Kai Scott’s back wasn’t healing as quickly as it should have been.

The man who created the Truly Untouchables knew that the recipe for power was at least three-quarters poise, and so he tried to live the role just like he always had, but there was one problem with that.

Guys like Jonny Booya and Cole Christenson knew to shut up and do what he said no matter what condition he was in.

Girls like Diane Parker and Claira St. Sure worried about him.

“I did alright teaching her to fight Christian Light last time, didn’t I?”

“She didn’t win the match.”  Claira was exercising, well out of earshot, and Kai took the opportunity to lay a cold hard truth on the table.  Only for Diane to, proverbially speaking, remind him to that the table was not for stacking random junk like cold hard truths on.

“She wrestled him for 25 minutes and until War Games she was the only person who came close to actually beating him straight up.  And she knocked him for a loop with a backfist.  Plus she’ll be using her armlocks this time too, right?  I think she’s got a good shot at it.”

Out on the other side of the gym, Claira was doing diamond squats, with two 45s and a 25 on each end of the bar.  She kept a personal exercise and practice regimen to rival the “young boy” workouts of puroresu.  Worrying about her slacking off was never an issue.

“I know, and you did a fine job, but that was just a straightforward match.  This one’s going to have chaos flying in from all angles.  Elijah Goldman’s going to have to do something to balance the sides, and he will.  Some of the Evolution wrestlers actually believe in what Goldman’s selling, they could get involved.  People always plan things.  At the top of an event like this you’ve often got someone ready and waiting to swoop in and shake things up – disrupting a pay per view is worth disrupting ten weekly cards.”

“We did fine during War Games…”  Diane wasn’t going to back down on this.

“No, we did NOT do fine during War Games.”  Kai interrupted her.  “If either Goldman or Alceo Dentari had been halfway competent at arranging things, Claira wouldn’t be wrestling anymore.”

“And you don’t think that you’ll be a huge target if you and your injured back walk out there with her?  It’s the most obvious way to get to Claira ever, even Jimmy Kort could probably figure that out.  …what?”

She asked because Kai had slumped forward in his wheelchair and buried his head in his hands, and he didn’t move.

“Coach?”

No response.

“…Kai?”

When Diane first started hanging out with the Truly Untouchables, the line from everyone who noticed her was something about what was a good girl like her doing with scum like Kai Scott and the T-UTs.  Because she had been a good girl, girl next door gimmick and all that, went out with Jack Cassidy back in the days when he was fun-loving and enthusiastic.  A couple people, Troy Matthews most notably, had marked getting hold of Diane as one of his evil deeds that would need to be punished.  

After three years of cheating, scheming, and learning to stack the deck ahead of time, she’d learned to do it all quite handily, but her inner nature hadn’t changed.

“It’s fuckin’ funny…” Kai muttered into his hands.  “When I didn’t give a damn about anyone except myself and my own damn ego, this chessmaster shit was so easy.  Now, I feel like I’m being fucking strangled.”

“Strangled?  By what?”  She asked.

“That half-pint little shit Dentari’s good enough at this to be dangerous and bad enough to be really dangerous – he’s the kind that’d turn a standoff into a shootout because he can’t see what’s going on.”  It wasn’t an answer.  

Diane squatted next to the wheelchair and looked up into Kai Scott’s pale blue eyes.

“Kai? What’s wrong?  I want to help, but…”

Kai gripped her by the shoulders and stood up, then raised her to stand.

“Diane, listen.  I need you to promise me something.  You can come out with me.  You can stand next to me with that turnbuckle bolt and make sure no one attacks me.  But you have to promise me one thing.  If things go WRONG – listen to the words I’m not actually saying – if things go WRONG, you need to get Claira out of the arena and somewhere safe.  Even if it means leaving me behind.”

“But…”

She tried to object, but Kai shook his head at her, and she bit the words back.

“People usually can’t see the obvious in front of their faces, and in their heart of hearts they know that.  So when someone confronts them with the obvious, they play dumb, or they lash out.  Tom Sawyer is a horrible messenger, childish, hyperbolic and vapid, but…”

“What’s wrong?”

Neither of them had noticed Claira St. Sure leave off her workout.

“Looking good, Claira.  Girls… I’ll see you here at this same time tomorrow.  I’ve got some stuff I need to take care of.”

Kai sat down in his wheelchair, turned, and rolled off towards the gym’s exit, leaving the two girls to look after him.

“What’s his problem?” Claira asked.

“I don’t know what to tell you other than that he’s acting weird, but… look, get some promo work done, C, I’ve got to go do something for a while.”

And following Kai’s tracks, Diane Parker jogged out of the gym, leaving Claira standing there, confused and annoyed.

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