"The don't watch." she told him sternly.

[BOOM BOOM BOOM]

[It's Vegas and you know we got to have the pyro, the bling bling and the fireworks lightning up the arena. We've got a big screen hooked up tonight, rent on this big bastards a bitch but it's nice to take a moment and show the world what we're all here for.

Across the big screen flashes the image of the very first WFWA World tag team champions The Outlaws

Mhmmm....

More images fill the screen as World Tag Team Champions throughout WFWA history are shown, some to fans who have no idea who it is they are looking at or the illustrious history that has lead up to this night.

The Outlaws, 80 Proof, Reign of Pain, and The Crazy Ones.

Who'll ride this dying carousel?
Four rusting horses strangled by their own rope
What children love a singing wheel
Now that their tight hearts it broke
That their tight hearts it broke

The images continue, faces of the past holding the Tag Belts high, men bleeding for them, men going to war for them...men laying their bodies, their careers, on the line for them.

Team Danger, The Texas Outlaws, Whirlybirdz VHS, Dark Angels, Pharaoh's of Rage, Shaken Not Stirred, Final Judgment, Manifest Destiny and Mutual Benefit.

Everyone will come, everyone will come to my funeral
To make sure that I stay dead
Everyone will come, everyone will come to my funeral
To make sure that I stay dead

More images, more sacrifices, more stories that will never be forgotten.

The NEW Army, Forces of Nature, Christian Light and Joey Tesauro, Misawa and Red Wolf, The Nightmares, TCW and Honor Bound.

I can see the coffin shining through my tinted window
Must've missed the sign that said it was a fire sale
I can see the coffin shining through my tinted window
Must've missed the sign that said it was a fire sale

The images just keep on coming, the entire history of the World titles playing up on the screen. These were the men who believed that teamwork was more important than personal gain, the guys and girls who put aside selfish desire for singles victories to keep a tradition alive.

Strife, The Brother's Smith, Wizard and Justice, The Boys, The Lincoln Park Mafia, Lennox and Rowell, and The Conspiracy.

Everyone will come, everyone will come to my funeral
To make sure that I stay dead
Everyone will come, everyone will come to my funeral
To make sure that I stay dead

Time is ticking away now and the number of teams is getting shorter, We see the Faces of Death CHIMERA Fight Team, and The Gathering.

You can't take this from me
(forbidden in Heaven and useless in Hell)
You can't take this from me
(forbidden in Heaven and useless in Hell)
Useless in Hell

And the final image...of the current World Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Champions Johnny Lightning and Stephen Greer!

[BOOM BOOM BOOM]

That's right, more pyro erupting from the floor and it's time to kick things off.

Cole: And We're back and better than ever!

Pollaski: You can say that again, these chairs are by far more comfortable than last weeks.

Cole: I know. I had to argue for hours to get them to agree to spring for the chairs.

Pollaski: Are you serious?

Cole: Apparently our comfort is the last thing on their minds, however, it's the first thing on mine, so tonight, not only do we have these nice, plush chairs, but we have a mini fridge filled with beer....and Arizona iced tea...how the hell do you drink those things without adding bit of Jack Daniels to it?

Pollaski grimaced at the suggestion: How the hell can you wreck a perfectly good iced tea with that crap?

Cole: Quiet easily.

Pollaski: (rustling papers) So let's see, what can we expect tonight?

Cole: Defiance versus Appalachian part 2 and my money is on the boys from AW.

Pollaski: As is mine and they better not let me down.

Cole: Hey I was speaking figuratively.

Pollaski: yea well I was speaking literally so if they lose that's my money on the line and I'm not going to be too happy.

Cole: After what you did to Cannon I'm not sure if anyone would really want to make you unhappy.

Pollaski: (chuckling) Exactly.

Cole: There's a great deal of excitement in the building tonightt and a great deal more people too, it seems as if the success of Tag wars did not go unnoticed because the house is packed tonight and there were actually people outside of the building trying to buy tickets to get in.

Pollaski: next time they might want to consider charging them the moment they go on sale the losers. Speaking of losers, our first match of the night features St. Louis #3, a team that last tag wars actually had to be helped to the back after their match with Jade and Hecate. Talk about a bunch of losers I'm shocked to see them back here tonight.

Cole: I'm not, my understanding is that they trained hard and really tried to get themselves turned around. I have it on good authority that they have received some of the very best training possible.

Pollaski: How is it you know so much about this team, and why are they listed as representing AW? I checked with the front office over at AW, they have never heard of this team outside of tag wars.

Cole: St. Louis #3 will be in AW soon enough so relax Daniel and enjoy the show. Have a beer.

Pollaski: No thank you.

Cole: Bah, I'll drink for both of us then.

Cole: Somehow that doesn't surprise me.

Pollaski: Considering who they will be facing, I'm hoping St. Louis #2, 3 whichever they want to call themselves this time has come prepared, because if they get beat by a gay hippy and some crazy green haired chick they might want to consider never showing their faces in this alliance again.

Cole: I just want to know one thing?

Pollaski: yeah, what's that?

Cole: Exactly how friendly Treehugger gets with those trees and whether there's a law against abusing nature that way. I mean, there are laws protecting animals from that kind of treatment, arn't there laws to protect the tree?

Pollaski: (doubles over laughing)

Cole: Alright, alright, it's time to kick things off, I think we've had enough fun this evening, they're threatning to take our chairs away.

Pollaski: damnit! Fine. Let's bring out the boy blunders, the neon haired chick and the fruitcake. What a show this is going to be.

Once more there was little in the way of fanfare as most of the crowd sure as hell didn't know who the two young men were as they walked down the aisle with some badly thrown together entrance music that sounded like it had been done on with Audacity by someone who didn't bother to take time to read the tutorials. Those who had seen the previous tag wars booed the pair and a few chucked trash and debris at the pair. The music sounded like a rough blend of several Rob Zombie songs all compiled together. There was near silence in the arena as they walked down to the ring, the dark haired, blue eyed Gabriel Grimm leading the way in black jeans and black boots, looking as if he'd just walked in off the street. His cousin followed him, his green eyes looking up into the stands, his red blond hair hanging too long and shaggy and obscuring most of his face. He wore faded blue jeans, a black t-shirt and black boots, the t-shirt he pulled off along the way and threw into the crowd, revealing six pack abs and a light golden tan. He paused and winked at a young woman as he headed down the aisle, then his cousin grabbed his arm and all but drug him the rest of the way to the ring.

The slow opening to "We Are the World" begins, and Randy Treehugger and Verde walk onto the stage, Treehugger carrying his protest sign. He breaks out a glowstick, and begins swaying back and forth in tune with the music before pausing and breaking out a second glow stick and thrusting it into Verde's hands. She looks a bit surprised before shrugging and cracking the glow stick and swaying back and forth along with Treehugger.

Cole: alright, what the hell, is this guy some sort of cult leader or something?

Pollaski: The cult of the pilowbiters, which doesn't explain where Verde fits in.

Cole: Unless she's one of those she-males.

Pollaski: Grimacing: Ug, not something I want to think about at the moment.

As they walks down the ramp, Treehugger tries to get the fans involved, but its obvious they're not having any of it. Verde looks at the fans almost helplessly and waves the glowstick when Treehugger glances at her. She looks longingly at the ring, slowly edging her way down there. Finally, discouraged, Treehugger rolls into the ring, before turning to argue with the ref about how the turnbuckles aren't 100% natural. Outside, the audience pretty much stares at the ring in slack jawed disbelief. Verde stands facing their opponents, sizing them up as she waits for things to get straightened out. Treehugger, finally tired of arguing with the ref goes and stands in a corner while across the ring, St. Louis #3 confer between them before Darren steps out of the ring.

Cole: Looks like things are about to get underway.

Pollaski: About time damnit.

DING!!! DING!!! DING!!!!

[The bell rings as Verde and Gabriel circle each other in the ring before locking up in a collar and elbow tie-up. Gabriel quickly comes away with a side headlock. Verde tries to fight her way out but Gabriel quickly switches out of the headlock and into a hammerlock. Verde quickly ducks under and reverses it into a hammerlock of her own. Gabriel looks around before making his way to the ropes as the ref calls for the break.]

Cole: Gabriel starting to learn a little more everyday.

Pollaski: That impressed you? A six year old can pull that sequence off. Bah. Slow the drinking down and see what's really in front of your face!

[Verde gives him a smack in the back of the head before backing up. Gabriel shakes out the arm a little bit before going to his corner and talking things out with Darren before going in for another tie-up. Verde buries a quick knee into the midsection before firing in a forearm to the jaw.]

Cole: That's one hard hitting woman. I like that in a girl.

Pollaski: Too much information thank you.

Cole: What, It's not like I said i wanted her to break out the whips and chains and cuffs.

Pollaski: Again way, way too much information.

[Verde whips a stunned Gabriel into the ropes and goes for a back drop but Gabriel leapfrogs over and hits the nearside ropes when Verde goes for a hip toss but Gabriel blocks it and reverses it into an arm drag takeover. Verde gets back to her feet and charges into an elbow to the face. Gabriel grabs Verde and throws her into his corner and makes the tag to Darren. Darren and Gabriel try to pummel Verde in the corner but Verde fires back with chops and forearms until she gets back to the center of the ring.]

Cole: Verde fighting her way out on that exchange back to center.

Pollaski: And you dare call those two improved.

[The ref yells at Gabriel to get out of the ring when Darren stretches against the ropes. Darren points to Randy Treehugger as if he wants him in the ring.]

Cole: Treehugger outweighs him by about ten pounds and has loads of experience. Treehugger will try to use that to his advantage in this match, if he can remember that.

Pollaski: he better remember to watch where he ends up, he wouldn't want Treehugger coming up behind him.

Cole: Chuckling: Yeah he'd better watch out for the old reach around.

[Verde makes the tag to Randy Treehugger, who calmly steps through the ropes and looks at Darren with a hate filled look as the fans boo, wanting action and trying to figure out if there was anyone in the match worth cheering. Darren continues to talk a little trash to Verde before they lock up and Treehugger immediately shoves him across the ring like a little kid. Darren just looks up in mild amazement.]

Cole: Treehugger showing some power there, kind of surprising, what happened to the whole non-violent thing anyway, isn't that what hippies are known for.

Pollaski: Appearently he through that out the window alone with his masculinity.

Cole: Why don't you just say what you mean.

Pollaski: Huh?

Cole: forget it.

[Darren gets to his feet and nods to himself and goes back for another tie-up but Treehugger catches him with a waistlock while Darren fires away with numerous elbow shots to the head before hitting the ropes and gets dropped to the mat with a shoulder from a non-moving Treehugger. Darren gets to his feet again while Treehugger flashes a peace sign and urges him to try it again. Darren looks around to the crowd before hitting the ropes and ducks under a clothesline from Treehugger before hitting the ropes again and makes a blind tag to Gabriel. Treehugger goes for another clothesline but Darren ducks under and turns Treehugger around into a boot into the midsection. Gabriel hits the ropes and takes Treehugger down with a high impact neckbreaker.]

Cole: Surprisingly good teamwork by this team of St. Louis #3.

Pollaski: What's surprising is that those two didn't get lost on their way to the ring.

[Gabriel gets to his feet and stomps away at the head of Treehugger before dragging him up by the hair. Gabriel grabs a front face lock and takes Treehugger over with a vertical suplex and follows up with a cover.]

1...

2...

Cole: Treehugger easily kicks out of the first cover of the match-up.

Pollaski: Surprising, I would have figured he's want to lay there with Gabriel a little longer.

[Gabriel drags Treehugger to his feet and makes the tag to Darren, who quickly climbs up to the top turnbuckle and connects with an elbow to the back of Treehugger. Treehugger tries to stay on his feet when Darren hits the ropes and drives Treehugger down to the mat with a bulldog takedown. Darren gets to his feet and leaps up into the air before dropping an elbow to the chest before going for the cover.]

1...

2...

Cole: Treehugger with the kickout.

Pollaski: I guess Darren isn't too his liking either.

Cole: damn dude, how many gay jokes are you going to make about this guy?

Pollaski: Oh you didn't know? I can make gay jokes all night.

Cole: (taking a long drink of beer.) heaven help me.

[Darren picks up Treehugger while Verde stands in the corner waiting for the tag. Darren makes the tag to Gabriel before whipping Treehugger into the far neutral corner. Darren charges in and gets knocked down with a massive boot to the face. Gabriel charges in and gets nearly taken out of his boots with a massive clothesline.]

Cole: DAMN!!! That was a clothesline from Greenpeace. Treehugger got all of it and the kid has to be hurt from that shot.

[Treehugger picks up Darren and whips him into the ropes and catches him with a belly to belly suplex. Gabriel tries to get back to his feet and stumbles around badly. Treehugger makes the tag to Verde before sticking Gabriel into a standing scissors and picks him up before slamming him to the mat with a powerbomb. Verde leaps up onto the top turnbuckle and flies off before connecting with a frog splash that sends Verde bouncing off of Gabriel from the impact. Verde grabs her ribs in pain before crawling over and makes the cover.]

1...

2...

Cole: I don't know how but Gabriel got the shoulder up at a two-count.

[Verde slowly gets to her feet and pulls Gabriel to his feet before taking him back down with a side Russian leg sweep. Verde climbs up to the second turnbuckle and leaps off with a knee drop across the chest before going for another cover.]

1...

2...

[Darren comes in and kicks Verde in the back to break the cover.]

Cole: If Darren didn't come in, it might have been over.

Pollaski: I don't want to see it over until Verde get's these two punks carried from the ring.

Cole: Mercenary tonight are we?

Pollaski: no, I just like to see a woman kick a little butt. Verde needs to get herself a real partner.

Cole: Maybe Treehugger was as close to another female partner as she could get.

[Verde walks over and makes the tag to Treehugger before picking up Gabriel and Irish whips him into the ropes before taking him up and over with a back body drop. Treehugger grabs Gabriel while Verde goes to the corner. Treehugger grabs a waistlock and takes Gabriel over with a belly to back suplex. Treehugger hits the ropes and goes for an elbow drop but Gabriel rolls out of the way. Treehugger gets to his feet and goes for another elbow drop but Gabriel rolls out of the way again. Gabriel gets to the ropes and tries to get back to his feet when Treehugger charges at him but Gabriel goes low and takes Treehugger over the top rope to the floor. Gabriel makes the tag to Darren. Gabriel gives him a signal when Darren hits the far side ropes before Gabriel lifts him over his head and Darren connects with a dropkick onto Treehugger on the outside.]

Cole: WHAT THE HELL!!!! Talk about high-risk.

Pollaski: Alright, maybe that was impressive, but can he follow up.

[Darren gets to his feet and plays to the crowd as if it was nothing. Darren grabs Treehugger and connects with a couple of knife edge chops before picking up Treehugger and drops him with an inverted atomic drop.]

Cole: Looks like Treehugger needs to make a tag.

Pollaski: are you going to spend the night stating the obvious?

Cole: Pretty much, that and drink a couple beers.

[Darren rolls back into the ring and climbs up to the top turnbuckle and looks to the crowd before leaping off with a pinpoint double ax-handle to the back of the head of Randy Treehugger that sends him to the floor. The ref yells at Darren to bring it back into the ring.]

Cole: Are come on ref, let them fight out there.

Pollaski: Fight out there and more than likely end up over here on top of us.

Cole: Come on ref, get them back in the ring!

[Darren, slow to get up grabs Treehugger who fell into the front row and pulls him back to ringside before rolling him back into the ring. Darren climbs up to the top turnbuckle and leaps off with a huge moonsault and goes for the cover while staring dead at Verde.]

1...

2...

[Verde comes in and delivers a boot to the head of Darren to break up the cover.]

Cole: This time, it was Verde that had to come in to save the day.

[Verde goes back to her corner and smacks the turnbuckle, looking for a tag. Darren shakes off the shot to the head before making the tag to Gabriel. Darren picks up Treehugger and whips him into the ropes before taking him to the mat with a drop toe hold when Gabriel flies off of the top rope with a senton bomb to the upper back and head area of Treehugger before locking on a rear chin lock.]

Cole: Gabriel and Darren have decided to take to the air to neutralize the efforts of Verde and Treehugger.

Pollaski: Verde looks like she can take to the air too, so it looks like we might get quite the show.

[The ref continues to ask Treehugger if he wants to give it up but Treehugger says no. Gabriel continues to pull back on the pressure while Treehugger yells out in pain. Treehugger raises his hand as if he looks to tap but holds strong. The ref continues to ask until Verde gets fed up and stomps away at the head of Gabriel to break the hold. Verde grabs Gabriel and takes him down face first with a forward Russian leg sweep before charging over and knocks Darren out of the corner with a forearm to the jaw. The ref urges Verde to get out of the ring while both Treehugger and Gabriel are down on the mat. Verde goes to her corner and waits for the tag.]

Cole: Verde must have had enough but she needs Treehugger to make that tag or this match is over.

Pollaski: The more I see of her, the more I like her style. Her choice of partners however, let's just say she needs to stop trolling the rainbow side of town for someone to wrestle with.

[The ref stands over both guys and starts his mandatory ten count.]

1...

2...

3...

4...

5...

6...

[Gabriel slowly sits up and falls over Treehugger for the cover.]

1...

2...

Cole: Treehugger got the shoulder up.

Pollaski: Great, so this thing can keep dragging on.

[Gabriel gets to his feet and pulls Treehugger up to his feet and whips him to the ropes and goes for a clothesline but Treehugger ducks under and plants Gabriel with an uranage suplex. Darren charges in and goes for a right hand but Treehugger blocks and takes him down with another uranage suplex. Treehugger turns around and stretches out to make the tag as Verde climbs up to the top turnbuckle and waits for Gabriel to get up before flying off with a double clothesline to the roar of the crowd.]

Cole: Now, can Verde control her emotions and win this match?

Pollaski: Well, you know how some women can be.

Cole: Exactly, which is why I asked the question.

[Verde pulls Darren up to his feet and connects with a couple of forearms to the face before whipping him into the ropes and knocks him down with a dropkick to the chest. Gabriel gets to his feet and rakes the eyes of Verde before putting him into a standing scissors and goes for a powerbomb but Verde goes over the top and rolls Gabriel up into a sunset flip before leaping up into the air and dropping both legs between his legs. Gabriel screams out in pain.]

Cole: Hey ref, that was a bit low. The kid could be singing soprano right now.

[Darren rolls back into the ring and connects with a dropkick to the back of Verde's head. Verde falls to the mat as Gabriel rolls out of the ring. Darren pummels away with a couple of right hands to the jaw of Verde before pulling her up to her feet and whips her into the far corner before charging in with a monkey flip and flips Verde out to the center of the ring. Darren stands poised in the corner waiting for Verde to get to her feet. Treehugger comes into the ring and shoves Verde out of the way before taking a reverse elbow to the jaw.]

Cole: Treehugger took the shot meant for his partner but nearly got knocked out in the process.

Pollaski: Now see, that would have been funny to see.

Cole: All we need is someone to run up and yell "You got knocked the fuck out!"

[Darren goes for the cover.]

1...

2...

Cole: Verde just broke up the cover again.

[Verde pulls Darren to his feet and delivers a boot to the midsection before dropping him on his head with a DDT and goes for a cover and hooks the leg.]

1...

2...

[Gabriel rolls back in and breaks up the cover.]

Cole: The action is getting fast and furious.

Pollaski: The ref needs to get better control of St. Louis #3, that's the second or third time one of them has done that.

Cole: Hey, it's what teams do for one another. Did you ever tell the Birdz not to do that?

Pollaski: Well, no.

Cole: Then sit there and stop your squawking.

[Gabriel grabs Verde and plants her on the mat with a body slam and climbs up to the top turnbuckle while the ref tries to get everyone else out. The ref tries to get Darren out when Gabriel leaps off with a diving head butt but Verde rolls out of the way. Treehugger grabs Gabriel and delivers a boot to the midsection before grabbing the double underhook and drives him to the mat.]

Cole: TIGER DRIVER!!!!!

[Treehugger rolls out of the ring when Verde makes the cover and hooks the leg and the ref comes back into position.]

1...

2...

Cole: NO!!!! Gabriel with the escape.

Pollaski: Good lord would you calm the hell down?

Cole: No.

[Darren rushes into the ring and grabs hold of Verde and drives her into the mat with a swinging neckbreaker as Verde grabs her neck in pain. Darren brutally stomps away on the neck while Treehugger drives Gabriel into the corner with numerous knife edge chops. Treehugger goes for the Irish whip but Gabriel walks up the turnbuckles and leaps off with a corkscrew moonsault onto Treehugger and goes for the cover.]

1…

2

KICKOUT!!!

Pollaski: What the hell, the ref has lost control of this thing, Treehugger isn't the legal man, err person, Verde is legal!

Cole: yeah well, apparently the referee has forgotten that.

[Treehugger gets the shoulder up while across the ring Darren ties up Verde’s leg and arm and bridges back in a half-crab. The ref trying to break up the pair and get control of things finally able to get Darren out of the ring. Meanwhile, Gabriel tossing Treehugger over the top rope before coming up behind Verde and catching her in a full Nelson suplex, planting her to mat. Darren taking a moment to look down at his opponent before he reached down and pulls her up and places Verde on the top rope facing the crowd. Gabriel goes up with her and grabs a double chickenwing and drops Verde hard on the mat with a suplex and holds on with a bridge for a pin.]

1…

2…

3!!!!!

[DING!!!! DING!!!! DING!!!!]

Cole: And St. Louis #3 actually pick up a victory.

Pollaski: Well, I wouldn't call it much of one, after all, they faced Treehugger, that's like the lowest you can go in terms of trying to climb the ladder of success,

Cole: Well for two kids who last week were in the gutter, even this little victory is a big step.

Pollaski: Don't go blowing things out of proportion. They got lucky, and Verde had to carry treehugger though that match, if she had a proper partner she would have walked all over those two.

Cole" Care to put your money where your mouth is?

Pollaski: what?

Cole: Would you care to make a wager on that?

Pollaski: What do you have in mind?

Cole: Well, we find Verde a female tag team partner and next month we bring them back here to face St. Louis #3 and see what happens. You say they will win, I say St. Louis #3 defeats them.

Pollaski: I'll take that bet!

[Down the road from the South Point Arena, in an alleyway, a small wooden booth sat. It had a table, a stool on the customer's side, and a flat piece of wood overhead, with "DAVENPORT AND ZAMBRANO LEGAL ASSISTANCE" sharpied onto the wood. On the bottom, read "THE PSYCHIATRIST IS IN".]

[A young man came walking up to the booth, and the man sitting behind it, one William Boscoe Davenport, smiled, and gestured to the seat.]

Davenport: Please, sit.

[The man did. He stroked his blonde hair back, and adjusted his glasses, coincidentally adjusting his nose and thick black moustache, as well. His t-shirt was for the tag team in the main event of Tag Wars, tonight, "The Foreshadowing!". He even had replica tights of Tom Sawyer's, on!]

Young Man: Hello. My name is... Um... Guy Incognito.

Davenport: What can I do for you, Mr. Incognito?

[The young man cleared his throat.]

Incognito: A... Uh, a friend of mine is in a match tonight. Something kooky.

Davenport: Like what?

Incognito: An Aggro Crag match.

Davenport: Oh, how coincidental! Me too!

[Incognito smiled, and nodded.]

Incognito: Ah, so you'll be able to help me! I was wondering what I can... Er... He can legally get away with!

[Davenport looked into the man's sparkling blue eyes.]

Davenport: Have we met?

Incognito: HUH!?! WHAT?! NO!

Davenport: You just look awfully familiar.

Incognito: I get that a lot. Just one of those faces, I suppose. I am ridiculously handsome. But... What about that match?

Davenport: Oh. Right.

[He ducked under for a moment and came back with a jar and jingled the bus fare that tossed in.]

Incognito: I totally forgot!

[He drops a nickel in to the jar, William grins.]

Davenport: In advertisements, The Aggro Crag has no rules. Fans want to see men getting confetti to the face whilst receiving lacerations from shrapnel, while simultaneously being back body suplexed into a bed of spikes. And they WILL get it.

Incognito: Goodness gracious. One might even say weapons are not only encouraged... But tolerated.

[A pause, and Davenport nodded, making a hand gesture of agreement.]

Davenport: However, in the legalities of things, no sane arena manager would host an event where fans could possibly be maimed by exploding metal from a mortar, unless of course they signed a release, but getting that many releases -- Forget about it.

Incognito: Well, that's a relief. So, the fans are off-limits. Understood. What else can I... er... He do?

Davenport: No intentional murdering.

Incognito: What about accidental?

Davenport: This is the Aggro Crag, accidental death is always an option.

[Gulp]

Incognito: So, technically speaking, if... my friend, were to accidentally throw this guy, uh, Brisk Brannon from the top of the Aggro Crag, accidentally, to the bottom -- he couldn't be held liable for his actions... Right?

[Davenport looked into his crystal blue eyes once more... And that name sounded awfully familiar to another name he had heard before]

Davenport: It's accidental... Right?

Incognito: Yes sir.

Davenport: In the clear.

[Guy Incognito scratched his chin, eyes narrowing.]

Incognito: You know, you remind me of someone...

[Davenport picked up some papers, loudly neatening them by banging them together on his desk.]

Davenport: Like who? Ooh, I hope it's Brad Pitt. Or George Clooney, he gets all the chicks. Or that little computer-generated dude from Up. He was a totally awesome protagonist.

[Incognito raised an eyebrow.]

Incognito: The old guy, or the kid? Or the old guy who had all the dogs?

Davenport: The old guy with the cane with the tennis balls.

[Incognito shook his head.]

Incognito: No, it was that guy from pro wrestling, who's worked around here before. That Zortalk dude. He's funny "ha ha", not funny "ho ho".

[Davenport shook his head, looking down at his papers.]

Davenport: I'm just doing my job, sir.

[Incognito nodded, and shrugged softly. Reaching into the waistband of his tights, he dropped a whole dime into the jar.]

Incognito: Well, thank you for all your legal counsel. You've been very helpful!

[Davenport smiled, and nodded.]

Davenport: If there's anything else I can do for you, sir, then please don't hesitate to ask. You have a great night, and tell your friend good luck. Not too much luck, though, I got twenty bucks riding on Zortalk to hit the buzzer at the end.

[Incognito just gave a slow grin, as he rose to his feet.]

Incognito: I will. And good luck to yours, too. May the best... men win.

[And Guy turned, heading back down the alleyway, and towards the Strip once more. He had things to attend to. Davenport looked down, under his desk.]

Davenport: Did you get all that, aide?

[A perky female voice from below the desk chimed up.]

Voice: I sure did, sir.

Davenport: Good. Now, I need you to give me that folder you were compiling on all the weaknesses of the Foreshadowing. And that coffee I asked for.

Voice: Right away, sir.

[Fade.]

Cole: That was rather weird and a little on the um...sick side. That Aggro Crag match is shaping up to be an extremely dangerous match.

Pollaski: I know one thing, I plan to be watching out for falling rocks, they don't pay me enough to put me in harms way like that.

Cole:(chuckling) Smooth those ruffled feathers and relax, you look like a puffed up hen over there looking for a fight, we'll be fine, didn't you notice the space behind us? All we have to do is slide the table back during the main event and it's all good.

Pollaski: Oh, um, yeah, ok, I guess that's fine then.

Cole: Personally, I'm looking forward to this thing, I've been in a lot, and I do mean a lot of different matches over the years, texas tornado matches, bullwhip matches, barbed wire matches, light tubes, house of glass, inferno matches, bar room brawls, streetfights, cages with flames and barbed wire and three tiers filled with weapons, but never in all my years have I seen or heard of anything like what's going to take place here tonight.

Pollaski: Well take another sip or something before the anticipation kills you.

Cole: I think I will. (Cracks a second beer and takes a long drink) Alright. So where are we now.

Pollaski: The first of two Defiance versus Appalachian matches is up next.

Cole: Ahh, that means your buddy will be out there.

Pollaski: What buddy?

Cole: Donovan. you bailed the punk out of jail, you showed up with him in Defiance, and I hear he was watching your back over in AW too. Are you managing the guy or still trying to decide if he's worth it.

Pollaski: I don't manage anyone anymore, not worth the trouble and certainly not with a punk like that. Doesn't have the common sense god gave a gopher, do you know what could have happened to me in Defiance when I went in there to meet with Dane. And where was Donovan, outside because he'd managed to get himself banned from the building. And don't get me started about his littler efforts at getting vengeance.

Cole: Yeah, we wouldn't want to do that. Focus will ya, we have a match about to start.

“Burry Me in Southern Ground” by Rebel Son roars from the house PA system as the crowd comes to its feet.

Cole: As with last show it is quite clear who these people are behind.

Pollaski: Yeah, cause this is Vegas, not the damned deep south, these people here aren't inbred morons following an ex-drug addicted power hungry broken down former world champion hoping to cling to his glory days by living vicariously through his roster.

Cole: Why don't you let your true feelings for Dane be known.

Pollaski: Could have sworn I just did.

Cole just signed and shook his head.

Nick Rivers made his way to ringside slapping hands with the fans and really getting them pumped up even move for the match. Climbing into the ring Rivers threw his hands into the air and the people roared back in approval as the music finally came to an end and new music began as Pantera's "Walk" kept the people standing and cheering.

Pollaski: All I know is, this little punk better keep himself out of trouble, it will be a cold day in hell before I go through all the time, energy and effort to bail him out of jail again.

Cole: Consider yourself lucky you were only bailing on guy out of jail. I remember another night in Vegas when I had to bail two bloody idiots out of the most unlikely mess. What is it about rookies that they can't keep themselves from behind iron bars.

Pollaski scoffed: They're stupid.

Jake was in black and red tonight, bright red streaks highlighting his already red hair which was pulled back from his face for the night. Like his tag team partner he smacked hands with the fans on the way down, one woman pulling him in for a hug that he had to extract himself from. He finished the trip to ringside quickly, smacking a few more hands before leaping up on the ring apron and flipping over the top rope into the ring.

Pollaski: Show off.

"Mass Murder Machine" by Black Label Society kicked in and the cheers in the ring turned to boos as "The Butcher" himself Evan Hurley, who headed to the ring with eyes looking neither left nor right, a caustic, angry glare on his face for his opponents as he stalks towards the ring.

Cole: I actually kind of like this song.

Pollaski: are you high?

Cole: Not at the moment. You know, looking at this matchup, I can see this being a bad night for Rivers and Donovan, they have had an easy time over in Appalachian so far, they haven't faced anyone like this man or his partner.

Pollaski: Then we either see what they are made of, or they get sent back to Pennsylvania in pine boxes and the fans find another team to love.

Cole chuckled: Now that might be an interesting sight to see.

"The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin / "Gunman" by Them Crooked Vultures was the next piece of music to hit and from the back stepped a man who looked like he was stepped though time. His curves mustache gave an almost sinister look to his face, and his eyes were as cold as the iron he looked to spend hours lifting. Bronson Box made his way to join his partner to a chorus of boos and jeers.

Box hitting the ring and all hell is breaking loose as he charges Rivers as Hurley charges Donovan, quickly getting the upper hand on the smaller man he pounds the rookie into a corner while rivers and box slug it out in the center of the ring.

Cole: Should have known this would be explosive.

Pollaski: This is what the hell people pay to see and THIS is where Donovan's size is his detriment.

Donovan kicking at the knee of box, missing and Box delivering a devastating left to the face of Donovan.

Cole: HOLY SHIT! Did you see that kid's head snap back. Donovan covering up, that must have really rocked him.

Pollaski: He better fight, not cower!

Box stomping and kicking Donovan before the ref finally able to break things up and force Box from the ring. The ref ordering Donovan out now and Jake very slow to comply, holding his face.

Cole: Oh he's busted open, look at the blood dripping through his hands, that kid's in trouble and the match hasn't even officially gotten started yet.

Pollaski: He better suck it up!

{***DING *** DING ****DING}

Now the match officially underway, not like Rivers and Hurley noticed as the pair had continued their onslaught of each other, neither able to get the upper hand as they punched and tied up, struggled and rolled along the top rope feeling each other out in these opening moments. Hurley violently shoving Rivers to the mat and Rivers popping right back up and shoving Hurley to the mat in return and the fans have not even bothered to sit down, they are cheering Rivers on.

Cole: Now see, this is what I love. A cold beer, a comfortable chair and a fight about to break out.

Pollaski: Simple mind, simple pleasure, but I gotta agree, these new chairs are far more comfortable than last months. How'd you get them to agree to change them?

Cole: Told them you had hemorrhoids.

Pollaski: WHAT?!!!

Cole just chuckled and turned his attention back to the match.

Rivers and Hurley staring at each other now, holding eye contact for several seconds before violently locking up in a collar and elbow tie up that ended quickly as Hurley pulled Rivers into a side headlock and cranked down hard. Rivers backing into the ropes before shooting Hurley across the ring into the ropes. Hurley coming off fast, shoulder tackle on Rivers, and Rivers hitting the mat but quickly rolling to the side as Hurley sought to drop an elbow on him. Rivers with one leg behind Hurley's leg's licks upward with the other leg and takes Hurley to the mat with a scissors kick, and it's River's now tackling Hurley and raining hard forearm shots down into the other man's face.

Cole: Nice takedown and follow up by the rookie.

Pollaski: Ahh, but the veteran just got out of it with that thumb to the eyes.

The referee admonishing Hurley as he climbs to his feet, and Hurley holds his hands out as if to say he didn't do anything, then slipped a kick around the ref right into the head of Rivers. River's trying to climb to his feet and Hurley dropping an elbow to the spine of the young wrestler, then locking his hands beneath Rivers' neck, pulling back hard and from the corner, Donovan is shouting encouragement to his partner. There is a wicked looking cut over the eye of Donovan which he swipes at every now and again to push the blood away.

Cole: Well he's going to have his first scar.

Pollaski: Yeah those stitches are going to be a bitch and Rivers is going to need a chiropractor.

Rivers struggling to get to his knees and Hurley looking to turn the move into a Camel Clutch but Rivers pushing up quickly rolling through catches the leg of Hurley on the other side and locks in an ankle lock but Hurley able to get to the ropes and the referee ordering a break. Rivers doing so cleanly and backing away. Hurley climbing to his feet and making the tag to his partner Box.

Cole: And this is where the rookie made his first mistake. That ankle lock was a good counter but he put Hurley in that position to make a tag.

Pollaski: He'll learn, or he'll be mediocre, they both will, tonight they had just better make sure Defiance doesn't win. I don't care how they do it, but they had better do it.

Box in the ring now, and River's with a quick glance at Donovan whose still bleeding from that cut and Rivers not going anywhere near his corner.

Cole: And that could prove to be a mistake, Rivers is going to have to make his partner get in there at some point get in there hurt or not!

Box and Rivers locking up and Box with a quick knee lift to the midsection of Rivers follows it up with a forearm to the back and a knee to the face of Rivers before hooking him for a German suplex. Box following up with a knee drop but Rivers rolling out of the way and getting back to his feet in time to catch a rising Box with a Eurpoean uppercut quickly followed by an exploder suplex and Rivers going for the pin.

1...

Kickout!

Cole: Box is far too fresh for that.

Pollaski: Then Rivers had better beat him down some more.

Both men quickly to their feet, Rivers just a little quicker goes for a clothesline, Box ducking and catching Rivers with a full Nelson slam followed by several hard shots to the face of Rivers and the referee right there to tell Box to keep the hand open and not use his fists. Box pulling Rivers to his feet, Rivers with a headbutt to the face of Box followed by a boot to the gut and Rivers lifting Box up for a powerbomb.

Cole: TRIANGLE CHOKE!!!

Pollaski: Awe hell, god damnit@!!!

Rivers struggling manages to hoist Box up for another Powerbomb, trying to break the hold and Box has it locked in tight. Donovan yelling encouragement to Rivers, and Rivers, in desperation, hoists Box one more time, powerbombing him on the top turnbuckle to finally break the hold and Rivers collapsing from the effort. Box is down in the corner and slowly making for his partner at the far side of the ring. Donovan much closer to his partner is yelling encouragement at Rivers to make the tag and the fans are cheering Rivers on as well and Rivers making his way there slowly. Across the ring, Box slowly making his way to his corner as well.

Cole: And it's a race! Twenty bucks on Rivers.

Pollaski: You have issues.

Cole: (taking a long drink from his beer.) It's Vegas, what can I say.

Rivers with the tag and the fans with an explosion of cheers as Jake Donovan, blood streaming down his face leaps over the top rope and makes for Box but not quickly enough as Box with the tag to Hurley and Donovan not even waiting for Hurley to climb all the way into the ring, dropkicks Hurley and Hurley getting a bit tangled in the ropes and the referee admonishing Donovan but Donovan not seeming to care dropkicks Hurley again and Hurley's leg tangling in the ropes as he spills to the outside and Hurley dangling outside of the ring and Donovan sliding out of the ring beside Hurley and lighting the man up with kicks to the head and sternum and following it up with a dropkick to the stomach and Hurley finally falling loose from the ropes.

Cole: God damn but I like that kid!

Pollaski: It's about time he got serious.

Donovan sliding in to break the count then gripping the top rope and hurling himself over the top at Hurley.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Cole: Shit that had to hurt!

Hurley having seen the movement out of the corner of his eye caught Donovan and slammed the rookie back first onto the steal barricade and Donovan screaming in pain and holding his back in the first row.

Pollaski: well that didn't last too long.

Hurley grabbing Donovan by the hair and dragging him back over the ring barricade and pulling him up into a cradle piledriver and just drilling Donovan on the mats and Donovan looks limp. Hurley picking him up and hoisting him onto his shoulder before running Donovan shoulder first into the metal ringpost before rolling him back into the ring.

Cole: I hate to say it, but Donovan made a big mistake by taking things to the outside with a man as vicious as Evan Hurley and the kid is certainly paying for it now.

Pollaski: The kid is an idiot, what can I say, it was a bone headed move and honestly, I cannot believe the stupidity of that.

Hurley sliding into the ring behind Donovan and yanking the kid up and right into a falling inverted DDT and Hurley with the cover.

1...

2...

Foot on the ropes.

Cole: Well at least he had the presence of mind for that!

Pollaski: Surprisingly.

Hurley pummeling Donovan and the blood running down Donovan's face from that cut which Hurley is steadily making worse. The ref admonishing Hurely and Rivers shouting encouragement at his partner now.

Cole: I gotta say this, those two, Donovan and Rivers, they are truly beginning to act like a team, and that I like, you have no idea how important it is to have your tag team partner firing you up or encouraging you when you're down.

The ref finally backing Hurley away from Donovan and the rookie climbing to his knees. Hurley aiming a kick at the rookies head and Donovan managing to roll from the ring to avoid it.

Cole: Why the hell would that idiot head back outside again.

Hurley heading out after him and Donovan with a burst of speed running up the ring steps and coming off with a whisper in the wind on Hurley

Cole: Holy shit!

Pollaski: Finally!

Donovan swiping the blood from his eyes before leaping up onto the ring apron and coming off with a moonsault on Hurley and the fans are on their feet cheering him on. Donovan pulling Hurley up now and shoving him back into the ring under the bottom rope and Donovan heading up top now.

Pollaski: This could either prove to be a really bright or a really stupid move depending on what happens in the next ten seconds.

Cole: I just want to see what the hell the kid tries next.

Donovan, his face and hair a crimson mask once more swipes the blood from his face waits for Hurley to rise before leaping off and nailing him with a Dragonrana

Cole: Holy shit what a move!!

Donovan reaching back and hooking one of Hurley's legs.

1...

2...

Kickout!

Cole: Holy shit!

Pollaski: I'm not sure what impressed me more, the dragonrana or Hurley kicking out of it. Donovan should have grabbed both legs, then this thing would have been over.

Donovan smacking the mat in frustration, climbs to his feet and pulls Hurley up with him and Hurley rocking him with an uppercut followed by a series of headbutts all aimed for that cut above Donovan's eye and Donovan staggering. Hurley with a boot to the gut hooks the arms, snap double underhookk DDT and Hurley slowly laying across Donovan for the cover and hooking his leg.

1...

2...

Kickout!

Huge crowd pop.

Cole: Both these guys have got to be exhausted at this point, I don't know if either would actually be able to make a cover.

Hurley up, glaring at the ref and grabbing Donovan by the arm, dragging him over towards his corner and Donovan putting on the breaks and Hurley turning right into a clothesline from Donovan. Donovan into the ropes, spit legged moonsault and Hurley getting the knees up, bringing a huge groan from the fans and Donovan on the mat know, rolling around in pain while Hurley makes the tag to box.

Pollaski: Dumb kid, dumb kid, he should have tagged his partner after that clothesline.

Cole: I know I would have tagged mine. Let's hope that was a lessoned learned right there.

Pollaski: Sure, if he doesn't get his fool self killed.

Box in and immediately on the attack, stomping Donovan before reaching down to pull him to his feet and Donovan with an inside cradle.

1...

2...

Kickout.

Donovan rolling to his feet, dropkick to Box and Donovan diving for a tag to River!

Cole: Smart move!

Pollaski: It's about time!

The fans with a loud cheer at that and Rivers in the ring with Box now and Donovan on the outside clinging to the ropes to keep himself on his feet, his head down, blood dripping off his face and on to the mat. Rivers into the far ropes, comes off catching a rising Box with a Lariet to the back of the neck and Box goes down hard. Rivers dropping an elbow to the spine of Box before pulling him up and whipping him into the ropes, Box ducking the lariat but Rivers with a spin back kick to the gut of Box and Box down.

Cole: Now that I would not want to get hit with.

Pollaski: Awe come on Cole, you know you miss that shit.

Cole: I'll get in there if you will. hell I tell you what, why don't we sign up for the next tag wars, we can call ourselves Polla Inc.

Pollaski: Not on your life.

Rivers pulling Box up, Box going for a clothesling, Rivers ducking and catching Box in a Saito Suplex, dropping him on the back of his head and Rivers with the cover.

1...

2...

Foot on the ropes!

Cole: My god, these guys are relentless, someone is going to have to pull out something spectacular in order to win this thing.

Pollaski: That was poor ring positioning on Rivers part, he should have drug him to the center before making the cover.

Cole: Why don't you head to the back after the show and tell him that.

Pollaski: I can't be bothered.

Box rolling out of the ring, shaking the cobwebs out and Rivers remaining inside, watching, waiting till Box climbs up on the apron. Rivers greeting him with a hard chop to the chest and goes for a second one, Box blocks and nailing Rivers with a hard right followed by a clubbing blow to the face, still holding on to Rivers arm he torques it, keeping a modified arm wringer on it as he climbs to the top. Donovan rushing down the apron and driving a fist into the midsection of Box, followed by a dropkick and Donovan striking the ring apron as he goes down is down. Box is down too. Rivers rubbing his arm and looking down at the arena floor at his fallen opponent and fallen partner. Rivers calling down to Donovan, asking if he is alright and Hurley across the ring is yelling at the ref about what Donovan just did.

Cole: Donovan sacrificing himself for his partner, let's see if it was worth it.

Pollaski: If it doesn't he has no one but himself to blame.

The referee making his count on Box who slowly makes his way back into the ring. Rivers there to greet him, stomping away on the back of Box before reaching to pull him up and Box firing back with elbows to the gut of Rivers before reaching up and catching his head and drilling him for a Jawbreaker. Box scrubbing a hand over his face before wearily getting to his feet and heading for his corner, tagging Hurley in.

Cole: That is the very last thing that Rivers needed to have happen.

Pollaski: Rivers and Donovan need to work on controlling the ring and cutting their opponents off from their partners. Box and Hurley far more fluid when it comes to making tags than Rivers and Donovan.

Cole: That comes with time and experience.

Pollaski: Well they better hurry up and get some because right now, Defiance is staring into the face of victory.

Hurley heading to the top immediately and coming off with a thunderous top rope guillotine leg drop that shakes the ring and Hurley with the cover.

1...

2...

Kickout!

Cole: I admire the fighting spirit of Rivers, the guy doesn't give up.

Pollaski: Yeah but that just means he either won't last long or will end up wrestling old and crippled like a certain former world champion who shall remain nameless *caugh* Erik Dane *Caugh*

Cole: chuckling: Hurley doesn't look too impressed here with Rivers, he's pulling Rivers to his feet and Rivers with a left hook and Hurley answering with a right of his own and this thing has turned into a slug fest and the referee trying to get both men to open the fists and both ignoring him. Hurley Gaining the upper hand with a series of knife edge chops that raise welts on River's chest and Hurley following it up with hard elbow shots to the face. River's stunned and Hurley going back to the hard, stiff punches to the face which have Rivers staggering now. Hurley with a vicious headbutt to the face of Rivers followed by a spinning lariat and Rivers is down and Hurley backing off a bit.

Cole: What the hell is he backing away for?

Pollaski: Don't know, Don't care.

Rivers struggling to sit up and as soon as he does Hurley nailing him with a shinning Wizard.

Cole: Dayum!!! That's a concussion waiting to happen.

Hurley with the cover.

1...

2...

Donovan with the save, leaping on Hurley to stop the pin. Hurley enraged attacking Donovan and Box is in as well, the referee trying to regain control of things...

****DING ***** DING ****** DING

The dinging of the bell get's know ones attention but the referee who looks at the time keeper whose pointing at a timer at ringside. The ring announcer grabbed a microphone and spoke even as the men in the ring continued to fight.

ring Announcer: The time limit for this match has expired, It is has been declared a time limit draw.

A chorus of boos and calls for more time come from the crowd while inside the ring Hurley grabbed Donovan by the hair and threw him over the top rope. Donovan grabbing the ropes and landing on the ring apron uses the ropes as leverage to drive his feet into Hurley's midsection. Donovan grabbing Hurley's head and dropping off the apron and Hurley staggering backwards and collapsing to the mat. Donovan leaping back up on the ring apron, Springboard summersault splash on Hurley but Donovan grabbing his ribs, it looks like he hurt himself more than anything else with that move and across the ring Box has River's s perched on the top rope and now Box climbing up after him.

Cole: What the hell is he doing, don't they realize the match is over?

Pollaski: Does it look like they realize the match is over?

Cole: Funny!

Box climbing behind River's and hooks him, Spider German Suplex and River's Driven down on top of Donovan and the fans are booing the Wargods and belting the ring with bits of trash.

Cole: Wow, that was just devistating and the ring looks like a war zone right now. Hurley is still down, Donovan is down, Rivers crawling off of him and I'm surprised he can even move and Box just standing there looking down at the rookies with distain.

Pollaski: Well he can look down on them all he'd like, but the fact of the matter is, the Wargods did not win this match.

Cole: Neither did Rivers and Donovan.

Pollaski: That's beside the point. Defiance did not win, that's all that counts.

Cole: well one thing I know for sure, there will be a rematch down the line, both teams remarkably resilient and evenly matched and I would love to see them in a match with no time limit to worry about.

Pollaski: As would I. I'm sure Defiance would call this a victory, despite how the whole thing went down.

Cole: Well Appalachian has a second chance to take down Defiance coming up next but I have to be perfectly honest, I don't think they can do it.

Pollaski: I'm on the fence about that one myself, Wallace is good, Wallace has the potential to be a champion, but look who he's teamed with.

Cole: Well, it's an even trade off to me. Look who Brooks is teamed with. Kort is a coward, last month he damn near tried to make Brooks wrestle the entire match so if you think about it, Kort and Cochrane cancel each other out, leaving the match between Brooks and Wallace.

Pollaski: And that there is a crap shoot but seeing as how Brooks is Defiance that's enough of a strike against him that I say Wallace for the win.

Cole: I can second that.

“Last One to Die” by Rancid erupts over the PA system and the fans come to their feet as Adrien rushes from the back, slapping hands with the fans and pumping his fists into the air as he races to ringside.

Cole: Too much caffeine. Far, Far too much Caffeine.

Pollaski: It's even worse up close, let me tell ya.

Cole: isn't there an age requirement to wrestle these days, don't they have to be legal?

Pollaski: Apparently he's supposedly over 18.

Cole: In human years, or dog years?

Both share a chuckle over that.

Calib Wallace, otherwise known as Blade made a much slower, much less energetic entrance but in some ways, far more remarkable as his eyes were on the ring and he all but ignored the fans. Some booed, some cheered, some had no idea what to this of this silent man as he stalked to the ring.

Cole: Now this guy has ice water in his veins. Too bad certain other people don't know how to conduct themselves on their way to the ring.

Hillybilly Deluxe" by Brooks and Dunn makes an effort at drowning out the boos of the fans as Jimmy Kort walks down the aisle. He's looking all around him, as if checking for the exits on his way to the ring. "We Gon Make It" by Jadakess kicks off next and here comes Justin Brooks, looking none too happy to be heading down to deal with Kort and this match. Brooks not even looking at Kort as he gets into the ring, crosses to the other side and stands on the apron, shooting hate filled looks at Kort as if daring him to say a word.

Pollaski: Good to see some things never change, you can still cut the hatred between these two like a knife.

[The bell rings and that's enough to kick Wallace into high gear as the first thing he does is dropkick Kort who hits the mat and tries to roll from the ring. Wallace grabbing Kort by the leg, yanking him backwards, and Kort twisting and kicking upward with a mule kick that catches Wallace under the chin. Wallace staggered backwards and Kort leaping to his feet and into the air, wrapping his hands around Wallace's neck and driving his feet into the other man's midsection for a monkey flip. Kort up quickly, hits the ropes and lands a picture perfect moonsault, right onto the raised knees of Calib Wallace.

Cole: Now that's a momentum breaker! (He punctuated his words by draining the last of beer and setting the bottle aside with a belch.)

Kort with the presence of mind to roll into his own corner and force the tag on Brooks.

Pollaski: with him for a partner, who needs enemies.

Wallace and Brooks circle each other now before locking up in a collar and elbow tie-up. Brooks quickly comes away with a side headlock. Wallace tries to fight his way out but Brooks quickly switches out of the headlock and into a hammerlock. Wallace quickly ducks under and reverses it into a hammerlock of his own. Brooks with a reversal and Wallace looks around before making his way to the ropes as the ref calls for the break.]

Cole: I have to admit, I'm a Caleb Wallace fan, have been for many years. What he's doing teaming with Cochrane however baffles the hell out of me.

Pollaski: Comic relief?

Cole: For who? Watching this guy wrestle is little watching two flies cling to some sticky paper from the ceiling.

Pollaski: Actually, that can be more amusing than Cochrane under the right circumstances.

Cole: Not circumstances I'd want to know, thank you!

[Brooks gives him a clean break. Wallace with a hint of a smirk buries a quick knee into the midsection before firing in a knife edge chop to the chest of Brooks. Wallace whips a stunned Brooks into the ropes and goes for a back drop but Brooks leapfrogs over and hits the nearside ropes, rooks them and makes a quick tag to Kort, who looks a bit stunned at that. Wallace being backed away by the ref whose ordering Kort into the ring and Kort shooting Brooks a murderous look before climbing inside.]

Cole: I tell you what I would love to call a match between Kort and Brooks. Just give me a 12 pack and a blond on my lap and it would be a happy day. Speaking of which.

Cole reached into the mini fridge to get another beer, his stash on one shelf, the Arizona ice teas of Pollaski on the second shelf.

Cole: Sure I can't interest you in a beer?

Pollaski: Nope.

Cole: what the hell man, are you straight edge like that damned Adrien?

Pollaski: Give me the beer.

Cole chuckled as he handed the beer too Dan who tried to twist the top off.

Cole took back the beer, placed the cap at the edge of the table, slammed his hand down on top of it and poped off the top before handing it back to Dan with a chuckle as inside the ring Wallace goes for a hiptoss but Kort blocks it and reverses it into a hip toss of his own. Wallace gets back to his feet and charges into a thumb in the eye. Kort grabs Wallace and throws him into his corner. Kort tries to pummel Wallace in the corner but Wallace fires back with knife edge chops until he gets back to the center of the ring. Boot to the gut from Wallace followed by a t-bone suplex and Wallace into the ropes, second rope leg drop and the cover.

1...

Kickout!

Pollaski: too soon!

Kort rolling to his feet and Wallace right there to meet him with kicks to the legs, the back the sides the arms, Kort being lit up by the hard kicks from Wallace before snatching the leg of Wallace mid kick and taking him to the mat with a dragon screw leg whip and Wallace sent rolling, manages to roll into his own corner and make the tag. Adrien leaping in over the top rope catches Kort with a boot to the chest, driving him back before taking him to the mat with a leap swinging DDT. Kort is down and Adrien into the ropes, Asai moonsault and Adrien with the cover.

1...

2...

Kickout!

Cole: Kort with a much more impressive showing this time, I must admit.

Pollaski: Yeah, since his partner keeps making him get in there.

Both men to their feet now and Cochrane immediately tossing Kort across the ring with an arm drag takeover. Kort gets to his feet and complains to the ref about a hair pull and the ref all but laughs at him. Kort angrily goes back another tie-up but Cochrane catches him with a waistlock. Kort fires away with numerous elbow shots to the head before hitting the ropes and geting dropped to the mat with a drop toe hold from Cochrane. Kort gets to his feet again crowd before hitting the ropes and ducks under a clothesline from Cochrane before hitting the ropes again. Cochrane goes for another clothesline but Kort ducks under and throws himself across Cochrane's back in a crusifix and takes Cochrane to the ground. Kort catching the rising Cochrane with a snap suplex and pulls him up into a boot to the midsection followed by a sissors kick, driving Cochrane to the match. Kort hurls harsh words at the fans and Cochrane before following up with a baseball slide dropkick to the head.

Cole: That's one hell of a sequence by Kort and he just tagged Brooks.

Pollaski: (sipping the beer): I doubt we're going to see a single tag between those two that isn't forced.

Brooks enters the room and drags Adrien up by his head, locks on a front face lock and takes Cochrane over with a vertical suplex and rolls through for the cover.

1...

2...

Kickout!

Cole: A lot of solid pins here in the first part of this match.

Pollaski: Adrien is starting to look like a bad hangover.

Cole: What would you know about a bad hangover. Arn't you sipping like your first beer ever?

Pollaski: No.

Cole: Yeah right!

Brooks drags Cochrane to his feet and quickly climbs up to the top turnbuckle and connects with a double ax-handle to the back of Cochrane. Cochrane crumbling to the mat before slowly trying to climb to his knees again, slowly rising before Brooks hits the ropes and drives Cochrane down to the mat with a bulldog headlock. Brooks with a rear naked choke on Cochrane who struggles to reach the ropes, his fingertips brushing it several times before he is able to grab hold. The referee ordering the break and Brooks giving it.

Cole: Clearly Cochrane needs to get a tag here soon or Kort and Brooks are going to turn him into another stain on the mat.

Pollaski: At least it won't be cat piss.

Cole: You had to remind me of that incident, didn't you. I still have a bill for the new ring cover that little stunt forced us to by, remind me to give it to you at next month's show.

Cochrane pulling himself to his feet with the ropes and rolls his shoulders, trying to catch his breath for a moment. Brooks looking for a lock up and Cochrane ducking underneath and rolling, reaching his corner and tagging in Wallace and the fans excitedly cheering that move and Wallace stepping through the ropes to look at Brooks coming toe to toe with him in the center of the ring.

Pollaski: This has the potential to be explosive.

Cole: Another matchup I would love to change to see as one on one competition.

Pollaski: I noticed none of the matches you want to see feature Cochrane.

Cole: I'd rather watch twelve hours of uninterrupted Firebomb promos.

Shudders!

A left from Brooks, blocked by Wallace and Wallace with a left, and Brooks blocking it and Wallace following up with a headbutt to the face of Brooks followed by an Irish whip, reversal by Brooks and Wallace sent into the corner. Brooks charging, managing to duck the spinning leg lariat, and Wallace turning right into a big boot to the face from Brooks!

Cole: HE CAUGHT IT!

Wallace catching that kick and sweeping the supporting leg of Brooks before turning right into a Boston Crab.

Pollaski: Good grief but this is some damn good wrestling.

Brooks grabbing the ropes and Wallace with a break and the fans are cheering both men for that sequence and Brooks with a bit of a head nod to Wallace and Wallace inclining his head slightly as well.

Cole: was that actually some manner of respect we just saw.

Pollaski: I believe that it was.

Brooks and Wallace locking up once more, test of Strength and neither man able to get the upper hand for long before Brooks converting it into a fireman's carry take down and makes the tag to Kort. Kort arguing another not wanting to get into the ring and Brooks grabbing the top rope and bringing Kort in the hard way. Wallace with a chuckle tagging Adrien in across the ring and Adrien rushing right in at the fallen Kort picks him up and whips him into the ropes and catches him with a sidestep before throwing him up and over the top rope to the floor below. Kort tries to get back to his feet and stumbles around badly. Cochrane nails Kort with a kick to the midsection before hitting the ropes and connecting with a DDT. Cochrane leaps up onto the top turnbuckle and flies off before connecting with a senton bomb that sends Kort bouncing from the impact. Cochrane with the cover.

1...

2...

Cole: I don't know how but Kort gets the shoulder up.

Pollaski: Probably because Cochrane didn't make the cover properly.

[Cochrane slowly gets to his feet and pulls Kort to his feet before taking him back down with a side Russian leg sweep. Cochrane climbs up to the second turnbuckle and leaps off with a somersault elbowdrop to the chest before going for another cover.]

1...

2...

Kort with the kickout!

Pollaski: And again Cochrane not getting the job done.

Cochrane pulls Kort to his feet and hits the ropes and quickly takes Kort down with a facecrusher. Cochrane hits the ropes and goes for an elbow drop but Kort rolls out of the way. Cochrane gets to her feet and goes for another elbow drop but Kort rolls out of the way again. Kort gets to the ropes and tries to get back to his feet when Cochrane charges at him but Kort goes low and takes Cochrane over the top rope to the floor. Kort hits the far side ropes before flying over the top rope and connecting with a suicide dive onto Cochrane on the outside.

Crowd: HOLY SHIT!!! HOLY SHIT!!! HOLY SHIT!!!

Cole: Where the hell did Kort find the balls to do that?!

Pollaski: Guess he borrowed them off someone in the back!

Kort using all the time possible on the outside to whip Cochrane into the steps, the railing, the announce table, jarring Cole's beer.

Cole: Hey you bastard, that's alcohol abuse!

Finally, when the count reached eight, Kort rolled Cochrane back into the ring and climbed in after him. Kort dragging Cochrane over to his corner and once more making the rather forced tag in to Brooks. Kort holding Adrien with his arms pinned behind his back but Brooks refusing to hit him that way. The referee trying to order Kort from the ring and Kort yelling at Brooks, finally getting Brooks to nail a held upright Adrien in the face. Kort releasing him and Adrien dropping like a ton of bricks with Kort chuckling as leaves the ring.

Cole: And Brooks looks pissed!

Pollaski: Who can blame the guy, it's clear wrestling that way just is not his style.

Brooks pulling Cochrane to his feet and up into the air for a powerbomb and Adrien with a desperation counter taking Brooks down with the frankesteiner. Adrien on the mat breathing heavily and the fans are cheering for him to make the tag to Wallace who is leaned over the top with his arm outstretched. Adrien trying to make the dive to reach him but Brooks grabbing hold of the leg of Cochrane and holding on, Preventing the tag. Brooks getting to his knees, trying to yank Adrien back towards the center of the ring and Adrien turning, kicking at Brooks but Brooks hanging on. Adrien kicking once, twice, three times, four times, the fifth kick catching Brooks square in the face and that time knocks Brooks loose and Adrien diving for Wallace's outstretched hand and Wallace in the ring now and the fans about blowing the roof off the arena as Wallace catching a rising Brooks with a grounded summersault ace crusher, and just drives Brook's head into the mat and Wallace with the cover.

1...

2...

3...

Cole: And he got it!

Pollaski: Score one for Appalachian!

Cole: What an incredible match, certainly not what I expected out of either team and I have to admit, Adrien showed a great deal of heart out there tonight.

Pollaski: I guess.

Cole: Somewhere, somehow, someone needs to sign Wallace to face Brooks. Hell, I wish I could do it myself.

Pollaski: Tell me your not considering what I think you're considering.

Cole: hell no, I'm retired. (looks around) Well mostly.

Pollaski chuckling as they cut to the back

[Cannon walked down the long hallway shaking his head about something. His expression was quite conspicuous that he was either bothered or in deep thought. Cannon turned to walk into the bathroom to take a piss at the urinal and unzipped his pants before waiting for it.]

[Just as Cannon was whipping it out, the door opened, and in walked the muscle of the Foreshadowing, Lucas Harper. In a DEFIANCE tee-shirt, and a pair of jeans, he looked all business, and didn't even glance at Cannon. Man-code, you never watch a man when he's pissing. Harper sidled up to one of the urinals towards the other end of the line of them, and undid his fly.]

[After a moment, Harper and Cannon both glanced up, struck by something, and looked at one another. Their eyes narrowed, glaring hatefully at one another.]

Harper: You...

Cannon: You!

[A pause.]

Harper: Truce while we piss?

[Cannon's eyes narrowed even more. Thoughts of the super kick to hell flooded his mind, the added-on embarrassment over at Defiance? Did this jack off just say what Cannon thought he said?]

Cannon: Excuse me? Truce? Just be lucky I don't shove your head up your ass right now. You embarrassed me over at Defiance. I disappointed a lot of Southerners who are embarrassed to admit so. I wasn't even able to make it to my Press Conference. Now, they are calling me a man that does not stick to my word. How do you think that makes me feel?

[Cannon looked back to the urinal and was becoming increasingly impatient with the wait.]

Harper: You? Shove my head up my ass?

[The experienced veteran snorted in mirth.]

Harper: Listen, kid. This is just a job. I did what I did because that's what DEFIANCE wrestlers have been flat-out told to do to invaders.

[Harper smirked softly, and the sound of piss splashing on the back of the urinal was heard. Apparently, one of the two wasn't afflicted with stage fright.]

Harper: You take this shit waaaaaaay too personally.

[Cannon sighed.]

Cannon: Honestly, I am a little worried about the Aggro Crag match. Zortalk said it has shortened a many of careers. Speaking for the both of us, we have some big shit ahead of us. If you know what I mean...

[Cannon let his river go as well after the long delay. He seemed to have a huge weight off his shoulders. Maybe it's better for him to admit to being intimidated? Whatever the case, Cannon leaned into his piss as if he was dry humping one of his paralegals... Or maybe that is what's been on his mind this whole time?]

Cannon: So, what exactly is this Aggro Crag thing anyway?

[Harper chuckled softly, as he guided his stream into the ceramic receptacle.]

Harper: You say that like I have any damn clue what happens in my career anymore. I just let Tom do whatever he wants and wrestle as good a match as I can.

[The big biker-looking wrestler gave a shaky sigh, as his bladder finally emptied.]

Harper: Take it from me, kid. This is a job, not a life sentence. Just try to have fun with it, cuz otherwise, you'll end up like one of those super-serious guys who can't let go.

[Cannon, however, was not finished. He contemplated pissing the rest of his stream on Harper; however he figured it probably would not be the best thing to do before this potential dangerous match only moments away.]

Cannon: You're not talking about those guys like Dan Pollaski who writes that evil sadistic Power 50, are you? Or better yet, what about Eric Dane?

[Cannon finished pissing into the urinal and zipped his fly back.]

Cannon: I don't know about you, but I plan on being something around here. If that takes using this Aggro Crag match to my advantage then so be it. You know, respect only goes so far in this business. I think it's about time you take what you rightfully deserve. You in?

[Cannon turned and extended his hand out as if he wanted to connect powers of some sort with Harper. Harper slowly looked down at Cannon's hand, then back to the dude's face. An eyebrow slowly arched.]

Harper: Personally, I don't care what my career does after this match, kid. You still don't get it.

[Harper stepped back, leaving Cannon hanging, and headed to the sink.]

Harper: I've got what I want. I'm making huge bank right now off merch, and I'm only in this job to have fun and make money.

[Hands passed under the water, soap, lather, water, wipe-on-ass.]

Harper: I don't need anything other than that. I figure someone might wanna give me a title shot sometime. That's cool. But I'm good, otherwise. And, remember...

[Harper glanced back to that hand, as he headed for the door.]

Harper: Wash your hands. Nobody wants ta touch your dickjuice involuntarily.

[Cannon looked confused as Harper passed the corner. He looked around before giving his shunned hand a good smell. The crowd could be heard "ewwing" in the background. Cannon's eyes narrowed, as he looked up, in the direction that Harper just left through.]

Cannon: Did he just get uppity with me?

[A pause.]

Cannon: No, I'm not joking. Did he just get uppity with me?

[The stall door swung open, and the luscious, tall, leggy blonde who was Cannonda's Secretary of Defense leaned out.]

Sec. of Def.: I believe he did, sir.

Cannon: Go to Defcon 3. I think we need to be prepared for this Harper fellow.

Sec. of Def.: What do I do to go to Defcon 3, sir?

[Cannon lifted an eyebrow, looking skyward, a hand going to his chin.]

Cannon: I need to see precisely seven sets of breasts, and I need some flashpaper. But first...

[Cannon reached into his pants to pull out a bottle of special made Cannondian soap with Chris Cannon's face logo'ed on it. He squirted some out and lathered his hands really good. Cannon walked past the sink completely and instead rubbed his hands clean with his pants.]

Cannon: Get me those breasts, Defense!

[The Secretary of Defense blinked, and swung the stall door closed once more.]

[Back to the announce table with a stunned Cole looking on.]

Pollaski: What's with you?

Cole: Dude just ordered seven breasts, hell, I need to go back there and see if he gets them and if he does, I'm going to figure out a way to get a sample of them myself. Bloody hell, if getting breasts is as easy as ordering them then I'm going to get myself a secretary of defense. Or make that, a secretly of bourbon, bear and fine ass tits.

Pollaski: See your the reason we can't get a PG rating on this show.

Cole: Who the hell would want one.

Pollaski: Good point!

Cole: Alright, match number three, we're almost at the halfway point ant the action tonight has been out of this world.

Pollaski: (taking a tiny sip of beer) It's gotten the fans all pumped up which is just great because this match is going to be chuck full of energy and hard hitting strikes.

Cole: This is what I like about the women's division. Females who can wrestle and I think there is a big big difference between having a Valet get into the ring with another valet and roll around for awhile, exciting every real man at ringside and probably half the women too and getting a couple of real female wrestlers in the ring. I spent a year in Japan and I will tell you this, watching the women there, watching the way they dissect one another in the ring, well, i can never look at a fluff match the same way again.

Pollaski: Right, you can't look at a fluff match.

Cole: I didn't say I can't look at one, hell, watching two mostly naked women roll around in jell-o is enough to make me rise to any occasion if you know what I mean, but I can't consider it wrestling. Wrestling is what we are going to see next with Jade and Hecate and after the way that they took St. Louis #3 to task last week, well, i for one am looking forward to seeing what they can do against a real team.

Pollaski: Your not the only one. I for one am glad to see more women's wrestling and the level of completion between the women grow. For far too long I think this alliance have either ignored it's female competitors or tried to label them too weak to really be a threat to the companies major titles. well, I don't think they will be able to ignore the women for much longer.

Cole: I can see Jade and Hecate challenging for the World tag titles very soon, and depending on who the champions are, they just might win them.

Pollaski: Well, here's hoping we get to host that match right here.

Cole: Heh, knowing you, wherever the match is held, you'll be there.

Pollaski: You're damned right.

Cole: I just heard a rumor about this match coming up.

Pollaski: How the hell are you hearing rumors and I'm not getting a damn thing from the back.

Cole: I'm special. Now, on to the rumor. Apparently, Hecate was injured at the WMW PPV and she is bandaged and taped and certainly not 100 percent.

Pollaski: Damn! Is she still going to wrestle.

Cole: According to my source, she's still coming out here, she will be a part of this match.

Pollaski: Well good, good, would have been a shame for her to miss this.

Cole: True. Here's hoping she doesn't get injured any more here tonight.

[The lights all go out, sending the arena into blackness as "The Thing that Should not be" by Metallica blasts through the audio system in the arena as primordial storms flare to life on the videotron. The music is interrupted first by the screech of an owl and then by the roar of a dragon as a white and black owl swoops in front of the storms on the videotron followed by an Eastern Jade Dragon, a lone spot light shining down on two cloaked figures standing at the top of the entryway as the music continues. One cloaked figure steps behind the other, suggestively running hands up the first cloaked figures body before unfastening the cloak and letting it drop to the ground to show Hecate standing in black hot pants with a Jade Dragon wrapping around the her waist and a black halter top with a silvery white owl across her left breast, the Heartlands title proudly fastened around her waist. Hecate lifts her scepter up in the air before spinning around the second cloaked figure and repeating the suggestive running of her hands up the cloaked figures body before unfastening the cloak and letting it spill to the floor to reveal Jade standing there in a matching black hot pants and halter top, although on Jade the dragon is wrapped around her chest and the owl is one leg of the hot pants, pointed inwards with the Shoot title fastened proudly around her waist.]

[Hecate and Jade stand side by side, looking at each other and then Hecate starts down towards the ring, Jade standing at the entrance watching her before taking off in a run towards the ring, and quickly slides beneath the bottom rope. Hecate slithers under the ring ropes on her belly slowly, bandages wrapped around her injuries clearly apparent as she rises up behind Jade, the two staring out at the crowd belly to back before heading to the corners and hopping up to the second turnbuckle and lifting their hands, bringing a surprising amount of cheers from the fans before hopping down and waiting for their opponents.]

Cole: God the intensity of those two is just awe inspiring and my source was right. Hecate is damaged and damaged badly.

Pollaski: This is going to prove interesting then, the Angels of Death are no slouch of a team, Hecate may regret coming down here that way.

*The opening bars of AC/DC’s ‘If You Want Blood (You Got It) plays*

It’s criminal
there ought to be a law
criminal
there ought to be a whole lot more
you get a nothin’ for nothin’
tell me who can you trust
we got what ya want
and you got the lust If you want blood (YOU GOT IT)
If you want blood (YOU GOT IT)
BLOOD on the streets
BLOOD on the rocks
BLOOD in the gutter, EVERY LAST DROP,
YOU WANT BLOOD you got it
yes you have…

Pollaski: And the Angels of Death have arrived.

Cole: You know...it's getting awfully damned confusing. Angel of Death, Angels of Death, I'm waiting to see the grim reaper around here waiting to carry someone away.

Pollaski: Well if he shows up, i'll point him in your direction.

[DING!!!! DING!!!! DING!!!!]

[The bell rings as Angel Casey and Jade stare holes through each other in opposite corners.]

Cole: Casey does not have much respect for those that cross her path but Jade only knows one thing and that’s how to hurt somebody. It’s time to find out which one will win out.

Pollaski: This whole match is a plus for me, i'm just going to sit back, relax and enjoy.

[Casey offers to shake hands before locking up but Jade reverses it into a hammerlock, hooking Casey's arm. Casey quickly reverses into her own hammerlock, before hooking the head of Jade in a headlock. Jade throws Casey to the ropes, and goes for a clothesline. Casey ducks and gets Jade in a back drop position.]

Cole: Casey lifts Jade up for a backdrop, Jade flips over and lands on her feet! Jade now has Casey in a headlock!

[Jade whipped off the ropes, Casey goes to kick Jade in the midsection, and Jade grabs her foot just in time, and whips her around.]

Pollaski: Jade is tenderizing Angel Casey with those stiff buzzsaw kicks! OUCH!!! Spin Hook Kick by Jade sends Casey to the mat and goes for the cover.

1...

2...

Cole: Casey kicks out! Way too early in the match for a cover.

[Angel Scott motions for her partner to come over and make the tag. Casey talks a little smack to Jade before backing off and makes the tag to Angel Scott. Scott jumps in and circles the ring before going in for the collar and elbow tie up in the middle of the ring. Scott quickly powers Jade down to a knee with an overhead wristlock but Jade powers her way back up. Scott slides into a side headlock before switching into a hammerlock and then back to the side headlock and takes Jade down to the mat and goes for a quick cover.]

1...

2...

[Jade gets her shoulders up and pushes Scott into a headscissors. Scott moves around until he gets her feet underneath and slips out. Scott quickly goes for the legs and looks for a cloverleaf hold but Jade reverses it into an ankle lock. Scott reaches out for the ropes but can't quite get them yet.]

Pollaski: Great counter but she is looking to snap off the ankle. Anyone saying there's no danger in woman's wrestling hasn't taken a look at these females that's for damned sure.

[Scott starts to pull herself towards the ropes with her forearms until she grabs the bottom rope. The ref calls for the break and Jade breaks the hold.]

Cole: Nice chain wrestling there by Jade and Angel Scott.

[Both women get to their feet when Jade grabs a quick headlock before making the tag to Hecate. Hecate connects with a quick shot to the midsection and grabs a side headlock. Scott grabs a handful of hair and pulls Hecate away and into a side headlock of her own. Hecate fires some quick forearms to the ribs before she shoots Scott into the ropes. Scott comes back and knocks Hecate down with a shoulder block. Hecate kips up to her feet when Scott hits the ropes again and Hecate hits a leapfrog and goes for a hip toss but Scott blocks it. Hecate buries a knee into the midsection before delivering the hip toss but Angel Scott lands on her feet.]

Cole: Angel Scott is showing me something in this contest.

Pollaski: Exactly what is she showing you?

Cole: not what you think thank you! She's showing me she has talent.

Pollaski: Well I can certainly agree with that.

[Scott goes for a short arm clothesline but Hecate quickly ducks under and grabs a rear waistlock and goes for a belly to back suplex but Scott flips over her shoulder and whips Hecate to the ropes and goes for a tilt-a-whirl slam but Hecate counters with a flying headscissors take down before hitting the ropes again. Scott drops down low and catches Hecate coming back with a back elbow to knock Hecate down to the mat while Hecate sweeps Scott's legs from under her as both women nip up back to their feet. The fans heartily applaud the action while Hecate just nods before they circle each other once more.]

Cole: I’m going to call it right now. These four women are going to steal the show tonight.

[Hecate and Scott lock up in the middle of the ring. Hecate pushes Scott off, grabbing a hold of her left arm. Hecate twists it in an arm ringer then pulls Scott in for a few quick shoulder blocks on the shoulder and arm area. Hecate holds Scott's left arm straight out, and kicks upward, slamming her boot into the elbow of Scott, making her grab her arm in pain. Scott locks up with Hecate and Hecate pushes her back into her corner and connects with a chop to the chest before making the tag to Jade. Hecate gingerly steps out of the ring when Angel Scott fires forearms into Jade’s face. Jade returns with a couple of stiff knife edge chops of her own. Jade grabs Scott by the hair and throws her into the far corner. Jade charges in and connects with a dropkick to the chest of Angel Scott.]

Cole: Hecate is still showing the effects of her PPV match a couple of days ago. you know, its always a tough thing to have two matches close together, and its even tougher to get injured in one of them but I must say, these young wrestlers they have it easy these days, why, in my day, we wrestled damn near every night and I can remember a few nights of wrestling twice and not thinking more of it.

Pollaski: great, next you'll be telling stories of how you had to walk uphill to school each day, barefoot in the snow.

Cole; I ain't that old!

[Jade gets up and delivers a forearm to the jar of Scott when Angel Scott answers back with a European uppercut of her own while Angel Casey cheers her on. Jade stumbles back a step before coming back and unleashes another forearm when Scott connects with another European uppercut. Scott shoots Jade into the opposite corner and takes her up and over with a snap mare. Scott gets to her feet and grabs Jade before making the tag to Angel Casey. Casey stalks a rising Jade before she takes her down with a double leg trip. Casey tries to go for a half Boston crab but Jade quickly goes to the ropes for the break. Casey quickly goes on the attack once again as she picks Jade up and takes her over with a snap mare before quickly dropping a knee to the forehead of Jade. Casey makes the quick tag to Scott, who shakes out her arm before she grabs Jade by the leg and drops all off her weight down on the knee.]

Cole: Now, that’s a smart move by the Angels of Death. Take out a leg and Jade can’t kick you to death.

[Scott quickly gets to her feet and catches Jade getting up with a single leg pickup before taking her over with a dragon screw leg whip. Jade winces in pain when she gets back to her feet and catches a quick elbow to the jaw from Scott as Jade goes down again. Scott makes another tag to Casey. Casey climbs up to the second turnbuckle and waits for Jade to get up. Casey jumps off and catches a stiff slap to the midsection by Jade. Scott yells to make the tag when Casey quickly rolls to the corner and makes the tag to Scott.]

Pollaski: Another timely tag by The Angels.

[Jade quickly grabs the left arm of Angel Scott and drags her to the ring post. The ref is warning Jade but Jade violently wraps the injured arm around the post and does it again for good measure as Scott crawls away in pain. Jade quickly rolls back into the ring and stomps away on the injured arm of Angel Scott. Jade hits the ropes and connects with a knee drop to the arm and shoulder of Angel Scott. Jade climbs up onto the top rope while Scott slowly gets to her feet. Jade leaps off, going for a cross-body on Scott however Scott nails a hard chop across her chest, sending a huge slap noise into the air.]

Cole: OH MY GOD!!! You could hear that shot from the beer stand.

Pollaski: (taking a small sip of his beer) You have a fascination with beer.

Cole: Your damned right.

[Jade grabs her chest in pain while she lies on the mat. Scott grabs her arm and tries to get some feeling back into it when she makes the tag to Angel Casey. Hecate stomps on the ring apron, urging Jade to make the tag. Casey comes into the ring and quickly lifts Jade up and hooks her for a vertical suplex. Casey lifts Jade into the air and goes for the suplex but Jade slips out, landing behind Casey. Jade puts her head under Casey's arm and wraps her arms around Casey's waist and then lifts her up and back.]

Cole: Belly to back suplex and Angel Casey landed on the back of her head from that shot.

[Jade rolls to her feet and grabs Angel Casey before locking on the Jade Dragon Sleeper.]

Pollaski: Jade is looking to end the match right now.

[Scott quickly comes in and kicks Jade in the back of the head to break the hold. Scott pulls Casey over to her corner and makes the legal tag and comes back in stomping away on the knee and stomach of Jade.]

Cole: Jade needs to make the tag if they have any chance of winning the match but how much does Hecate have in the tank, no one knows.

Pollaski: yeah well, it's time to find out, personally, I think she just might have enough to be effective!

[Casey pulls Jade up before taking her over with a snap mare and connecting with a stiff kick between the shoulder blades.]

Cole: FIELD GOAL!!! Angel Casey nailed that one through the shoulder blades.

[Casey stands back when Jade winces in pain when Casey delivers another stiff kick between the shoulder blades. Casey pulls Jade to her feet and shoots her into the ropes and goes for a sidewalk slam but Jade flips through it and connects with a knife edge chop to the chest, followed by rapid fire Wing Chun punches.]

Pollaski: A Thousand Fists and Angel Casey is feeling every one of them.

[Jade grabs the arm and takes it over with an arm ringer before pulling her into a short arm lariat. Jade shakes her arm loose when Casey brings Jade down with a drop toe hold and follows up with a twisting leg drop to the back of the head. Casey brings Jade up to her feet and whips her into the ropes and takes her down with a twisting sidewalk slam. Casey goes for the cover and hooks the leg.]

1...

2...

Cole: NO!!! Jade got the shoulder up. These women are getting serious out here.

[Casey gets up and makes the tag to Angel Scott. Scott turns Jade over before hitting the ropes and comes down with a big knee drop across the back. Scott puts her knee into the lower back and pulls her into a bow and arrow.]

Pollaski: Angel Scott is looking to work over the back and the legs. But, I don’t see Jade giving up.

Cole: Nor do I, that is one tough lady!

[Hecate continues to stomp on the ring apron and smacking the turnbuckle to get the tag. Scott slowly rocks back and locks on an inverted bow and arrow. Jade screams out in agony when Scott pushes Jade to the side and pins her shoulders to the mat.]

1...

2...

[Jade gets the shoulder up when Scott releases the hold and Jade slumps to the mat.]

Cole: Jade is showing some of that tremendous fortitude but The Angels of Death are looking relentless.

[Scott gets to her feet while Jade lies on the mat in pain. Scott brings Jade up by the neck and Irish whips her into the far corner with maximum velocity when Jade drops to her knees. Scott yells at Jade to get up when she pulls Jade to her feet and whips her into the opposite corner and charges in but Jade moves out of the way and Scott goes in shoulder first, injuring her arm even more. Jade gets to her feet and connects with a double arm DDT.]

Pollaski: Jade made a break for herself, now can she make the tag to Hecate.

[Jade drags herself towards the corner while Scott tries to get her bearings. Jade looks around and with one giant burst, leaps and makes the tag to Hecate. Scott shakes it off and makes the tag to Casey. Casey goes for a lariat but Hecate ducks under and hits the ropes again when Casey tries to connect with a driving elbow smash to the head but Hecate ducks under and comes back with a flying clothesline that sends Casey down in a heap and goes for the cover.]

1...

2...

Cole: Kick out by Casey.

[Hecate gets to her feet and grabs a rushing Angel Scott by the arm and takes her down with a leg sweep. Casey rolls backwards to get to her feet when Hecate takes her down with a spine buster before going for the cover.]

1...

2...

[Casey kicks out while Hecate gets to her feet and fires away with chops and punches to both Angels. Hecate buries a boot to the midsection of Casey and goes for a powerbomb but Casey tries to block it and goes for a backdrop but Hecate holds on and gets nailed with a spin wheel kick by Scott.]

Pollaski: Hecate came in like a house of fire and now she needs a tag because she is certainly feeling her injuries now.

Cole: That might be just the way she is going to have to wrestle tonight, short but effective bursts of well times action and energy. If anything it will keep her opponents thrown off balance. Or at least, one might hope.

[Scott rolls out of the ring while Casey brings Hecate up to her feet and goes for a slam but Hecate floats over and takes Casey over with a roll-up.]

1...

2...

Cole: NO!!! Casey kicks out.

[Hecate and Casey get back to their feet when Hecate goes for a short arm lariat but Casey ducks under and drops Hecate to the mat with a reverse neck breaker. Casey gets to her feet and grabs a double leg on Hecate and tries to pull her in for a Boston crab but Hecate counters with a rolling body scissors and pins Casey's shoulders to the mat.]

1...

2...

Pollaski: Scott breaks the pin at two.

Cole: I don't hear you complaining about partners breaking pins now. in fact, you didn't complain when Donovan did it either.

Pollaski: yeah well, that was different.

Cole: Yeah, how.

Pollaski: listen here, I don't have to explain anything to you.

Cole: Right.

[Hecate and Casey get to their feet and Hecate connects with a forearm to the jaw when Casey comes back with a punch to the jaw. Hecate fires a right hand and follows up with another before she grabs Casey and drives her into the mat with a DDT. Jade and Angel Scott cheer on their respective partners as they try to get back to their feet. Hecate gets to her feet while Casey tries to grab her ankle but Hecate makes the hot tag and Jade rushes in with rapid fire palm strikes to the face and chest of Angel Casey. Angel Scott jumps in and connects with a knee to Jade’s back. Scott whips Jade into the ropes and goes for a backdrop but Jade leapfrogs over. Scott turns around and catches a stiff sidekick to the jaw that sends her out of the ring.]

Cole: What a vicious Jade Kick.

[Jade turns around and blocks a right hand from Casey and takes it over in an arm ringer that flips Casey over on to the mat. Jade quickly goes for a juji-gatame arm bar. Casey locks the hands but Jade continues to pull away at the arm. Jade finally pulls the hands apart and wrenches back on the pressure while she screams out.]

Pollaski: Jade is looking to tear the arm out of the socket.

[Casey yells out in agonizing pain while she tries to pull herself towards the ropes. Casey slowly gets her feet underneath her and pulls Jade towards the ropes and grabs the middle rope.]

Cole: Angel Casey used everything she had to get out of that jam.

Pollaski: Well she'd better find something in the gas tank or she's done.

[Jade lets go of the hold and rolls to her feet while Casey pulls herself up by the ropes. Jade grabs her arm and whips her to the ropes and ducks down. Jade leaps over her and hits the ropes and comes back to a side slam but Jade flips through it and lands on her knees. Jade gets to her feet when Casey charges in and goes for a kick to the face but Jade rolls underneath. Casey turns around and walks into a fireman's carry.]

Cole: Jade is going for the Death Valley Driver but Casey slides down her back.

[Casey grabs a back waistlock. Jade goes for a back elbow but Casey ducks and takes Jade over with a backdrop driver. Casey falls to the mat from the impact and drapes an arm over Jade for the cover.]

1...

2...

[Jade gets the right shoulder up while Casey slowly gets back to her feet.]

Pollaski: Jade is looking a little dazed and confused.

Cole: Good movie.

Pollaski: What?

Cole: (taking a long drink of beer) Dazed and Confused...it was a damn good movie.

Pollaski: Will you focus please!

Cole: Nope.

[Angel Scott finally makes her way back to her corner and reaches for the tag. Casey moves to the corner and tags Scott in. Scott brings Jade back to her feet and scoops her over her shoulder before charging into the corner but Jade slides down her back and shoves her in shoulder first. Scott stumbles out in pain when Jade grabs a back waistlock and takes her over with a German suplex and hits the bridge.]

1...

2...

[Scott gets the shoulder up when she rolls away and pulls herself up by the ropes while Jade slowly gets up. Scott goes over to Jade and connects with a kick to the mid-section and tries to get her up for a suplex but Jade counters with a fireman’s carry before dropping Scott to the mat with a Samoan drop as both women lay on the mat.]

Cole: Great counter by Jade.

[Jade rolls Scott over and jumps off of the middle rope with an Asai moonsault. Jade goes for the cover and hooks the leg.]

1...

2...

Pollaski: NO! Scott kicks out at the last moment.

[Jade and Angel Scott are slowly pulling themselves up by the ropes. Jade gets up first and grabs Scott and kicks her in the midsection. Jade takes Scott over with a snap mare and connects with a vicious buzzsaw kick. Jade makes her way up to the top turnbuckle while Scott is still down on the mat. Jade leaps off with a flying elbow drop but...]

Cole: Scott rolls out of the way!

[Jade lands on the mat hard as Angel Casey gets into the ring and connects with a forearm to the face of Hecate while she was reaching for the tag.]

Cole: The Angels of Death are looking to end Jade right now and a weakened Hecate is out of the picture.

[Scott and Casey get into position before hitting the ropes but Hecate trips up Angel Casey and drags her outside when Scott turns around and yells at Hecate when Jade slowly gets to her feet. Scott turns around and catches a spinning tornado kick to the face from Jade.]

Cole: JADE DRAGON KICK ON TARGET!!!

[Jade falls flat on Scott and hooks the leg for the cover.]

1...

2...

3!!!!

Cole: JADE PULLS OFF THE VICTORY!!!

Pollaski: What a match!

Cole: Oh yeah, that one has to go down as a candidate for match of the night!

Pollaski: Jade and Hecate celebrating in the ring and those two women are truly becoming a force to be reckoned with here in the WWA.

Cole: Like I said, they will be tag team champions one day. I can feel it.

Pollaski: You just might be right for once. But don't let it go to your head if it happens.

Cole: Unlike some people, I don't have an arrogant bone in my body.

Pollaski: Sure...hey, wait a damn minute, are you implying that I do?

Cole: Did I say any names?

Pollaski: No, but you insinuated.

Cole: Felling a bit guilty are we?

Pollaski: not in the slightest.

Cole: On a more serious note, I've received several reports from the back following our second match of the night and this last report is conformation that Jake Donovan has been taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries received here tonight.

Pollaski: He better not call me asking me to help him out with the hospital bill.

Cole: You know, I could actually see you getting that call.

Pollaski: And I can actually see me not answering the phone either.

[Cut to the back]

"So"

The voice is ominous , cold, calculating and clearly coming from the shadows.

"So you won a match, what the hell are you boys doing sitting here celebrating for? It was one match, one moment in time, and in the grand scheme of things, it was nothing special, now get your stuff together, it's time to go, we've got some real training to do."

Darren: You want us to train tonight? we just had a match for Christ sake! That's cruel, that's sadistic, that's...

"That's going to be your ass in a sling if you say one more word!" the cold voice thundered. "No one said anything about wrestling tonight. I said get your stuff together. We have a long drive ahead of us, we're heading up to the mountains. That's where the real training begins."

Gabriel: Oh god. We're dead.

"Keep thinking like that kid and you will be dead." the ominous voice spoke.

Darren: Why tonight? Why do you have to spoil our victory?

"Because no one needs the pair of you getting big heads...again. Like I said, you won, big friggin deal. you need to get your gear, you need to get in the SUV, and on the way there, you can watch that match and see all of the mistakes you made. Have pens and papers, I want you each to write down everything you saw that you did wrong and when we reach the mountains, you can hand them over and I'll see how many you found.

Gabriel: What about sleep? Can we even get some sleep tonight?

"Finish the assignment and you can sleep." The voice said. The best time to analyze a match is while it's fresh in your mind. Don't forget, hesitation is a mistake, second guessing is a mistake, and you'll both see several of those through the match, so focus, and find them."

Darren: Yes sir!

Gabriel: Yeah, sure.

"yeah sure what?" the voice asked.

Gabriel: Sir!

"Now get moving, you have five minutes to meet me in the vehicle!" the man said before fading away.

[Cut back to the announcers]

Cole: (chuckling then draining his beer) Somehow i saw that coming.

Pollaski: Did you now?

Cole: Oh yeah.

Pollaski: That's right, you know whose behind that voice.

Cole: (grabbing another beer) yup, and that's all you need to know.

Pollaski: I'll find out in time, I always do.

Cole: You can try.

Pollaski: (take another little sip on his beer. He's still nursing that one Cole gave him two matches ago.) Try, there is no try, Do or do not, there is no try.

Cole: Alright Yoda. Let's move on, shall we. We have a match to call you curious little troll.

Pollaski: I have to say, I don't know much about the Confederacy, so what can I say?

Cole: not a lot Dan, not a lot to be honest, I don't know much about them either.

Pollaski: Guess we're about to find out all we need to know.

Ring Announcer: The following contest is set for one fall, with a 20 minute time limit! Already in the ring, THE CONFEDERACY!

[Billy Coles and Bubba Hayes are in the ring, waiting.]

Ring Announcer: And their opponents!

# The man takes another bullet
# He keeps them all within
# He must seek no matter how it hurts
# So don’t fool again

Ring Announcer: Introducing first, hailing from Kingston, Jamaica, and weighing in at 147 lbs! RENE-CLAIRA… SAINT SURE!! Her tag team partner, hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, and weighing in at 263 lbs! He is a former International Influence Tag Team Champion… JONNY… BOOYA! Accompanied to the ring by Cole Christenson and Diane Parker, and lead by KAI SCOTT… THE TRULY… UNTOUCHABLES!!!

# He thinks the answer’s cold and in his hands
# He takes in his medicine
# The man takes another bullet
# Yeah he’s been fooled again

[Kai Scott walks out first. Clad in black slacks, a dark crimson muscle shirt and a black trench coat, he coolly looks around the arena as his charges walk out to stand next to him in formation.]

[Jonny Booya, the enforcer of the group, folds his arms and flexes his shoulders. Dressed in all black, he adjusts his shades with one finger. Rene-Claira St. Sure, in her customary crimson red robe, cracks her neck and stares ahead coldly. Cole Christenson and Diane Parker, both in street clothes, do nothing.]

# Uncross your arms
# Take and throw ‘em to the cure, say
# “I do believe”
# Uncross your arms now
# Take ‘em to it, say
# “I do believe”
# “Yeah, I do believe”

[Scott leads the pack of wrestlers to the ring, and St. Sure and Booya roll in.]

Pollaski: The Truly Untouchables… well, to start with their relationship to The Untouchables, Jeff Andrews, Ronnie Long, and Heidi, that is WAY too much to get into. Hell, I needed cliff notes.

Cole: What’s relevant is their run in International Influence. Jonny Booya and Cole Christenson held the tag titles there, while St. Sure was chasing the Double Crown Title.

[The bell rings.]

[Jonny Booya starts off against Billy Coles. He takes almost no time taking the advantage, booting Coles and driving forearm after forearm into the back, flattening him. Yanking him to his feet by the hair, he delivers a scoop slam. And a second one. And a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, before he finally struts away and gives Coles a chance to writhe on the mat.]

Pollaski: Kai Scott, he talked to Alliance staff a bit. He’s… got some issues. He has these four wrestlers, all of them hand picked, and he thinks it’s very important for himself that he make them into success stories.

[Booya chops Coles across the chest and knocks him into the corner. Several more chops connect, then Booya stops, winds up, and delivers a double chop that knocks Coles flying. He lands seated, and Booya begins delivering bootscrapes. After about 5 he stops, runs to mid ring, hits a double arm overhead flex and thumb point at himself, then charges and delivers a facewash dropkick.]

Cole: Impressive for a man that size.

Pollaski: Booya isn’t exactly a luchador, but he has ups. He can lift off the mat and kick you in the face pretty well.

[As Coles struggles to his feet, Booya rushes him. But he may have overdone it. Coles ducks out of the way, Booya hits the buckle chest first, and Coles tags out to Hayes. Hayes rumbles towards Booya, who… ducks the clothesline! Repeated snap jabs to the face and a jumping calf kick sends Hayes to the mat. Grabbing him by the neck, Booya drags him over to the corner and tags in St. Sure.]

[St. Sure kicks Hayes in the exposed ribs. Hayes straightens up and smiles at her.]

Pollaski: That young woman in the ring there, Scott openly claims she has the most potential of the five of them. Yes, he says she’s better than he is. She’s inexperienced as a wrestler, but has quite a bit of fighting background, mainly in ju-jitsu, and…

[St. Sure kicks Hayes in the thigh, repeatedly. The much bigger man tries to keep up, but St. Sure keeps at his side, blasting him with increasingly painful kicks. Coles finally goes down to one knee, and St. Sure grabs him around the neck and one arm in a front chancery. She leans back in it, then drops to the mat, wrapping her legs around his arm. Hayes’ face turns red in the choke.]

Cole: That’s pretty impressive.

Pollaski: You know I like seeing the girls mix it up in the ring, and St. Sure does have lots of potential.

[Hayes manages to buck off the mat and lunge to the ropes, carrying St. Sure with him. She doesn’t even wait for the ref to demand a break, letting go on her own and kicking away at Hayes’ head.]

Cole: And intensity.

[Outside the ring, Kai Scott tells her to get it away from the ropes. St. Sure climbs to the middle turnbuckle and comes off with a missile dropkick that hits the ribs of Hayes and rolls him to mid ring. Hayes reaches for the tag, but a vicious soccer kick to the face cuts him off. Again applying the front face lock, St. Sure begins to drive knees into the crown of Hayes’ head.]

Pollaski: And this could be it right here already if Hayes can’t find a quick counter. You can only take so many shots to the head like that and stay conscious, and St. Sure knows how to throw those knees.

[Hayes manages to get his feet under him, and use his size advantage – he’s approximately twice hers – to take her over with a sorta vertical suplex. He makes the tag out.]

Cole: Time to see if the Confederacy can get some momentum going. This has been ALL Truly Untouchables.

[Coles hits St. Sure with a knee lift. Pulling her to her feet, he runs the ropes and comes in with a lariat – that is caught, turned into an ipponzei, and that turned into jujigatame armbar! It’s, again, the size advantage that saves Coles, as he’s able to power up to get to the ropes. St. Sure drops the hold but not the arm, pulls him towards the Truly UTs corner, and tags out to Booya.]

[Booya enters the ring via a rope vault and elbow to the arm that St. Sure had wrenched. He sends Coles for an Irish whip, brings him back into a boxing style blast punch to the gut that doubles him over, lifts him into a powerbomb – into an over-the-shoulder gutbuster! As Coles clutches his stomach, Booya rolls to one knee and knocks him to his back with an elbow uppercut. Again, he flex poses, then goes for the cover.]

ONE…!

…TWO…!

……Kickout!

Pollaski: Not quite enough there. Let’s see what else he’s got in the moveset.

[Booya tags out to St. Sure. She climbs to the top rope as he sends Coles off the ropes. Coles rebounds into a tornado backbreaker!]

Cole: He calls that the Thunder Down Below.

[Before Booya drops Coles, St. Sure jumps off with a double stomp that connects with the ribs. Booya promptly finishes the backbreaker. St. Sure grabs the arm and applies an omo-plata.]

Pollaski: That’s not only dangerous in its own, it’s the lead in to one of her finishers. The “Truly Untouchabreaker”, which is when she gets something applied to the far arm…

[Coles, at least, has this scouted, and won’t give up his other arm. St. Sure punches him in the back and wrenches on the trapped arm, but to his credit Coles won’t give up. Hayes makes it into the ring and kicks her, breaking the hold.]

[Booya enters, but St. Sure has already gotten to her feet and grabbed Hayes by the ankle. Staying under his strikes, she manages to trip him to the mat, then, hanging onto the leg, she rolls to the side and applies a knee bar and figure 4 toe hold. Booya removes Coles from the ring, then points out to St. Sure that Hayes isn’t the legal man. She releases the hold.]

Cole: I think we’re about to see a finish here.

[St. Sure climbs the belt as Booya, with surprising ease, hoists the 300+ lb Hayes up into piledriver position. St. Sure jumps down with the spike as Booya sits out…]

Pollaski: Untouchadriver!

Cole: That’s… not a very creative name.

Pollaski: Well, it’s topical.

[Under Kai Scott’s instructions, Cole Christenson feeds Coles back into the ring, gently enough to avoid having the ref yell at him. Meanwhile, Booya kicks Hayes out to the floor. St. Sure gets behind Hayes, then sticks her head under his arm pit.]

Pollaski: Not sure exactly what they’re setting up here.

[Booya falls back to the ropes, then charges in and hits Coles with an axe bomber! Using the momentum, St. Sure is able to flip him all the way over so he lands on his stomach, executing a reverse northern lights suplex. From there, it’s a simple matter of wrapping her arms around his neck and applying a choke hold.]

[Hayes tries to struggle towards the ropes. St. Sure rolls over and brings him with her, adding a body triangle to the choke.]

DING! DING! DING!

Pollaski: And that’s all she wrote! Truly Untouchables win!

[Kai Scott is the first man into the ring. He raises St. Sure’s hand instead of letting the ref do it. Diane Parker and Cole Christenson roll into the ring as well, the latter smiling, the first time he’s exhibited anything besides ennui since showing up.]

Cole: Scott had some very harsh words for The Confederacy before the card took place, and he, or at least his team, backed it up like a ton of bricks.

Pollaski: So far the Truly Untouchables haven’t made any efforts to sign a full time contract, but combining the mind of Kai Scott and the fact that he can bring the best out of some very good wrestlers, the T-UTs intervention in the Alliance Defiance angle could be… decisive. I just hope the fact that the Untouchables are Alliance doesn’t mean the Truly Untouchables are Defiance…

Cole: I’d have thought that would be a given.

Pollaski: Yeah, well, like I said. Extensive mutual history. Cliff notes needed. Et cetera.

Cole: I think fans are going to need Cliff notes for a long time to come, not only for what we just saw, but for what we're about to see.

Pollaski: I am still at a loss for how this came to be.

Cole: Well, apparently, this is what the teams wanted, a challenge was issue and a challenge was excepted and here we are.

Pollaski: And the powers that be just rolled with it?

Cole: Well, let's just say that the powers that be have a soft spot in their hearts for odd matches, and they have a pretty strict policy about giving the teams what they want, within reason. Basically, the feeling is that in order to build a stronger division, in order to make Tag Wars THE show to watch each and every month, the powers that be have to keep the teams coming in and happy to do so. So if teams want something strange...they'll get something strange.

Pollaski: You know far too much about the powers that be. how the hell do you know so much about what they want and plan to do with this event. Hell, I've never even met them and I sure can't recognize the name slopped across the bottom of the check.

Cole: Some things aren't meant to be revealed.

Pollaski: So you keep saying.

Cole: Don't worry Daniel, enjoy the beer your still sipping, and enjoy the match coming up next and rest assured that the next show will bring even more surprises and even less answers.

Pollaski: great, something to look forward too.

Cole: Personally, this match coming up next is exactly what I've been looking forward to all night, it's main event time!

[-AGGRO CRAG MATCH-]

"THE FOLLOWING MATCH IS YOUR MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING!"

Pollaski: I have no idea where these four fruit loops came up with this matchtype, but I'm excited to see something so big happen!

Cole: Whether it's something out of a fever dream by Sawyer, or an actual match that I've never heard of, this match looks serious.

The spotlights in the arena hit the giant steel structure hanging above the ring, a giant mountain of girders and platforms. Slowly, the Aggro Crag began to lower towards the arena floor, stagehands ensuring that nothing would be crushed underneath its weighty mass.

Pollaski: My colleague and I have been moved away from ringside, so we wouldn't be under the Crag itself.

Cole: Due to the... unique structure of this match, there will be something like fifteen cameramen manning various spots on the mountain itself, along with four roving cameras trying to follow the action. Don't worry, you won't miss a minute of this fight!

Slowly, the behemoth mountain was lowered over the ring, settling on the arena floor with a weighty thud. The stagehands swarmed up the paths, checking the safety of the structure, the view changing to show the perilous heights, the dangerous climbs, the slides, the cliff faces... Climbing this Crag would require dexterity, skill, and a whole lotta luck.

"COMING FIRST TO THE RING..." Synth-intro, of the "ridiculously famous" sort, heralded Tom Sawyer, by Rush. The fans leapt to their feet, cheering their heads off for the most popular of all four in the match. Neither Zortalk nor Cannon nor Harper had any hope of rivalling the pop given off for the man with the hottest-selling pro wrestling piece of merchandise in entire months.

Out from the back blew the vivacious blonde man, his youth and vitality apparent as he pranced about the entryway ramp, a small stuffed version of himself held tightly in one hand. Just behind him, in a somewhat more relaxed speed, was his tag partner.

"TOM SAWYER, AND LUCAS HARPER... THE FORESHADOWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!"

The fans continuing their rejoicing, chanting "SAW-YERR! SAW-YERR! SAW-YERR!", as Tom danced and pranced and cavorted on the ramp, even cutting a quick backflip! Harper swatted the kid in the back of the head, and headed down to what once was a ring, all business. In his DEFIANCE tee-shirt, his face a mask of focus and relentless determination, Lucas Harper looked like he was ready to do battle with his opponents, and just as importantly, with the mountain itself.

Tom came chasing Lucas down to the ringside area, picking one random kid by ringside and handing him the Wrestling Pal. In his "The Foreshadowing" tee-shirt, his face beaming, Tom looked remarkably unfocused, and absolutely unprepared for a match like this. However, in a situation such as this prematch, how could he possibly not know what he was in for?

Tom and Lucas headed to the first platform, so designated as the starting point for one team, the other a short ways away. They climbed onto it, waving to the fans, Lucas peeling his shirt off and gently, reverently hooking the DEFIANCE shirt over the edge of the platform, a banner as to which company the Foreshadowing would represent.

Pollaski: They may look confident, but I think both of these guys know just how much is on the line in this match here.

Cole: Aside from the bragging rights of the victory, this match looks like one mistake could mean the end of a career!

"COMING SECOND TO THE RING, REPRESENTING APPALACHIAN WRESTLING..."

Sure, they were the WWA-aligned team, but the crowd already hated the President of Cannonda, and as for the other? He was a lawyer. They didn't precisely engender love and respect. The crowd began to boo and jeer, knowing exactly who it would be.

"Machine Gun Etiquette", by the Damned hit, guitars creating a solid wall of noise within seconds. UK Punk Rock blasted the air, the Aggro Crag seeming to shake under the torrent of sonic abuse. Lucas narrowed his eyes, as Tom leaned over the edge of the little platform, pointing to a person at ringside, shouting... Well, something. Sawyer didn't seem to be sweating the small stuff.

"ZORTALK AND "HIGH-FLYING" CHRIS CANNON... THEY... ARE..."

The curtains parted, as a dozen of the gorgeous, business-suit-and-skirt-clad personal assistants that Zortalk and Cannon favored streamed out of the back, all wearing glasses, hairdos elegant. They lined the entryway, providing a lovely stage for their President and his attorney.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWESOOOOOOOOOOOOME!"

Out from the back burst Zortalk and Cannon, their long-awaited reunion at last! The boos rained down in the arena, as the two men stopped in the mouth of the line of lovely ladies, both in Appalachian Wrestling tee-shirts. They raised their arms in preemptive victory, grinning broadly. Ignoring the women(For the most part. Cannon was only human, and couldn't help but leer at his favorites.), they headed down the ramp. Cannon was jabbing a thumb at his chest, then pointing at the two on the platform, as Zortalk simply ignored the opposing team, holding his arms out to either side, slowly twirling as he moved down the ramp.

Pollaski: I'm going to say, right now, AWESOME is my pick to win this thing. The Foreshadowing are good, their association with Eric Dane aside, but they don't have anything on the experience and skill of my guys, Zortalk and Cannon!

Cole: I disagree! My pick to win this is The Foreshadowing! With the momentum they have behind them, as well as Sawyer's insane popularity, I think this is their match, tonight.

Zortalk and Cannon hopped onto their platform, and Cannon grinned, motioning for a microphone.

Cannon: Wait, before we start, I want to do something. Don't want to go into this match half-cocked...

Zortalk leaned over.

Zortalk: With valets like we've got, I don't think we'll be going into ANYTHING half-cocked.

Cannon: True. But, as the President of Cannonda, I feel that it would be only fitting to start this thing off... with the playing of Cannonda's national anthem.

Someone in the back obligingly hit play on the track that Cannon had prepared, and the song began to blare from the house speakers, the familiar setup to "O Canada" being played on a guitar.

OOOOOHHHH CAAAAAAAANNONDAAAAAAA
HOW AWESOME IS YOUR NAAAAAAAME
THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD
MUCH BETTER THAN A-MER-I-CAAAAA
WITH THE BEST EVERYTHING
AND THE SWEETEST, MOST AWESOME RIDES
OUR COUNTRY IS TOTALLY BADICAL
AND WE ARE THE BEST
YOUR MOOOOO-HOOOO-HOOOOM
WAS GREEEEEAAAAAAT LAST NIGHT
AND WE'D LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR HER KINDNESS...

Harper and Sawyer, The Foreshadowing, glanced to one another, and Lucas grinned. He mouthed something, likely "Are you ready?", and Tom grinned, taking a step back. Sawyer rushed forward, finding Harper's hand clasped, and held low, as a launching pad for Tom.

Zortalk had his eyes on the big-screen showing the blasphemous Cannondian flag, Cannon's face replacing the maple leaf, and Cannon himself had his eyes closed, glorying in the anthem. They never saw Tom coming.

Cole: FLYING FOREARM TO ZORTALK! SHOULDERTACKLE TO CANNON!

Pollaski: TOM SAWYER CAN FLY!

Sawyer ended up perched atop Cannon, finally getting a chance to do what every Canadian citizen had wanted to for months now. Elbows smashed Cannon in the face, over and over, Sawyer taking his nationalistic anger out on Cannon! Harper came rushing over, hopping up, onto the platform. He grabbed ahold of Zortalk's AW shirt, yanking him to his feet.

A foot reared back, and Zortalk's hands came out of his spandex ringpants, palms facing upwards in a supplicating motion... And a fireball erupted from his palms! Lucas took it in the face, and Harper's hands clapped to his face! Lucas fell off the platform, crashing to the ground in a heap. Tom looked up, just in time to see Zortalk kneeing him in the face!

Tom fell to the side, and Zortalk grabbed his head, smacking it into the steel superstructure of the Aggro Crag, with a sickening smack! Tom fell prone, and Zortalk grabbed Cannon by the shirt, hauling him to his feet. The two partners rushed up the ramp, to the first climbing wall, the first significant obstacle in their path.

Pollaski: This wall doesn't look too hard to climb. It's got nice, big handholds, and it's on a bit of a slant!

Cole: But have you seen the climbing wall at the top? It looks like they'll be clinging on with their fingernails!

Zortalk helped Cannon get up onto the wall, and beckoned for his "Boss" to begin climbing, helping him for the first few feet. Fortunately for Cannon, his agile, some may even say "high-flying" physique was well-suited to climbing, and soon, Cannon was most of the way up the wall! Zortalk glanced back down the way they came, as Cannon managed to get himself to the top of the wall, onto the first of the three major plateaus!

Cole: HERE COMES THE FORESHADOWING!

Indeed, they had managed to get back up, and Lucas Harper looked quite cheesed off! Singed eyebrows or no, someone would pay for his pain, and it looked like Zortalk was to be the lamb! Zortalk's eyes widened in momentary panic, and he looked around for a weapon to grab, or something to throw... Lighting upon a big red button beside the climbing wall, Zortalk lashed out, fingertips slapping that button...

And the ramp up to the climbing wall exploded with confetti and sparkles and compressed air! Tom went down, howling, having taken a faceful of the shiny stuff, but Harper pressed on, despite being blind!

Pollaski: Confetti cannons?! What is this, a kid's show?!

Harper stumbled right into a Zortalk kick to the stomach! A hook of the head, the arm, and Zortalk hefted Lucas up, dropping him back down with a quick vertical suplex! Harper sat back up as soon as he fell, back paralyzed with the impact of slamming into that steel! Slowly, Lucas fell backwards, face a mask of agony!

Cannon beckoned Zortalk frantically, not wanting to let this get out of hand and knowing they needed to press their advantage. Zortalk came up, a hand pressed to his back in pain, but he stumbled to the climbing wall and began his first ascent.

Cole: I guess now's as good a time as any to explain fully what these teams have to go through. There are three climbing walls, each more difficult to climb than the last. The sloped ramps to each climbing wall get progressively steeper, and as they get higher up the mountain, more environmental hazards like those confetti cannons should make life difficult!

Pollaski: Are there any fake walls they need to knock down, or slime to the face if they say "What"?

Cole: I don't follow.

Pollaski: This is ridiculous. And amazing.

As Zortalk got almost to the top, the crowd erupted, as the golden-haired boy of legend came racing up the ramp! Not letting anything slow him down, Tom leapt up the climbing wall, eating up half of the height Zortalk had climbed in one amazingly acrobatic jump!

Cole: SAWYER IS CLIMBING UP ZORTALK!

Tom scrambled up Zortalk's back, using his t-shirt and flesh as hand-and-footholds! Coming onto Zortalk's shoulders, Tom reached up, grabbing Cannon's outstretched hand, meant for Zortalk! Cannon's eyes bulged in shock, Tom seemingly just appearing and grabbing onto him! Cannon leaned back, trying to pull away from Tom, but Sawyer just used that movement to haul himself onto the precipice, landing in a crouch on the top!

Pollaski: SAWYER'S UP! SAWYER AND CANNON MADE IT TO PLATEAU ONE!

Zortalk tried to haul himself up, but Tom snapped a mulekick into his face, and Zortalk sagged, using all his strength to keep from falling. Cannon came up, and threw a punch, but Tom blocked it! Another punch,and another block, before Tom finally retaliated in kind! The first punch rocked Cannon's world, the second shattered his foundations, and the third sent Cannon reeling away!

Cole: You can't be serious.

Sawyer began to stomp in a circle, shaking his head, fists spastically vibrating. He was Sawyering up! As Cannon turned back around to face Tom, Tom took a big step forward, a finger aimed squarely at Cannon's chest, Tom AND the entire assembled crowd shouting as one...

*"YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUU~!"*

Cannon's eyes bulged, and Tom charged him, leaping into the air! Cannon bodily caught Tom, unable to do much else, and Tom rained down hammerfists, the smallest man in the match a house a' fire! Cannon crumpled, and Tom landed on his feet! Turning, Tom ran into the nearby wall of the Aggro Crag, knee coming up and stopping his movement.

Knee helped Tom springboard off, and come running... Only to leap into the air, and come down with the IMMORTAL LEGDROP! Springing back up, Tom grabbed the neck of his "Foreshadowing" tee-shirt, tearing it right down the middle, before flexing!

Pollaski: This is so idiotic.

Cole: Sawyer is runnin' wild!

Zortalk made it onto the plateau in all the confusion, and as Tom posed down, Zortalk came rushing in, clipping Tom in the back of the head with an elbow. Tom crumpled, and Zortalk stood over him.

Zortalk: THAT'S COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, BUDDY!

A few good stomps to Tom's head, before Zortalk helped Cannon back to his feet. Cannon gabbled something about never thinking he was gonna face that Immortal guy, but Zortalk just shook his head, helping Cannon limp up the ramp, until Cannon could get situated on his own two feet.

AWESOME began to make their way up the mountain trail, heading for the first switchback. As Zortalk glanced back, a hand waved on the cliff, and clapped onto the plateau, Lucas Harper finally getting himself back into the mix! Tom struggled to his hands and knees, offering a hand to Lucas, but The Sentry just rolled onto the plateau, fire in his eyes. He came to his knees, looking right up at Zortalk, who sucked in a breath. While Zortalk had been the AWF champ at one point, he still didn't want to have to risk himself against Lucas, and just urged Cannon on faster!

Cole: I don't think Zortalk and Cannon are watching where they're going! See that pile of boulders up top there?

Pollaski: That is NOT A.W.E.S.O.M.E!

Cannon had leaned against an exposed bit of rebar, catching his breath, his chest still aching from that legdrop. How had Tom managed to channel an alternate dimension Orange Goblin?! Zortalk lost it, shouting at Cannon... And the boulders, teetering atop the platform, finally were triggered, the platform tipping up, sending the massive gray things bouncing down the slope!

Cannon's eyes shot open as he spotted the boulders, and he pointed! Zortalk spun around, just in time to see one of the big gray rocks bouncing at his head! He took it full in the face, and was bowled ass-over-teakettle to the ground, the boulders following the first bouncing and rolling over him! Cannon turned, running back down the slope!

Cole: Run, Indy! Run!

Cannon came to the bottom of the slope, just as Harper and Sawyer came around it, and Cannon dove between them both! Tom screamed, and fell victim to one of the huge things, crushed under its weight, but Lucas just shook his head. A snap-kick knocked one away, which knocked another away, and he stopped the third with his palm! Lucas Harper was Superman!

Pollaski: Are those boulders styrofoam?!

Harper picked a boulder up, and as Cannon came to his feet, Harper smashed Cannon in the face with it! Cannon went staggering back, hands clapped to his bashed-in face, and Lucas sighed. Again. Taking a few big strides forward, Harper caught up to Cannon, and the most kicky member of the fight finally got his licks in! Cannon took two to the chest, before Harper spun, thrust-kicking Cannon in the stomach!

With Cannon doubled over, and Tom staggering to his feet, Lucas walked back to Tom, waistlocking Tom from behind. He scooped Tom up, in a seeming Atomic Drop, but Tom shot both legs out... And Lucas brought Tom down, simulating a guillotine legdrop to the back of Cannon's neck!

Pollaski: THE NATIONAL RAZOR!

Cole: Without any ring ropes, that's as good as it'll get for the Foreshadowing's main finisher!

Tom leaned against that same piece of rebar that Cannon had leaned on, as Harper came striding up the slope, beelining for Zortalk! A few palmthrusts, a spinning back elbow, and Zortalk ended up thrown against a gap in the false wall of the mountain path!

Cole: Where does that gap go?

Pollaski: A short drop, and a sudden stop?

Harper rushed in with a big boot, and Zortalk took it on the chin, being tossed off the path... And down about three feet! Steam exploded skyward, one of the environmental hazards going off. Zortalk wailed in agony, the steam boiling him!

Zortalk: I'M BEING BOILED LIKE A LOBSTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRR!

Lucas leaned over, peeking down, and shrugged a bit. That was both members of A.W.E.S.O.M.E dealt with. Beckoning Tom on, the two made their way up to the top of the switchback, and onto a flat bit... With a major gap in it!

Pollaski: Wait, are those ziplines?

Cole: Yup! The two teams have to make their way across this gap on the ziplines!

Pollaski: Why is this considered a wrestling match?

Cole: Hey, a man could fall and break his legs on those things!

Tom and Lucas came to the two ziplines, and both grabbed at the zipline-riders. Lucas took a deep breath, gritting his teeth, and pushed off, slowly pulling his knees up to his chest, but Tom took a running leap, letting out an overjoyed "WHEEEEEE!" as he zipped across. The two members of the Foreshadowing touched down on the other side, Lucas landing and falling to his knees, face a bit pale.

Cole: Does Harper not like heights or something?

Pollaski: Maybe he's not a fan of zipping.

Tom landed on his feet, arms going out to either side, spinning on his heel like a little kid! Turning to Lucas, Tom grinned.

Sawyer: THAT WAS AWESOME! LET'S DO IT AGAIN!

Lucas shook his head, but Tom went back to the zipline, grabbing at it. He took a few steps back, and went charging forward, even as Lucas came up, hollering threats and angry words. Zipping across, Tom let out a "WHEEEEEE!" again, but it choked, halfway through... A.W.E.S.O.M.E had gotten to the other side, and they both had boulders in their hands!

Cole: SAWYER TAKES A DOUBLE BOULDER!

Pollaski: Is that a titty joke?

Cole: I have a LITTLE more respect for myself than that, thank you.

The empty zipline-glider came to Zortalk's waiting hand, and he grinned, looking down into the pit that Tom fell into. A cameraman came over, peering down into the pit... It was full of chunks of black foam rubber! Tom lay, spread-eagle, and the camera focused on him, making Sawyer look for all the world like a modern-day martyr!

Zortalk kicked off, and went zipping across, legs dangling... But halfway across, Zortalk realized one very important thing.

Lucas Harper was still standing on the other side of the gap. He grinned broadly, positioning himself at the spot where the zipline would land, and got into a familiar pose. Zortalk howled "NOOOOOOOOO~!", as he came flying at Lucas... And poor William Boscoe Davenport ate a superkick for the second time in as many times meeting Lucas Harper!

Cole: SUPERKICK!

Pollaski: I have to admit, Harper has a REALLY nice superkick.

Lucas grabbed the zipline glider, and held both of them in his hands, giving Zortalk and Cannon no way across the gap! Sawyer was slowly climbing up a ladder on the side with Cannon on it, with Zortalk slowly trying to follow, his sore jaw held tightly with one hand.

Soon, the situation ended up as a Mexican standoff, Cannon hauling Tom off the ladder and to his knees, latching on a Dragon Sleeper. Zortalk climbed up, and hauled a fist back, ready to begin punching Tom in the exposed ribs, but Harper still had both zipline gliders!

Cole: It seems they're at an impasse!

Zortalk came to the edge, shouting across, and Harper and Zortalk quickly brokered a deal. They wouldn't beat the living daylights out of Tom by himself, and Harper would send the gliders back across. All three guys would come to the other side, Sawyer first, then they'd all restart the fight past this obstacle.

Pollaski: That's a shitty deal.

Cole: What would you say if it was Wendy on one side, held captive by A.W.E.S.O.M.E, Twister holding the ziplines?

Pollaski: ...That's still a shitty deal.

All four men ended up on the same side, Zortalk and Sawyer zipping over at the same time, both letting out childlike "WHEEEEEE!"s as they flew. True to his word, Harper didn't begin kicking Zortalk in the head as soon as he landed, and Tom and William even shook hands, in the spirit of good sportsmanship. Cannon came flying across, and as he came flying in, he let go, tackling Tom to the ground!

Cole: Cannon really has it out for Tom Sawyer!

Unfortunately for Zortalk, this meant that Harper was absolutely allowed to strike, and wide eyes turned to the grinning Sentry! A roundhouse kick came flying... And Zortalk dropped to a knee, fist lashing out in the ultimate equalizer!

Pollaski: DICK PUNCH!

Lucas' face went slack with pain, knees clamped together, and he slowly teetered, then fell over. Cannon began to smash Tom's head into one of the boulders left scattered about for decoration, and within three hammering strikes of Sawyer's head to the boulder, the thing cracked open, revealing the white foam inside!

Pollaski: HA! I knew it!

Tom went limp, and Cannon came to his feet, spitting on poor Tom Sawyer. He brushed himself off, finally getting retribution for the legdrop. Zortalk rose back to his feet, and looked to Cannon. Both members of the Foreshadowing were down... A moment passed, and, struck with the same idea, Cannon and Zortalk went dashing around the switchback corner of the flat part of the path!

Cole: This next part is supposed to simulate an active volcano, with earthquakes, hot steam, and boulders flying everywhere! Let's see if A.W.E.S.O.M.E has what it takes to deal with the Aggro Crag erupting!

Red lights turned on, aimed at the path, and the walkable part of the path shifted from side to side, alarmingly quickly! Zortalk kept getting thrown to the side, and Cannon ended up taking a falling boulder to the chest, tumbling ass over teakettle back down the slope! The steep hill dumped Cannon at the bottom, by the Foreshadowing, where Tom was slowly coming back to his feet.

Harper was making his way back up as well, quite aggravated by the low blow, and as Cannon came back up, he spied the two men getting back up. Eyes widened, and Cannon scrambled back up the steeper slope, on his hands and knees! The President of Cannonda made a most undignified way up the slope, Zortalk trying to make his way upright, holding onto the side of the path!

The Foreshadowing looked up the steep, shifting path, and the two resolved to tackle it as a team, and quickly. Linking arms, they began to make their way up the path, both bracing themselves against one side of the path. Even with stalagmites(That's a "g", for "ground", not a "c" for "ceiling!") in the path, the two made good time, as just as Zortalk and Cannon made their way to the top of the hill, The Foreshadowing was nipping at their heels!

Cole: There's the second climbing wall! All four men gotta get up it, but you can bet Zortalk and Cannon don't want the Foreshadowing to follow them too quickly!

Pollaski: They may not have any choice! How can they stop them?!

This time, Cannon helped Zortalk get up the wall, these handholds less like a climbing wall's sticky-out rocks, and more like gaps to cling into. Zortalk quickly got about halfway up, and Cannon urged him on, glancing back with fear...

Cole: Look out, Cannon! Harper's comin' for ya!

A series of kicks to the chest, the back, and the thigh rocked Cannon, sending him staggering backwards, into the wall. Lucas Harper grinned toothily, loving the impacts of a kick to Chris Cannon, as Tom began to scramble up the climbing wall after Zortalk! As the lightest man in the match, Sawyer was probably the best suited to climbing, and he went racing up the wall!

Pollaski: Come on, Zortalk! Bite! Kick! Punch!

Tom drew level with Zortalk, and Davenport reached out, grabbing Tom by the back of the head and smacking his forehead into the wall! Tom blinked, slightly dazed, but grabbed at Zortalk's head reflexively, smacking his head right into the wall as well!

The two men staggered, not moving any higher for a moment, before both fell! Luckily for them, their teammates were right below them, and they landed... Straddling their teammates' shoulders!

Pollaski: Oh no.

Cole: CHICKEN FIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

Lucas grabbed Tom's knees, Cannon grabbed Zortalk's calves. Zortalk and Tom looked down, trying to figure things out... And Zortalk shoved Tom! Tom grinned, recognition washing over Tom's face, and he gave Zortalk a stiff shove right back! Tom and Zortalk locked up, jockeying for position, but unfortunately for Tom, Zortalk waaaaaaaaaay outmuscled him!

However, Lucas Harper wasn't about to let this end so easily, and he lashed out with a kick, striker's balance good enough to nail Cannon in the thigh and still keep Tom upright! Cannon staggered, and Zortalk wavered, his arms pinwheeling for a second...

Cannon hit the wall, and rushed forward, coming running in and bringing a foot right up into Harper's groin. Right between the uprights, and the Sentry's nuts were taking some serious battle damage!

Pollaski: Oh, damn. I hope Lucas didn't need those.

Cole: A.W.E.S.O.M.E really likes giving groin shots! Those blackhearts!

Harper staggered, and finally fell onto his ass, Tom falling down onto Lucas, the two ending up with their faces in one anothers' groins!

Pollaski: What number am I thinking of?

Cole: Sixty-nine, dude!

Squeedily-doo! Wyld Stallions!

Cannon turned, and Zortalk grabbed at the climbing wall again, climbing back up onto it! Feet dug into the footholds, hands grabbed at the wall, and Zortalk soon got up, onto the second plateau!

Cole: That's it, the match is half over, right there! One more plateau, then the summit, Zortalk!

Pollaski: See? I told you that it'd be A.W.E.S.O.M.E!

Cannon began to climb up, after Zortalk, the fallen Foreshadowing crawling off one another, starting to find their grit once more... But, with Cannon's groin in perfect condition, he was much better off than the Foreshadowing happened to be, and Cannon soon made his way high up enough that Zortalk could reach down and grab an outstretched hand, pulling Cannon up, onto the second plateau. Appalachian Wrestling was beating DEFIANCE, and that was indisputable!

Cole: I wouldn't count The Foreshadowing out! They're alive, and both are climbing up the cliff-face!

Zortalk and Cannon headed for the next path, and as they did, a giant fan swung out of the wall on the far end of this flat bit of the mountain path. Its huge blades began to spin, and very quickly, a hurricane-force wind was screaming through the path! Blue lights replaced the red, a hurricane suddenly hitting the Aggro Crag!

Cannon hunkered down, onto his hands and knees, and tried to replicate his success up the volcano-earthquake path, but the wind ripping at his flesh, his hair, and his AW t-shirt was so strong, it was hard to make any progress!

Zortalk, on the other hand, was continuing to try and stomp one pace after another, arms trying to block the wind from his face... But, his arms were thrown back by the force of the wind, and his mouth gaped for a second, before the wind took it, rippling his cheeks and distorting his face!

Zortalk: HUAGHGHAGHAGHAHGHGHAAAAAAAAAGH!

Cannon reached up, grabbing Zortalk by the shirt, yanking him down, to hunker on hands and knees, and the two began to crawl up the slope, the wind ripping at them, but not sending them back down the path! As they got halfway up, the wind began to abate, but a hole opened in the side of the path, spraying snow, which got sucked up in the breeze, and went shooting into Zortalk and Cannon's faces!

The team from the Appalachian continued crawling up the hill... But, just ahead of them, a door popped open in the side of the mountain, a head popping out... Who was that?! As Zortalk looked up, the big man's arm came out, a pie in hand, and Zortalk took it, right in the mush! Zortalk fell back, onto his ass, leaving Cannon quite alone...

He looked up, eyes meeting those of the Mastodon of the Mountains, DEFIANCE Head Backstage Interviewer, Frank Dylan James!

FDJ: BLEAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

Cannon screamed, but FDJ simply popped him one in the mouth, and Cannon went tumbling into Zortalk's lap, knocked for a loop from the unforgiving punch! The cameraman on the side of the path focused on FDJ's face, the big man's beard whipping about in the high wind. FDJ pumped a fist into the air, repeating his howl of "BLEAAAAAAAAAAAARGH~!" before he grabbed at the door that he had somehow found, and slammed it shut!

Pollaski: That's interference!

Cole: Anything and everything is legal, on the Aggro Crag! Besides, do you think anyone in DEFIANCE even knew that FDJ was coming here?

Pollaski: Uh... Well, Dane might, but... Yeah. That guy's probably lost in the Aggro Crag.

Sawyer and Harper finally made it onto the windswept, snowy path, and they looped arms once more, bracing on the wall, hunkering down, and helping one another. Although, with the muscle mass of the team being grossly unbalanced in the favor of Harper, it was obvious who was doing the heavy lifting, and who was holding on for dear life.

A.W.E.S.O.M.E. kept crawling, getting to the dogleg in the path that let them get around the fan before the Foreshadowing caught up to them, and Zortalk and Cannon came up, Zortalk almost bodily hauling Cannon along behind him.

Pollaski: Come on, guys! Rappel down that cliff face, grab the climbing rope, and get up, onto the final climbing wall! You're almost done!

Zortalk looked down... It was a big drop. He swallowed, but grabbed at the climbing harnesses, one of four, and tossed it to Cannon. He grabbed his own, and quickly belted it on. The two members of A.W.E.S.O.M.E. locked their harnesses to the ropes, and they began to descend the wall, expertly kicking off, letting just enough rope out for controlled descents, down to the padded bottom of the rope chamber.

Cole: At first glance, you'd think that this part is counterintuitive... They're lower than they were when they climbed the second wall... But those knotty climbing ropes on the other side of that little chamber go almost all the way to the top!

Pollaski: I don't think anyone cares about the setup of the match, just the mayhem, dude.

Tom and Lucas got to the rappelling ropes, looking down the steep drop. Zortalk and Cannon were undoing their harnesses, and had a pretty good lead on the two. Tom swallowed, looking to Lucas, who was going for a harness... And Tom walked to the edge of the rappelling wall, crouching at the edge and peering over. Then, he began to raise himself back to his feet, hands out at his sides, hands rotating aaaaall the way up.

Pollaski: No... No way.

Cole: You've got to be kidding me.

Lucas looked up, just in time for Tom to give Lucas a salute... and hop off the cliff! A scream of "OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!" was let out as Tom fell, elbow extending as he fell, falling from 30 feet up!

Pollaski: OHMIGOD!

Cole: OOOOOODE TO MAAAAAAAAAAAAADNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESS!

The crowd erupted, some cheering, some screaming "OH MY GOD", some howling "NOOOOOOOOO!", as Tom fell! Flashbulbs all over the arena went off, the view on the big-screens above the entryway ramp, set in the lighting rigs, and set at various other places to show those with a view obstructed by the Aggro Crag all showing different angles on the same scintillating sight!

Zortalk and Cannon were about to begin the climb, standing on the crash pads that made up the bottom the rope chamber... And as Tom showed his Machismo, they looked up, just in time to get elbowdropped! The three men ended up in a broken heap of humanity, Lucas left on the top with one hand reaching desperately to catch the long-gone Sawyer.

Pollaski: Harper looks like someone just shot his dog!

Cole: If Sawyer's dead from that fall, I guarantee that Harper's career is, too.

Lucas hooked himself to the rappelling rope, and quickly made his way down the wall, making huge jumping steps down the wall, rushing to the bottom in a near-blind panic! He landed, and didn't even detach from the climbing harness, but simply went to his knees beside Tom, slowly picking up Sawyer's head.

A hush fell over the arena. Had Tom's impetuousness finally caught up with him?

Lucas slowly helped Tom up to his feet, Tom moving like a bag full of broken glass, until he was up... And Tom looked up, grinning! Lucas lifted Tom's arm into the air in victory, as the arena erupted, as one, in a roaring cheer!

*HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!*

A.W.E.S.O.M.E. was down, and The Foreshadowing was clear to begin climbing up the knotty ropes. Tom and Lucas cinched on, after Lucas finally undid his rappelling gear. Up the knotted ropes they climbed, hands and feet both used to climb. The two got about halfway up, as Zortalk and Cannon stirred.

Pollaski: Don't count A.W.E.S.O.M.E. out, though! There they go, climbing!

Cole: And the hardest, tallest climbing wall is still to come!

As Lucas got to the top, Tom a quarter of the way behind him, A.W.E.S.O.M.E.'s ascent truly began, the two men not willing to let their battered bodies weaken. They couldn't let the Foreshadowing win on THAT!

As Lucas helped Tom get to the top of the climbing rope, Zortalk and Cannon were eating up the distance. While dramatic, the Ode to Madness works best on a prone opponent, and Zortalk and Cannon mostly just had Tom fall on them. Zortalk snarled, eyes fixed on the two above them, making their way to the final climbing wall.

Tom was given a boost up from Lucas, as Cannon reached an arm over the top of the rig that the knotted ropes were attached to. Zortalk followed, A.W.E.S.O.M.E. getting up, onto the final platform. Lucas was starting his climb, and Zortalk rushed over, grabbing at Lucas' ankles! Tom kept going, ignoring everything behind him. He was so close to the peak of the Aggro Crag that it hurt! He could see where he was trying to get, up a ladderlike spire at the very top, to the platform that the final button was on!

Lucas kicked Zortalk off, and kept climbing, Zortalk staggering, teetering, but Cannon grabbing Zortalk, not wanting his partner to fall. From this height, it would at least hurt significantly, if not end a career!

The metal platform they stood on shook with the movement of four men, but Cannon ignored it, quickly making his way up, onto the climbing wall. He went right after Lucas, Zortalk going up the side that Sawyer had chosen, not wanting to have to deal with Harper's kicks directly!

Cannon kept climbing, coming after Lucas and grabbing at a boot-clad ankle. Tom made it onto the final platform, styrofoam stalagmites sticking up all around him. He panted, and turned, kneeling on the edge, reaching down at Lucas. Lucas kept going, Cannon doggedly holding onto his calf, hand reaching up to go for Lucas' thigh.

Tom reached harder, trying to get to Lucas. Lucas saw Tom's outstretched hand, and kept going, climbing and reaching desperately, waveringly, for Tom.

Pollaski: Cannon's hanging off of Harper!

Cole: How is Harper holding on like this?! He's supporting two men!

As their hands waved at one another's, both trying to grab the other, Lucas' eyes slowly widened. Cannon turned, cinching both of Lucas' legs... Tom reached even harder, their fingertips brushing... And Cannon yanked...

Pollaski: FREEFALL!

Cole: OH MY GOD

Cannon and Harper fell, falling back to the platform the climbing ropes went to! Cannon pulled Harper down, sitting out and bringing Harper down back-first, and both hit with a thunderous impact, a hellacious thud, and a dangerous wobble of the entire superstructure of the Aggro Crag!

Pollaski: SUPERBOMB! SUPERBOMB! SUPERBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMB!

Cole: LUCAS HARPER IS [i]DEAD![i]

Cannon sat there for a moment, Harper limp across his lap, and Cannon slowly wavered... and fell onto his back, both men wiped out from the fall.

Zortalk's eyes were wide, looking back down the way he came at the fallen pair. Tom was still staring over the edge, mouth hanging open, hand still reaching helplessly for Lucas.

Zortalk realized that it was now or never! He reached up, grabbing at Tom's hand, and grabbed Tom around the wrist! Tom snapped out of it, grabbing at his wrist, trying to yank free, but like Tom himself had done to Cannon earlier in this mess, Zortalk clung determinedly to the hand, pulling himself up, onto the platform! As Tom fell back, against the spire of the Crag, Zortalk's hand dipped into his tights once more...

Cole: Look out, Tom! He's going for his groin!

Tom let go of his wrist, Zortalk still holding tight to it, and Tom's arm waved wildly, before his hand came up, to his chin... Pushing at the underside of his jaw, Tom's cheeks bulged, eyes doing the same! Zortalk's hand slipped out of his crotch, and he threw it at Tom's face, a fireball erupting from his hand, just as Tom's mouth finally opened!

Pollaski: SAWYER TAKES A FIREBALL!

Cole: BUT THE RED MIST! THAT BURNING MIST! ZORTALK TAKES THE MIST IN THE FACE!

Both Sawyer and Zortalk fell, Zortalk blinded from the spray of the burning chemicals, Tom's hands clapped to his face from the burns of the flash and burst of flame! Both men were down, but with Cannon and Harper both down from that Superbomb, it was up to them!

Pollaski: Come on, Zortalk! Just climb, you don't need to see!

Cole: Tom, it's just a burn! YOU DON'T GOT TIME TO BLEED!

The two slowly began to crawl to their knees, hands reaching out for the bars of the spire. Slowly, painfully, Tom began to crawl, the flesh around his eyes reddened, eyelids swollen, eyebrows singed and charred and missing in places. Equally slowly, a single hand came away from Zortalk's face, the Red Mist leaving Zortalk with what looked like a crimson mask of blood covering his face! The lawyer's hand shakily grabbed at the first bar of the spire, and Zortalk began to climb.

Sawyer and Zortalk, Zortalk and Sawyer! After their mutual assaults, both were walking wounded, and it was a massive pain to even move... But both kept climbing! Up the rig they went, the camera angles flicking to Zortalk's receding figure, then over to Tom's ascending form!

*LET'S GO TOM! LET'S GO TOM! LET'S GO TOM!*

*ZOR-TALK! ZOR-TALK! ZOR-TALK!*

Every fan was on their feet. A fall from this height would mean a seriously bad day, but both were so close to ending this match. It had to end here! Harper had stirred only enough to roll onto his side, still twitching weakly from the hellacious impact of the Superbomb, Cannon flat on his back, beat, after taking the Ode to Madness and giving the Superbomb.

Tom and Zortalk kept climbing, both knowing that the match, for their team, entirely rested on them. Cannon was out, and Tom wasn't sure if Harper was even able to walk, after that fall. This could be the last hurrah for the Foreshadowing, or it could be A.W.E.S.O.M.E.'s final ride!

Both men reached a hand up, grabbing at the edge of the platform. It went a bit out from the spire's structure, meaning that as Tom reached an arm over the edge, his legs ended up dangling freely, Tom supported only by his upper body!

Zortalk grabbed on with both arms, doing a weary, but quick pull-up onto the platform. Shaking, Zortalk's arm went over the edge, then the other. Legs bicycled for a moment, before Zortalk kicked off the spire, pulling his stomach up and over the edge!

Tom managed to get his chest over the lip of the platform, and turned, going up, onto his side! Slowly, Tom forced himself to roll, rolling onto the platform! Supportive wires holding the platform up, ensuring that it wouldn't accidentally break and kill both of them shook and quivered, as Tom got his entire body onto the platform!

Zortalk reached out, grabbing at the pole that the button was connected to, and pulled, with all his might! Slowly, Zortalk came up, onto the platform, ending up on his thighs, then his knees!

Tom sat up, grabbing at that pole just above Zortalk's hand, arm coming up!

Zortalk reached, fingers stretching...

The camera view switched to the camera set just above the button, and zoomed in. It all came down to this! Who would be quicker?! Who would slap that button and secure the win for their team?!

Pollaski: ZORTALK, HIT THE BUTTON!

Cole: TOM, DO IT NOW!

Fingers stretched, and they came down on the button. The big ol' red button was hit, and the light underneath the button turned on, a brilliant golden light shining from the peak.

Pollaski: ...Who was it?!

Cole: I couldn't see! All I saw were fingers!

DING DING DING!

After a few moments...

"DUE TO BOTH TOM SAWYER AND ZORTALK HITTING THE BUTTON AT THE SAME TIME, THIS MATCH WILL BE RULED A DRAW!"

Pollaski: ...Oh my god.

Cole: What.

A moment's pause, and violent boos began to rain down on the referee, as well as bottles, cups, cans, bags of popcorn, everything short of steel chairs. The announcer and the ref turned, getting the fuck out of Dodge, before a lynch mob appeared, to string them up.

Tom and Zortalk both collapsed onto the little platform, exhausted.

Cannon had pulled himself to a sitting position, and as the boos and chants of "BULL-SHIT! BULL-SHIT!" began to rain down, he grinned broadly. He came to his feet, a touch shakily. Lucas Harper apparently wasn't dead, making his way to his hands and knees... Cannon grabbed at the back of Lucas' head, and yanked him in, for a front headlock. Snapping down, to his back, Cannon DDTed Harper on the steel!

Pollaski: Oh come on!

Cole: The match is over! Knock it off, Cannon!

With Harper down and spent, Cannon rose, scooping Harper's unconscious form up. Cannon bent double, scooping Harper up, onto his shoulder. To the cries of the fans, screaming "No, no, no!", Chris Cannon gave a quick twist, and dropped to his knees, spiking Harper's head into the platform, actually denting the damn thing, with his spinning Tombstone!

Pollaski: Your One Night Stand! Harper's down and OUT, someone get the EMTS!

Cole: That's horrible. The match is over already!

Cannon came back up, arms coming out to the sides, taking in the boos, which now were 100%, solidly focused on him. He grinned, and bowed at the waist first one direction, then the other.

Reaching out, Cannon grabbed at one of the men who had filmed Tom and Zortalk's climb, pulling him close, grabbing his headset off. Putting it on, Cannon shouted into it, the camera picking up a few snatches of words.

"-Don't care-"

"-Patch me-"

"-Want to give-"

"-Deserve-"

Soon, the headset was patched into the speakers, like a microphone.

Cannon: -stupid monkeys, give me...

Realizing that he was on, Cannon looked out to the crowd.

Cannon: NOW, before I was so RUDELY interrupted... Everybody, all together now!

Pollaski: There's no way he-

Cole: No, even he's not enough of a terrible sport to...

Cannon: OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH CAAAAAAAAAAANNONDAAAAAAAA...

Black...

Static...

(copyright 2010 WFWA)