Aokigahara Zombie versus Nova Wonder

Aokigahara Zombie walks into the diner with a two man camera crew from PAW. It was a new luxury from the network that he wasn’t sure how to feel about yet. He decided to impress a friend with his company's growth and include her in on the fun. He walked to the back at the booth he told her to meet him at but froze when he saw the man with the tattooed face sitting there instead of her.

He looks around as he sits down slowly in front of the man. He glances at the camera people set up and squints but the man didn’t become the girl.

“I ordered you a coffee.”

“Where is she? Wh- Why are you here, Tokyo?”

“I advised her not to come.”

Aokigahara starts pouring sugar into his coffee. “And she listened? I know she was here to pick up that Genocide lady to help her. It wouldn’t take long to meet me here. Why did you tell her not to? Advised… you denied it.”

“I know how fun it is for you to hang out with Kimitsu. She is in a big transitional period in her career. She is on her way to greatness. Her competition gets better and better and she needs to advance to adapt. I simply informed her that it is not a good idea to derail her progress by seeing you. She is on the elevator to the stars and you are on a spiral of self destruction. I strongly suggested she just passed by here to collect her friend. I promised I would speak to you instead.”

After he pours half the container of sugar his coffee and the liquid is at the cusp of spilling over Aokigahara puts the sugar back on the table and looks out of the window. It is late in the evening and there are only two other cars in the parking lot. They must belong to other patrons since the silly monk sitting across from him always walks from the bus stop. Tokyo always reeked of smugness to him. He nods and stares back. “So what do you have to say this time?”

Tokyo looks down and smiles. “The same thing I always tell you. What I have been suggesting to you since you joined us. You need to stop fighting how you fight. If you don’t there will be a moment when you don’t get up from the mat.”

Aokigahara grins.

“And that is what you want, is it?” Tokyo gives him that piercing look as he holds back his anger. Aokigahara only brought it out of him sometimes and he suspected he was one of the few that could. With the way the tattoos were arranged on his face it looked like a tiger was staring behind the rows of words. They were like the bars of a cage. Tokyo breaks the illusion with a shake of his head. “You are a strong fighter. You can garner some strong support for our cause if you would stop going on your suicide missions. You fight like a maniac when you open yourself up to the punishment. You open yourself up to the Darkness.”

“I help people, man.” Aokigahara tries to lift his overflowing cup of coffee but submits to lowering his head to sip from the top of it. Before he comes back up Tokyo swiftly clutches him by the hair to fully reveal his bandaged forehead.

“You say that you do but you only help people when they defeat you. Do you think that the demons in this world care about having another punching bag? They are not relieving their tension. You are not redeeming your past. You are just punishing yourself. They are bringing out more needless violence into this world and you are helping them. You’re just giving them another soul to bend at their will.”

Aokigahara growls but his hands go under the table to his lap. Tokyo slowly lets him go. “Is that how you see me? Well I see we haven’t looked in a mirror lately. You run around trying to be a superhero and to stop your imaginary bad guys from getting ahead. We’re both freaks that want some attention. That is the influence we’re after. You want to fight to stop others from achieving their contrary goals. I just want to make them realize what their goals should really be. I show them what their minds and bodies are capable of using my own. You just don’t like it because people have fun when they see me.”

“Like at a freak show? That is what all your matches are. Somewhat perverted as well.”

Aokigahara laughs. “So you think I’m a freak? No, don’t just dismiss what I do like that. I am a show and I give people hope just like you do without any of the guilt. I go out there and do my job doing the best that I can. Don’t believe that I don’t try either. I try to give my opponent the best I can so that they can do the same for me. I push them to their best to see who breaks first.”

Tokyo nods. “You never break but your body does. Do you remember your last match?”

“In vivid detail. Right up to the end when it all went black. It was something special, that Nomad guy. Also I apparently I did well enough to enter into this Championship contest. My influence grows, brother. I will not let you down.”

“You will achieve your goal but what that goal is, is what I worry about,” Tokyo smiles and Aokigahara laughs. Aokigahara brings his hands on the tabletop and drops the steaknife he palmed when Tokyo grabbed his hair and points it at Tokyo with a shrug. They both laugh foreas the shot fades and it seems that they are having a good time..


LATER

Aokigahara is outside and he watches Tokyo walking off down the road with a staff in his hand. Aokigahara lights a cigarette and pulls his phone out. He calls a number and grunts when it goes to voicemail. He sets it to speaker and puts the phone in front of him.

“Moshi moshi, Kimitsu-chan. Just wanted to tell you about what I’m doing now. You said you saw the show on television. How good was my match? I think I made a great show. That Nomad is a tough. I think I can say that he’s one of the toughest I’ve ever fought. I hope he remembers the match for a while. I did try to leave my mark like always. I got the loss at the end but I had fun. Now for the next challenge. I am to fight Nova Wonder in about a week and a half. One on one. It’s also for the beginning stages of the Ladder Match for the main title. Not her Midway belt. Wouldn’t it be something to see her win two titles. She’s on her path to legendary status but wouldn’t it be something if she got tripped up by a silly foreign name. Wouldn’t it be something, little yokai, if she lost?”

He leans on the hood of a parked car and starts fidgeting with the large bandage on his head, tapping it and rubbing.

“If there’s one thing I can do in this match is have her learn my name. I think you would hate this girl. She fights with her head up in the clouds. She immediately scoffs at the names on the cards like she has nothing to worry about ever. I’ve seen this so many times in my career. She even had the audacity to write off her loss by doing that thing losers do and say that she beat the Things that beat Strick. So her loss doesn’t hold much weight. She has been on a hot streak since that loss and we will never hear the end of it.

“The last time I was supposed to be in the ring with her I got a bit distracted with O’Donnell. We’ve been like two spinning circular saws only meeting momentarily before repelling each other in an explosion of sparks. That last spark was a kick to my head that had me seeing spots. He latest match was oh so violent. It’s as if she were competing with me in the bloodlust showcase. I have come to expect that in a place like PAW though. Also it’s not like she realizes. She doesn’t even bother to learn the name.

“I thought about how I can help her like I always do with an opponent. How can I help that Wonder? Well I thought about her confidence and her titles and everything around her like that seemingly crumbling relationship with the depressed Harris. It seems that confidence is built on a shaky foundation. She claims she has been through some shit and that her important path to now. Well we’re wrestlers. Normal people don’t really choose this career and entertain others with our scars and broken bones. There aren’t many of us that can say that we’ve reached any success in this job without pain and heartache. I need to show Nova that she is not special. I need to remove the pressure from her life. I need to win this match and remove her from the running for the Title.

“Can you imagine, Kimitsu, if I actually went into a match to win? I know you haven’t seen much but before I went to AOKIGAHARA I fought for my own benefit. I fought to see people bleed and I tried to break them for the prize money. I fought for accolades and praise. The things I did to people would make Tokyo blush. It was so much pressure. If I defeat Nova I can remove that pressure of being great from her. There would be no need for her to boast and crow about her accomplishments. She would finally see that there are people you don’t mess with. She would see her limit. She would be stay with her Titan of the Midway Championship and be content.”

He rakes his hand through his hair and absentmindedly licks some blood off a finger.

“Besides, if I advance in this little introduction stage I can attract way more attention. I might even go crazy and try and win the whole thing. If I become PAW Heavyweight Champion there would be no telling what kinds of fun I can have in the ring. Nova probably doesn’t think Abrakadabra Zombie might be capable of that. They’ve seen me on my best days always trying to help. Her help can only be in her destruction. She needs to stop looking down on people because her greatness is built on a loose foundation. When I make her crash she will see me for the monster I can become. What some people apparently still see me as. Maybe she might be able to pronounce my name with the Itai Claw digging into her tongue. I won’t be fighting just to help but to win this time around. I’ll make To-”

He stops with the beep and he lies back on the hood of the car and sighs.

“I’ll Make you proud.”