so I..."

"That is right!" Tigran says, "You came to my defense. My hero!"

Solace glares at Tigran's joyful grin before dropping her face into both palms, "Ugh."

“Can’t you see you’re making it worse, Tiger!” Lien shouted, shoving him out of the way. “Why don’t you go do something useful and get Sol some ice?”

Tigran did as he was told; nearly slipping on the puddles of coffee he had left on the mat as his focus was solely on his ward. Katia rolled her eyes as she took a seat next to Solace, placing a hand on her leg.

“N? h?o ma (You okay)?” Katia asked, slipping into her secondary language so the new arrivals wouldn’t understand what she was saying.

"Yeah... Just had a crazy ass dream... You were this this giant bat... And Lien was like... She had these iron fists. It was weird as shit..." Solace stops mid sentence, almost as if the reciting the dream had triggered an epiphany, "Anyway, I was Godzilla."

“Iron fists?” Lien repeated, her eyebrows arching up as if she were contemplating the idea. “I could probably pull that off…”

“Chto za chert (What the hell)?” Katia complained, accidentally slipping back into her native tongue. “Why the blyad' (fuck) do I end up as a bat and you two get the cool ones!?”

“You know it was a just dream, right?” Lien announced, more-so to Katia then Solace.

“Well, yeah…” Katia pouted, still a bit upset.

Suddenly, Solace's phone rings once before stopping.

"What the heck?" Solace turns to look at it, "Five missed calls from Vexx?"

“Oh, yeah,” Katia remembered. “Lien kept hitting the knopka "poshel na khuy" (‘fuck you’ button)…”

“I was a little busy dealing with a medical crisis at the time,” Lien retorted, trying to defend herself.

"It's cool..." Solace stands up, wincing as her leg took on weight, "I better call her back..." She staggers with her phone, putting on her coat as she redials Jolie Vexx, walking away from Lien and Katia.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Katia asked.

“Yeah, maybe you should give your brain a second to unscramble itself,” Lien commented.

Solace turns her head back with a smiling scoff, but doesn't slow down, "If I cant take one of your kicks, I'm in the wrong career.."

Solace exits the gym's double doors and squats down with her back against them as the video chat rings for First Class General Manager Jolie Vexx.

CONNECTED

"Damnit Solace!" Vexx answers, "I've been calling you off the hook for a half hour! Where have you been?"

Solace is puzzled, trying to remember, for what reason, if any, Vexx had been trying to contact her.

"I'm sorry I was... napping... are you, are you at an arcade?" Solace asks, leaning in with narrow eyes to see the background.

"Niece has a birthday party! Don't change the subject!" Vexx scolds Solace, "Why are you napping at three in the afternoon three days before the biggest match of our life! Solace, I need you to get your head in the game here, this is make or break for the First Class brand and I can't have my top competitors sleeping instead of training!" Her attention is pulled from the other direction, "Jackie! Give her the quarters back, you little brat!"

"Oh, uh... yeah, sorry... for the nap... it's just..." Solace stutters, unable to truly make out the words she wants to say before she can say them.

"Nevermind that!" Jolie interrupts, "Lucky you called when you did... I could only get you a time slot for the Q&A today, and it's about to start-"

"What?" Solace is confused, "What Q&A? Now!?"

"Look, I tried giving you a half hour to prepare but now we are out of time! You look like shit... can you at least... ugh, there's no time. I'm switching your video to Good Afternoon America, 3... 2..."

"Wait!" Solace pleads but Jolie's face disappears and the screen goes black for a moment before connecting to a new image of a live studio audience.

"Please welcome IIW's "The Quiet Storm" Solace Tatuuuum!" An eccentric woman announces followed by the thunder of the audience's applause. Solace's mouth stuck open.

"Hello!" Solace says in the middle of a choke, "Thanks for having me..." She forces out through clenched teeth, trying desperately to smile.

"Oh my god, you look beautiful!" The anchor, who Solace now recognizes as CBS' famous host Cyndi Coyner, "Thank you so much for being able to speak with us today!"

"My... pressure." Solace says, "Pleasure."

"Pressure, pleasure." Cyndi points out, "I'm sure given your reputation, they are one in the same!"

"Very true." Solace tries not to blush in embarrassment, despite the professionalism of the anchor.

"Solace, you must be so excited to be so close to winning the Queen of the Ring Tournament, as we all know and have been watching, You really have been standing out in a lineup of some truly talent, skilled female warriors! How is that pressure being in your position?" Cyndi asks.

"Well... uh, I thought being in China in front of a thousand people was a lot of pressure at the time," Solace says, "but now, it's tens of thousands, and even more on live television, so I'd be lying if I didn't say the pressure wasn't immense.. But the pleasure trumps any anxiety because I wouldn't squander this opportunity for the world."

The audience applauds.

"Well, you wear it well!" Cyndi says, "Now, your opponent in the finals is a woman who is very well known in Japan, perhaps for reasons outside of this wrestling world... of course, we are talking about miss Junko Souma. Let's talk about your opponent."

"Some say I talked about her too much already..." Solace smiles and the audience stirs with some chuckles.

"Well, I was going to ask if it's personal with Junko?" Cyndi asks, "It seemed like some of the things that you had said about your opponent were more than just competitive banter, and more like there was a history... is there history?"

"Look, I think Junko is a very sweet girl..." Solace begins but is interrupted by a text from Jolie that reads "HYPE THE EVENT!" before Solace reluctantly continues, "Maybe too sweet for a Queen role, unfortunately."

The crowd has mixed reactions, some jeering, some hooting in support.

"It's not personal, no..." Solace says, "It's competition... and the point of this sport is to compete so if any of you happen to know Japanese, could you please tell Miss Junko not to take it toooo personally, even though, most people would take it personal getting so close to the top just be be tossed down to something more their level. I'm a professional wrestler, and a master at that, I don't get paid to console the shattered dreams of my competition."

"Now, I wouldn't pretend to know as much about professional wrestling as some, but your track record speaks for itself!" Cyndi agrees, "But speaking of dreams, Junko has called this tournament for Queen of IIW a personal dream of her own... and although her words for you would be considered tasteful and without malice, she did bring your ambition into question... what are Solace Tatum's dreams?"

Solace pauses for a moment. Considering her ambitions. Considering her goals... but her dreams? What were Solace's dreams? Before, she might have said something mediocre or average like Fame or Stardom, but that wasn't true. She might have said something cliché like "To be the best professional wrestler in the world!" or she might have even named something that she thought Jolie Vexx wanted to hear like "To be the face of the First Class brand." And although Solace would consider that an honor and privilege, it wasn't what burned inside of her... it wasn't what got her out of bed in the morning... it wasn't why she let Lien get away with kicking the brain out of her skull... no, it was something else... something primal built into her that she didn't fully understand, but a nature that was undeniable... it was just as much a part of Solace as the blood of her mother coursing through her veins, whether she liked it or not! She knew the answer to Junko's question... and she didn't care if it was what Junko, Miss Vexx, or the IIW fans wanted to hear.

"Do you have a dream, Solace?" Cyndi poses to her once more.

"I have a dream, yes." Solace says, "I want to be Queen. I want to be a queen that rules over my opponent's minds when they conjure up the audacity to challenge me. A queen that's reign is earned, respected, and built on a throne of hard work, not because I asked for it, not because I complained about it, but because I took it... I want to have enough wisdom and power over my own path that being a queen is less a title and more a way of choosing my own destiny. Royalty when you hear the name Solace Tatum, without the gaudy trinkets and flamboyant dressing for show. The rightful claim to a kingdom where even my adversaries can't deny, and although the jealous will attempt to usurp my position, they will fall on their swords of overzealous self-pity and be smothered by the red carpet my true subjects roll out so I don't soil my feet in the grime of hateful peons. "

Solace enters a state of focused intent. A familiar black glazes over her pupils as her mind sharpens to the likes of a needle's precision; honing in on her opponent... possessed... vicious... a monster.

"A dream to me..." Solace lifts her chin, "A nightmare to those who oppose me. A storm inside of me had been brewing my entire life, quietly... unassuming... collecting enough energy for this very day to be crowned, and just wait until they see me in a crown, Cyndi... Does Junko have that Queen kinda feel? To me, she's just a little princess hoping someone will join her for a tea party... Princess Peach... Princess Sophia... against someone like me... Queen Elsa... Queen Hippolyta...

Solace smiles, her shoulders shrug.

"Junko should stick to building her friends list and picking up some social coping techniques instead of chasing a dream that is too high for her reach. It's truly a shame that her most trusted ally, her manager, has selfishly hijacked her ambition and inadvertedly turned it into a kamikaze flight.... destined to self-destruct upon immediate impact against the unbreakable walls of Castle Solace. I hate to be the one to make you realize it, Junko... I really do, but if you want someone to blame, look no further than Hideo Chiba and his abusive, misguided style of 'teaching'. Maybe if you had a real support system, you'd get that congratulations after hard fought wins... maybe you'd get that air of confidence to see your true worth... but instead, you have been beaten down, forced into an impossible situation, and here you are in my court... in my halls, with no one to volunteer as tribute for your trial by combat."

Solace smirks.

"You stand in a mirror, telling yourself that you will be the best; telling yourself that you are the honorable Junko, and you need only your ability when the time comes... but it's delusion. It's wishful thinking. You may smile politely, compliment your enemies, and hope that being friendly will invite the universe to protect you from this cruel world, but in this world, there is no justice... You're too naive to be queen, that's why it's my duty to carry this burden of doing what it takes to seize the throne, take the crown, become the queen, and then... we can make this world as just as it should be... but it takes courage, a real warrior, not a shy, timid, feckless youngster like yourself."

Solace points at the viewer.

"What's a queen without the prowess to lead... and that's the difference between you and I, Junko... you are led. You follow. You do what you're told to do, and if you didn't, you'd be abandoned and left all alone... that's what truly worries you... what truly drives your motivation to make friends... the fear of being alone; a further contrast that separates you from me; a princess from a queen... "

Solace sticks a thumb in her own chest.

"Wow... that was... more than I think any of us bargained for!" Cyndi and the audience laugh, "My producer had his finger on the BEEPER that entire time!... what? What did you say, Doug? His finger went sore! My goodness, that was unpredictable... Okay, we are just about out of time, Solace... but I did want to ask one more question if you have a sec?"

"Sure." Solace nods, now lightheaded from talking too much too soon.

"Words are words, but in the end, it's going to come down to walking the walk... and despite your confidence going into this final match, can Solace Tatum admit that Junko Souma is a beast in her own right?"

Solace smiles.

"Of course. And I'm pretty sure, I made that clear from the get-go." Solace admits, "But if Junko Souma is a beast... that just makes me Queen of the Monsters!"

"Fair enough!" Cyndi says, followed by a final applause of the audience, "Thank you so much Solace for being with us today, and best of luck to you in the Queen of the Ring tournament!"

"Thank you!" Solace smiles, waving good-bye as she hits end; her infectious smile dropping off of her face the minute she hears the beep to return back to her state of recovery. Like clockwork, another text from Jolie Vexx reads: "KILLED IT!" She hears a car driving up and parking in front of the curb; it's Tigran.

He opens the driver's side door and slides out carrying a full bag of ice in one hand as he awkwardly slams the door behind him.

"Hey!" Tigran says, "I got you ice!"

"That's a lot of ice, dude." Solace shakes her head, "But... thanks." With a subtle smile at the corner of her mouth.

"No problem!" Tigran says, walking over to Solace to hold the entire bag up close to her head.

"Jesus Tiger!" Solace pulls away from him, the metal door creaks open, and Lien's face peeks through to see Tigran with the ice she sent him off to get.

"Really, Tiger?" Lien shakes her head.

"What?" Tigran asks, when suddenly, the weight of the ice inside of the bag breaks through the bottom and empties out onto the sidewalk. Just then, the door opens fully as Chris walks out, looking down at the ice and then at Tigran.

"Who's going to clean this shit up?!" Chris asks.

Tigran starts to stutter, walking towards the ice to begin scooping it up, but slips and collapses to the sidewalk on top of the ice. Solace lets out an exhausted sigh and stands up, shuffling passed Chris to join Lien back in the gym. Chris sighs in frustration, moving towards Tigran to begin cleaning it up himself but also slips, falling on his back next to Tigran.

"Fucking idiots." Lien shakes her head before shutting the door, leaving both of them to lay in the ice together.