BURNING HAMMER | THE OSAKA REBELS vs THE FIRING SQUAD

“How’s that sunlight, Noah? Not too blinding, I hope.” Mikey Svarro said with a hint of arrogance in his tone. Noah squinted as he stepped out of the limousine that chauffeured him to a private hanger at the Phoenix Airport, directly from Hartland Asylum. Noah still wore his white Hartland issued jumpsuit, that has (since his arrival in the Asylum) been stained and splattered with the blood of people that he’s assaulted. Mikey wears a designer suit with sunglasses shielding his eyes from the harsh sun rays this afternoon, and standing behind him? “Rumble” Reyes. Rumble smirks when he see’s his partner. “How did you get me out?” Noah asked, his eyes finally adjusting to the sunlight. His question was directed to Mikey, of course, and he referred to the Asylum. Mikey removed his sunglasses, placing them into the chest pocket of his suit jacket.

“I persuaded Warden Booker to let you off of the leash long enough for you both to go back to Union and establish why you’re the best tag team there - regardless of the result of Coupe de Grace.” - “Persuaded - how?” Noah replied. Mikey’s eyes moved to Rumble, who crossed his massive arms over his chest. “It helps to know someone who’s Six-Eight, Three-hundred and sixty pounds. It tends to make negotiations a little easier, you know?” Noah slightly nodded his head before he begun to walk toward the plane that Mikey and Rumble stood next to. “So do we get the Outliers again?” Noah asked, stopping directly in front of Mikey. He closed his right hand into a fist and held out to Rumble, who fist bumped his partner. “No. You two are facing the Osaka Rebels. The Outliers probably don’t want to step up against you guys, knowing you both want revenge on how Coupe de Grace ended.”

Noah groaned and ground his teeth. Noah’s lost matches before, but losing an important match by way of referee neglect. The three count shouldn’t have happened, Noah’s foot was on the ropes. Swindled out of the Battalion championships, you could say. Mikey smirked seeing Noah’s reaction to remembering that. “The Osaka ... who?” Noah asked. It wasn’t due to arrogance, but legitiment cluelessness. Noah had been locked in an Asylum ever since Coupe de Grace, and the Osaka Rebels weren’t a team he was familiar with in the Battalion tournament. “Rebels. Signed on for this event. I figured why not put them up against the rightful Battalion champs and see where they stand. .. it will probably be a failed attempt on their part, though.”

Mikey shrugged and began his walk up the stairs to the privately chartered plane. Mikey money, amirite?

Noah looked up to Rumble, a smirk crossing his lips. “Nah, they’ll wish they stayed in Japan when we’re through with ‘em.” Rumble smirked as well and that was when he and Noah entered the plane the same way Mikey did.

——

“I’m not going to cut down the referee right now, but we know if I see him - I’m going to have a few things to say. I’m not even going to come on here and blast the Outliers for taking advantage of the fact, I would have done the same thing in their position. What happened, happened - and while I firmly believe that if things would have happened differently, myself and Rumble would be the Champions right now, I will say congratulations to Sawtooth and Corrupts. Congratulations, but sooner or later - Rumble and I are coming for you and those titles. Don’t sleep on the fact you got away cleanly. Nah. We’re coming..”

“But until then, we’ve been tasked with the mission of welcoming the Osaka Rebels into the Battalion division. If you think this is anything more than an opportunity for Rumble and I to flex on a new team in the division, then your wrong. This match is redemption for us. We’re going to step into the ring and we’re going to prove a point. And that point is, the Firing Squad owns this division. We ran the gauntlet, we threw down with the toughest teams to step foot in Union, and we came up short because of a referees blown call. So you can understand why we need to reestablish ourselves. And unfortunately, it has to be at the expense of the Rebels.”

“Now I’m not discrediting them. They earned their place here just like the rest of us have. But c’mon, let’s be honest with each other. There is no one on this roster who even comes close to matching the size and power of Rumble. He can, and will, literally break you in half if given the opportunity. And me? Well due to my current ... residency at Hartland, I’ve begun to tap into my more violent side. My strokes now have more meaning. Before I struck just in order to win matches, now I do so to hurt people. There’s nothing more dangerous than a man who’s sole intention is to hurt you. You Rebels might be skilled in Japanese Strong Style, and that will probably be your only saving grace; that you know how to absorb some of my wrath. But will it save you? Will it be the catalyst to your victory? Not a chance.”

“There’s a reason we went as far as we did in the Battalion tournament. There’s a reason why Rumble and I only have one shady loss a team. We’re destructive. We’re dominant. And most importantly, we’re a well-oiled Machine. Add all of that to our new found desire, and determination to climb back to the top of the Battalion division; that makes us dangerous. A lot more dangerous than a team looking to come and make a name for themselves. You’ve picked the wrong team to attempt that against. You won’t be sending any messages to the roster against us. In fact, you won’t be doing anything except being carted out of the arena after Rumble and I are through with you. You, just like everyone else, has come to Union looking for success and hope to do so at our expense. Well.. broken bones, torn tendons - and more importantly - shattered dreams of stardom are the only things coming your way when you face us at Burning Hammer. Get used to that..”

“Also get used to seeing Rumble and I standing tall, once again. We hit a setback at Coupe de Grace, but we begin to rebuild ourselves as contenders at Burning Hammer. The Rebels found themselves signing onto Union at the worst possible time. Wrong place, wrong time sort of scenario. Because, get this straight, we don’t care about either of you at all. To us? Like I said, you’re just coming in to try and make a name off of us. We don’t care about your well-being or the longevity of your careers. You come in looking to make a name off of us, so we’re going to make sure that we put you both down and then take that next step toward claiming the championships that should be ours.”