I was standing beneath a moonless sky March 5, 2012… everything was turned upside down
Beep…beep… beep
I could hear the sounds of a breathing machine next to me as I regained consciousness. The room itself wasn’t much; the walls were washed with a pale white paint and the floors were polished granite. Sitting up I removed the IV attached to my arm and flung back the sheets. I had no clue where I was, aside from the obvious. I walked to the only window in the room; there wasn’t much lighting for my taste, but something was better than nothing. Peering out I watched the residents come and go; I began to wonder if my family was here waiting on me to recover.
Beep…beep… beep
The machine was still on despite the fact that I was no longer hooked to it; it was annoying, it felt like a nail against a chalkboard to my hypersensitive ears. I wondered vaguely if I would get in trouble for turning the blasted thing off. Turning around I was shocked at what lay in front of me…
…I saw myself, still lying there in the bed. Shocked I gave myself a quick glancing over; it was as if I had floated up and away from my body, but at the same time everything felt so vividly real. It was a strange sensation that I hadn’t felt since taking LSD back in high school. I took a step forward, reaching out to touch my sleeping body, to wake myself up from whatever trance I might have been in. And then everything went black…
I was surprised to find myself no longer inside the hospital looking down at my own body; instead I found myself floating above a giant lake under a moonless sky. I landed on a cliff overlooking the center; the waters were so pristine and clear I could see almost to the bottom, even in the darkness. The only light source seemed to be pouring in from the sky itself in pale waves of light; as if the scenery was just some enormous picture painted upon a canvas and the artist had turned on a lamp. The still waters began to churn; slowly at first, but gradually picking up momentum.
From my perch on the cliff I could see an image taking shape from within the waters; it was me, competing at the Lethal Lottery. Suddenly I could see; I had been attacked by some unknown force. My memory from the Lottery was still very fuzzy, and I still could not remember all the details. But instinctively I knew that the culprit was Ty Burna and his associates. Ty had me taken out of the Lottery because he was afraid… afraid that I knew too much about him. However, knowing what I know about the man now things are going to be even harder.
“How can I stand up to such a force?”
“I am just one person; even though I love this company I do not what to be put in a position where I had to choose between my livelihood and my family’s comfort.”
However, from a realistic standpoint, I figured Ty Burna to be a businessman. If he had bought a portion of the company, then he would ultimately have to cater to what the fans wanted in order to stay in business. It was my guess that Burna would either make himself champion of his own company, or hand pick someone to do so. Unfortunately this would mean that only those that were in his good graces would ever get title opportunities; the rest of us that did not agree with the way he did business or his moral character would be sent packing… permanently.
It was a scary thing to think about… I personally would not to be a champion of this company if it meant representing the chaos that Ty Burna has embraced.
“The only way that I know how to combat this situation without digging the grave of my career is to somehow convince the other superstars that do not want to see Ty Burna as GM to form a union with me. Perhaps together we can force Ty to relinquish his position as GM. I don’t have a problem with him being an owner of this company as long as I don’t have to change for him.”
Suddenly the sun appears over the edge of the horizon. I watch as the glowing golden orb rose rapidly in the sky, vanquishing all the gloomy shadows as it went. I began to watch in amusement as the temperature around me began to rise and the waters inside the lake began to boil. I felt a tugging sensation on my arm, and I looked down to find that flames had engulfed me! My body was now being consumed by flames!
I smile as the sensation of fire rejuvenated my broken body. I feel no pain, no suffering, I feel reborn… alive once again.
Beep…beep…beep
Celeste’s eyes began to flutter open as she finds herself back inside the hospital room. She turns when she hears a voice calling out her name; she turns to her side and sees her husband and her son waiting in the bedside chair next to her… waiting on her to regain consciousness. She smiles…
“You gave us quite a scare babe,” said her husband.
“How long have I been out?” she asks as she raises her body into a sitting position.
“For a couple of days; Jesus, when you get knocked out, you stay out.”
He leans forward and plants a kiss on her dry lips, invigorating her even further. The two lovers stay locked in a tight embrace before Laxus breaks away.
“Momma!”
Celeste smiles as her son wraps his arms around her. She reaches down and picks up the preschooler and places him in the bed next to her.
“I was worried momma, daddy said you were hurt.”
“I was hurt; but I promise that I’ll never get hurt again,” she says as she strokes the little boy’s hair.
“I’m like one of those superheroes that you see on television.”
The little boy’s eyes widen,
“Really?”
“Absolutely! Someone like me and the things that I stand for can never be defeated; I want you to remember that.”
The little boy smiles from ear to ear and nods his head vigorously up and down,
“I Will!”
“Momma, daddy says that when you get hurt you go someplace to feel better?”
“You mean here, like a hospital?”
“He says that you go inside of your head.”
Celeste ponders on this; she wasn’t sure exactly what to tell the little boy. Whenever she got hurt it was emotional pain, not physical pain. Her body would naturally shut itself down whenever she received copious amounts of physical damage. Emotional pain required intense mediation in order to fix; over the years she has found that she could mediate even unconsciously, which was not an easy thing to do.
“W-well the thing is that mommy can’t feel physical pain; it’s one of her superpowers. Whenever I do get hurt it’s because my feelings have gotten hurt. In order to fix this I have to go inside my head to give myself medicine.”
“Give yourself medicine?”
“That’s right; you take medicine whenever you get sick right? Well, mommy can only give herself medicine through meditation.”
“Meditation, what is that?”
She laughs,
“Perhaps when you’re a little older I will teach you.”
Celeste turns and looks at her husband,
“I think I’m ready to go home now.”
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It has been almost a week since Celeste returned home since recovering from her injuries sustained at the Lethal Lottery. A wise man had once told her that only those with a life left to live should be the one’s living. Following that advice, she decided to take a mini vacation for herself.
“I don’t know if I feel comfortable wearing this, Mei-Mei” Celeste said.
“Don’t be such a sourpuss, I bet you look sexy and hot.”
Celeste opens the door to her bathroom and steps out. She couldn’t believe that a woman her age was going to be going out in public wearing… whatever it was that she was currently wearing. Even though her good friend was a few years younger than her, Celeste thought she was still way too fucking old to be doing this.
“Wow that costume looks amazing Celeste!”
Celeste had met Mei-Mei “Patricia” Kageyami years ago when both were on the professional fighter’s circuit. Celeste had gone to Japan to fight in the All Japan Judo Champions where she and Mei-Mei fought several times. On top of being one of the toughest women that she had ever fought, her friend was also a hardcore otaku… a trait that anyone who didn’t know the professional fighter would have found absolutely bizarre. Celeste herself had sampled some manga and anime years before and while she found some series to be rather cool, she found others to be way too weird for her tastes.
“You think so?”
Mei-Mei’s idea of a relaxing vacation was to drag her to the anime and manga convention in San Jose; but she wanted them to both dress up as characters, just to have a little fun. Her friend had chosen costumes for two characters from the video game Street Fighter; Mei- Mei was currently dressed up as Sakura, while she had chosen Rainbow Mika for Celeste.
“Hell yeah, you look just like Rainbow Mika!”
Based on the research she had done she really liked this Mika character; they had the same blond hair, the same tall voluptuous figure, and awesomely enough they were both professional wrestlers. The only thing that Celeste didn’t like was her outfit… now she stares at herself in her mirror looking at her frilly blue cut off singlet that was constantly giving her an eternal wedgie. She sighs, and places a hand on the backside of her ass.
“I guess I don’t look too bad; imagine me wrestling in WZCW like this.”
“That would be hilarious! Imagine you beating up your opponents using the ass attack.”
Celeste cracks a smile; she could always count on Mei-Mei to break her out of her shell.
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Celeste stares in awe at the sight of the convention center in San Jose; she had never in her life seen so many men, women, and children dressed up in her life. And it wasn’t even Halloween.
“This is ridiculous; there are so many people here.”
“This is nothing; you should see Tokyo’s anime conventions.”
Celeste sweats just thinking about such a monstrosity,
“I-I think I’ll pass.”
Parking was easier that Celeste had anticipated with plenty of paid parking venues. The two friends get out and walk to the convention center, with Celeste getting plenty of catcalls along the way.
“Hey they really like you Celeste,” said Mei-Mei as she elbows her.
“Did you ever consider doing some sexy photo shoots for WZCW? You are the only female wrestler there right?”
“Yes, but there are other women there besides me…”
“I got it! Why don’t you pose for Playboy; that way when you beat someone you can be all like ‘Gah, you got your ass kicked by a Playboy Bunny!’”
Celeste buries her face into her hands but at the same time she can’t stop herself from laughing,
“You have way too vivid of an imagination…”
The morning continues to fly by, as Celeste slowly begins to break out of the rest of her shell and starts to really enjoy the convention. She poses for several photos, while Mei-Mei gets several of other cosplayers. They saw a live action play of a series called Sailor Moon, which Celeste really enjoyed. The two of them even got to eat lunch with the voice actress of the lead character in Mei-Mei’s favorite series; as it turned out, the actress was also a huge fan of Celeste’s from WZCW.
It was about midway through the afternoon when Celeste excuses herself. She walks down to one of the private areas on the convention, and takes out her cell phone from her purse. She plops down into one of the nearby chairs and dials…
“Are you here?”
“I’m here; I cannot believe you chose the anime convention in San Jose of all places to meet.”
“I hope it wasn’t a bother for you.”
“Oh not at all; I am actually enjoying myself.”
“I am in the private area of the convention center. I will see you soon.”
“Right.”
Celeste hangs up the phone and begins to wait. About five minutes later she sees someone looking around inside of the area. She was obviously out of place. Celeste stands and watches as the women walks right to her. Both women just stop and stare at each other; she smirks as the other woman begins to laugh.
“That’s a nice getup you’ve got there Celeste; Rainbow Mika really suits you.”
“You laugh, but have you seen yourself? Just what are you supposed to be anyway?”
The woman was dressed up as a very kiddyish looking orange pony with a cowboy hat and matching vest; a blond wig topped off the whole ensemble…
“I’m Applejack, from My Little Pony.”
Celeste’s face contorts with more laughter as she can barely contain herself.
“I never took you as someone that would watch something like this, Sandy.”
The woman shrugs,
“I’m not; but the Professor made me watch the series after he picked it up from Drake Callahan. What can I say? It was strangely addicting.”
She smiles,
“Let’s go someplace more private so we can talk. Thank you again for coming all the way down here.”
“You’ve never struck me as someone who would enjoy anime conventions.”
“This is the first time I’ve ever been to one; I can actually say it’s pretty entertaining.”
Celeste leads Sandy into an unused room and shuts the door,
“Thank you for the information you gave me last time involving Ty Burna and the Apostles; it proved to be very helpful.”
“Obviously not helpful enough if the Apostles took you out of the Lottery.”
“It’s because they acknowledge that I’m a threat to them. Ty knows I won’t stop until I get what I want.”
“And what is that?”
‘Surely she doesn’t want the world title,’ Sandy thinks precociously.
‘At least not as long as Steven has it.’
“I don’t want Ty to be the GM any longer; he’s already been abusing his power, but there’s still so much he could do. He has the power to make it so only his lackeys and cronies get title shots. Saxton, Gordito, Sabotaur, and I will never receive title shots in the future because we don’t agree with his moral fiber and the way he conducts business…”
“…and in the future neither will Steven; once he loses the title that is.”
Sandy frowns,
“What do you mean once he loses the title?”
“It’s only a matter of time before Ty takes the title for himself or strips him of it; he has the power to do this.”
She sighs with a forlorn look in her eyes,
“I know, I know but there’s nothing that we can do.”
“Yes there is…”
“What, what can we do? Even if we can predict where Burna’s going we can’t stop him.”
“I think we can; I have a plan.”
“What kind of plan?”
“If we all formed a union; those of use that don’t want to see Ty as the GM any longer. I think we can take him on.”
Sandy looks stunned,
“I think you’ve officially lost it Celeste.”
“I’m serious! This week I have to face him alone, and my chances are slim. He has so many allies, and so many resources; things just look impossible in a one on one confrontation. I’ve come to the realization that I can’t take down the Apostles by myself… I need help… Even if I had just one other person, we could accomplish more than what I could on my own.”
“Let’s say we did join forces with you, Steven and I; what’s to say you don’t backstab us? It’s obvious that you do want the world championship for yourself.”
Celeste nods,
“And while that may be true, I would never put my own dreams over those of my allies. I am not the same woman as I was before; I have severed all my attachments to my anger, arrogance, and pride. I only want what’s best for the company, and that’s Ty Burna gone as general manager.”
Sandy smiles,
“Perhaps we can be allies in the future, Celeste. When I return I will pass this information along to the Professor and see what he says.”
“Thank you Sandy; I hope when I’m facing off against him here within the next few days, and the inevitable happens, I hope to have some allies of my own watching my back.”
“You take care Celeste… and enjoy the rest of the convention.”
Celeste nods,
“I will.” 
