It had been days since a challenge had been issued to the World Champion, Devilz Child, yet not a word had been in sent in reply. The upper-echelon of suits were growing anxious. Had their champion abandoned them, as a previous one had done once before? Would they get their title belt back, or have to spend hundreds... nay, thousands of dollars to manufacture a new one?
And then, the world went black.
No, not the earth world. It still spun on its axis, turning night to day, day to night, welcoming the sunshine on good days, the starry skies on clear nights. No, the world spoken of was that of the constantly connected network the Creatures Championship Wrestling programs ran on. The screens of every monitor that was playing the network suddenly went dark, disrupting the shows that were airing in those time slots.
Media technicians scrambled to find the source of this disruption, but all they came away with in the first few moments were a lot of head scratching and confusion; everything looked perfect, as it should. What, then, was the problem?
The problem, it turned out, was no problem at all, for after those several dark moments of dead air on those television screens, a live video feed began to run.
Shadows danced across the gated enclosure, created by the tall torches at each corner as well as the halfway points of each barred wall. Within the iron surrounding was a vast, beautiful garden. Roses, lilies, snap dragons, amaryllises, gardenias, orchids, lotuses, lilacs, birds of paradise, and tulips were just a sampling of the blossoms that were seen as the scene moved through the garden.
“You really don’t learn, do you?”
As the camera moved, it caught sight of soft fingertips deftly moving over silky petals of a rather brilliant tiger lily. Panning out, those fingers became a feminine hand and wrist, until finally, the entirety of an arm came into view, soon followed by a female torso, encased only in a black bikini top, the hem of a midnight sarong just slightly seen. The taut abdomen was slightly framed by dark tendrils of loose hair that shone as the fires from the torches swayed this way and that, and soon, as the view panned upward, the exotic face of the one and only Devilz Child lit up the screen, a smoky appearance to her brown eyes, her scarred lips slightly parted in a purely female trait.
“You, in all your arrogance and egotism, proclaim yourself ready to challenge for my World Championship,” she murmured in a soft tone, glancing away from the camera to admire a nearby amaryllis flower as she spoke. “Have you forgotten, Kane? Remember when you first wanted to challenge me? I told you to make yourself earn the spot. So far as I’ve seen...” She returned to gaze at the lens, “you haven’t proven a damn thing to me.”
The irises of the brunette woman’s eyes hardened into dark crystals as she continued. “You speak of being a champion, but that piece of tin you hold onto so tightly...” She shook her head, her tresses moving only slightly against her body, “that is no true title within the ranks of the CCW. What does this mean for you, my lost little sheep?” Here, her lips quirked at one corner. “Why, it means there will be no unification match between titles, for that will ultimately diminish the meaning behind the World title I hold, and give your fake belt more prestige than it deserves. In addition, no, there will be no title bout between you and I any time in the near future.”
Devilz Child stepped forward, closer to the camera. “I know this may sound a bit harsh to you now, Kane, but I have been around quite a few years. I know what marks a true champion, and what challengers a true champion must take on. I know you still need that drive, that shove in the right direction. Whatever it takes to light that fire, and make you realize you haven’t been doing enough. Listen carefully now.” She leaned forward slightly, as if to conspire in a secret of some sort. “You have been World Champion before, and you have beaten quite a few people both before and during that title reign. But I have beaten those people as well, and on top of that, I have beaten you, so by process of credibility and achievements... I am the better wrestler." She offered only a slight shrug in condolence. "Consider that your shove.”
She stood fully upright once more, yet again moving to admire the flowers surrounding her. “But I am not without an open mind and a willingness to teach the...” A mirthful smirk shined upon those lips of the demoness, “underprivileged. That being said, I would gladly take you on in a non-title bout, if only to show you how much more work you will need to do in order to gain the status of a suitable title challenger. In fact...”
Turning to face the camera once more, a full smile settled on her mouth, a glint of mischief in her eyes as she added, “Why don’t we invite more participants? Make it a little more interesting, a little more challenging, a bit more of a teaching technique, hm? Two-on-one, three-on-one, all in it for one’s self, whichever way you’d like to go about it, Kane, if you’d like to bring your buddies in on this venture. And as an added incentive, let’s say if you do manage to come out the victor of the bout, I’ll grant you the shot at the title you’ve been itching to receive. I’ll give you some time to think it over. Until then...”
She lightly waved her fingers in farewell, turning on her heel to head deeper into the immense garden, the scene fading away into blackness once more.
