The second Yoshikazu YAZ removed his mask and revealed Kai Scott’s face under it, Diane Parker was dragging Claira St. Sure away from ringside.

Fortunately, more or less no one was paying attention to her at that moment, and so being dragged didn’t hurt her reputation much.

Diane didn’t stop dragging Claira once they got backstage either.  It was out into the VIP parking section, into the car, and off to the motel.

“What’s going on?”

Claira didn’t ask until they were safely on the road.  It came of Kai Scott’s training, probably – follow orders first, feel free to ask questions about them but only later.

“I don’t know.”  Diane answered.  “Did he tell you anything about this?”

“No… all he said about this was that he hoped I’d win the match.”

Diane bit her lip.  Worries raced through her brain, and she tried to slow them down and sort through them, decide what to do next.

“Where are we going?”

“…Off the radar.”

“Why?”

She had to consider how to answer.  “Because whatever’s happening can’t happen to us if it can’t find us.”

Every time Kai Scott gave Claira or Jonny Booya or Cole Christenson an order, he later told Diane why he gave the order.

“The Joes were wrong” He’d told her.  “Knowing isn’t half the battle.  It’s eighty percent, at least.”

And right now, she didn’t know.

Didn’t know what Kai was doing.

She and Claira wouldn’t even learn that the Untouchables had reformed until the next day.

And even then, she didn’t know any of the why’s.

She tried to help Claira get over her heartbreakingly close loss and the apparent betrayal of her mentor.

And while she was doing that, she decided what to do.  About the next show, at least.

“Cut it.”

“What?”

“Defiance TV 31?  You’re not going to it.  You’re cutting.  Skipping.  Staying home.”

“What?!  Why?”

Kai, you see, had never permitted Claira to skip anything, let alone encouraged it.  The closest he came to that was the time she got sick with the flu in Canada and he spent three days with her, making soup and fetching water.

“Because I still don’t know what’s going on, but no one else does either.”

She’d known of Kai, of his reputation, before she ever signed with the Truly Untouchables.  And she only signed because her career was flatlining.

And she could’ve sworn he really had changed for the better, because every thing he did seemed so genuine.

“I don’t know if the Untouchables are going to be targeting you as a threat.  I don’t know if anyone’s going to blame you for this, or think you’re involved, and target you. And I don’t know if anyone’s going to target you to try and get at Kai either.”

His betrayal stung.  Horribly.

If Diane hadn’t been watching out for her friend, she probably would have sat down and cried.

“But until we know what’s going on, it’s not safe for you to be in a Defiance arena.”

“How are we going to know what’s going on if we stay home, though?”

A part of her – a big part – told her it wasn’t a good idea.  She wasn’t the one who’d nearly won the Grand Champion’s League.

But she remembered feeling so sorry for herself that she joined the group led by the man the CAL wrestlers and fans compared to Judas, and decided that she wasn’t going to let it happen to her again.

Or happen to Claira even once.

“I didn’t say we’re staying home.  I said you’re staying home.  I don’t know if I’ve learned enough to wrestle in Defiance, but the FIST seems like a good enough place as any to check and see.”

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