The Great Phoenix.

“The Great Phoenix…” Masaru exclaimed. He was grinning from ear-to-ear as he and Tara walked into a room that acted as his office. The room was a large space. Pictures and championships decorated the walls. Masaru continued his bold strides until he was on the other side of his desk and he gestured for Tara to take a seat across from him. She accepted the offer, and sank into the chair. She bit her lip gently while staring across at her host who sat with his hands pressed together and the tips of his fingers against his chin; he still had that grin on his face. “You have acquired much attention in your career, and have risen to the greatest pinnacle. It is my honor to sit across from you.”

“It is--” Tara couldn’t help but stutter for a moment. Akame was not present in the room, and she wasn’t one-hundred percent sure about their customs and did not want to disrespect her host, “--my pleasure to be here.”

A momentary silence between both of them. Masaru seemed to be studying every facial expression present on Tara’s face; the confusion, the way her eyes darted to search for a clue. He seemed amused. Tara would glance at her host several times before looking away. She did not want to have the eye contact retain too long as that was one thing that she knew: eye contact for too long was considered rude. Masaru clapped his hands together and looked at the folder in front of him. “My proposal--” he said while sliding the paper over to Tara, “-- It is simple. I was impressed by what you have accomplished in your career, and what you have been able to do inside of the ring. What you do is just… artistic… Beautiful. Astounding. The grace that you have when you step into the ring, it is… magnificent. The way that you move around the ring… It comes as second nature. It comes without error. It comes as a gift. This is what you were born to do. This art is what you were born to create. I am wanting you to assist in training at my dojo, as well as…”

Tara was skimming the document while Masaru spoke, but the brief hesitation caused her to raise her eyes back to give him undivided attention.

“Work at my promotion.” Masaru leaned forward in his chair. “I will see to it that we get you the best competition that Japan has to offer. I know that you are going to be a great draw. You know you are going to be a great draw. People are going to come from far and wide to see the great phoenix compete on our circuit! And I see--” Masarau said with a sly smile, and a confident, almost cocky tone in his voice, “--I already have your interest.”

“What makes you think that?” Tara inquired.

“You would not have come all the way to Japan to decline my offer. But do not answer now. We will have dinner tonight; you will meet some of my staff, and other trainers on my payroll. Read--” Masaru emphasized, “--every word. I will accept your answer in the morning. Now… What would like to know about me?”

Masaru leaned back in his chair to await the questions that Tara undoubtedly had about him. Does he have in-ring experience? Is he just a promoter? What sets him apart? The questions all raced into her mind. But that… would all come later.

---

The sound of buzzing can be heard before anything can be seen… As the feed gains visuals, you see Tara with her head down and one arm stretched over her head, and the other down where the source of the buzzing came from… the tattoo artist leaned in close and was working around her shoulder, to her back. It was a mere touch-up that he was doing, but he was still giving one-hundred percent of his focus and attention to ensuring that it would not be messed up for he was the original artist, and he knew what the symbol meant to his client.

The phoenix: a symbol of rebirth. Resurrection. Immortality.

Tara laid absolutely still. There was no conversation between the artist and client on this particular day; he knew her for a long time, and had created a fair share of the art that decorated her body. He knew that her mind was not here. Her mind was where it needed to be. On who it needed to be on. The Warrior Rising Champion: Emmanuelle. Tara had been in Project: Honor for a short time but she had already earned herself a shot at the Warrior Rising Championship. Conquering. That’s what she had been doing since she first signed her name to the contract. Rising… To regain her fame. To regain her legacy. To regain.

Tara could feel a buzzing come from her pocket; it wasn’t the first time since she began her appointment, so she opted to ignore it. But the phone persisted and after several times she concluded that it may have been important.

“Hey, can we take a break?” Tara asked.

The tattooist, still silent, turned his machine off before setting it down and getting up to stretch his legs. Tara sat up and began rolling the shoulder that the tattooist had not been working on; she didn’t move the other too much, but finally did dig her hand into her pocket to get her phone. The messages were from Ophelia, and the latest read:


Tara licked her lips, and couldn’t keep herself from snickering before beginning to tap back onto the phone. She hit send before setting the phone down on the bench. She lowered her head and closed her eyes, contemplating the challenge in front of her.

“This… is what I do.” Tara muttered, before raising her eyes to the camera, “Ever since I learned what professional wrestling was. This… is what I do.”

She now raised her head up, “This was never about elevating myself to something else. In all my years, I’ve seen so many people come into this industry with one goal: get out. They didn’t care about being at the top, they didn’t care about the competition, they didn’t care about the belt! They cared about one thing: getting out. They saw this industry as nothing more than a tool for them to use to get themselves into Hollywood, and to get themselves somewhere, anywhere, they don’t have to worry about being hurt… ” Tara scoffed.

With a smile, she raised her wrist up, “Do you see this? Broken. Against a man that was almost three times larger than me… But I didn’t crumble. I didn’t beg for mercy. I won. I left every-fucking-thing inside that match, and I put everybody on notice that I was-- that I am-- the top of the food chain.” Tara leaned to the side and pulled her shirt up a little where a scar could be seen. “Here’s another from 2012… And another. And another. I wear each and every scar like a tattoo: with pride. Because each one tells a story; each one gives a glimpse of my story. Where I’ve been. What I’ve been through. The lengths that I’m willing to go to just to do one single thing…” Tara lets the words simmer before finishing, “To be the greatest.”

Tara straightened her shirt back out, and leaned back with a smirk on her face, “I really am quite simple. To be the greatest. To be the best, and while… I’m under no delusion that you’re insignificant; you are good--” Tara snickered, “--you walked out of Hell On Earth with that belt intact against the most impossible odds! People did not believe that there was any chance that you would be able to retain your belt on that night, but you proved them all wrong… But Hell On Earth was a pinnacle moment for both of it, wasn’t it? It was the night that I debuted for Project: Honor. It was the night that my path began… It was the night that you proved yourself worthy of being called a champion. You do this quite well but the issue is that this is for you… a catapult. Something to get you somewhere else. This is where I want to be. This is where I want to be recognized as the greatest to ever do it. Now here lies the problem. Our paths intertwine. You’re on my path to prove that I am the best to do it. That belt that you wear is what is on my path to be known as the greatest to compete! This… is… what I do.”

Tara cocked her head to the side, and still had that smirk that oozed confidence and cockiness. “You never fought someone like me. You never had a challenge like me. That’s why I am taking that Warrior Rising Championship away from you at week one of Night of Honor, and week two… I am going to break Lil Petey’s lil heart.” Tara says while placing a hand over her own heart.

“I don’t know how many times I have to deal with you, Petey. How many times are you going to try to be the thorn in my side? The fact is that Emmanuelle is leagues better than you… you have no business getting into the ring with Emmanuelle, and here you are wanting to get into the ring with me? If you had somehow ended up as the sole number one contender for the Warrior Rising Championship, I promise that Emmanuelle wouldn’t break a sweat breaking you… Just as I’m not going to break a sweat breaking you. I made you… tap. I made you… scream. I made you… cry. Plain and simple, when I do take that belt away from Emmanuelle, I’m going to defend it against you, and I am going to make you tap the fuck out!” She said while tapping one hand against her seat.

“The people may back you, Petey, but I’ve been on both sides of the fence when it comes to fan support. I’ve had them cheering and raving for me… I’ve had them loathe me. The fans… They aren’t going to save you from what I’m going to do to you when we get into the ring. They aren’t going to bail you out. The only thing the fans are going to see at Night of Honor on week two is Petey tapping, and begging for mercy to come his way when he finally… learns his place.”

Tara smirked and cocked her head again, “It’s beneath me.”

She stood up and folded her hands together with her eyes locked on the camera.

“Take pride in the knowledge that you-- both of you-- are going to be part of something great. Both of you are going to be part of my rise! A little footnote, mind you. But part of it. There’s something about me that you need to remember, and something that I’ve put on full display since signing my name to that contract… I… do… what I say I am going to do. That’s why when I say that I am going to walk out as the Warrior Rising Champion: it’s going to happen. When I say that I’m going to make Petey tap out in my first official defense of the belt: I’m going to make him tap. Even if it means breaking something. When I tell you that this is just the beginning… believe me… it is. As long as I’ve been around: this is just the beginning. Lance Williams. Ozymandias. Elena DeDraca. All of you need to watch. Pay attention.

This is my age.
This is the Age of the Phoenix.”

END.