Akira Kobayashi vs. Vladimir Strife ©

This match has been given a 24 hour extension.

The eager crowd packed into the sold out stadium tonight watch on with bated breath as the XWA Universe finds itself experiencing a sort of deja vu. In one corner before them stands the Cruiser X-Division champion, a worldy warrior from Japan that has dominated mercilessly since his beginning here in XWA. Across from him stands the Lionheart Champion, a legend of the business with an unrivaled legacy of horrors and accolades, the most recent of those accolades having come to him following his previous encounter with the Last Warlord of Osaka. Jack Hammer stands in between the combatants, holding the piece of prestige into the air. The black leather strap and carved wooden plates turn with the official as he reminds everyone that it is at stake in this match in spite of the fact that each man vying for it is far more concerned by a grander title: The King of Xtreme.


Akira bounces upon his heels for a moment and adjusts his kickpads to his liking, preparing himself up for the all out war that lies ahead for them. Throughout the tournament, he has perhaps shone more than any other competitor - taking down a Knockout King in James Carlisle, former King of Xtreme winner the Xtreme Icon himself, and the fabled Barbarian Lord himself that awaits him on the other side of the ring. Despite being removed from his element and facing men baptised in blood and fire, the Black Heart Warrior has come out on top time after time in dominating fashion and proven that he is indeed worthy of being crowned the King of Xtreme.

The GodKing watches his opponent like a hawk, sizing him up as his brain races with eagerness and anxiety. He has accomplished near all that any man could ever hope to within the ring, but never before has he faced an opponent that has bested him. Only three other men could attest to such an accomplishment and not a one of them had dared to tempt fate again afterwards. For the first time since his days as a rookie, the Behemoth feels the weight of doubt upon his shoulders, compounded by the wear of time and years of ultraviolent matches. He is an old dog playing a young man's game and it seems the task before him belies a test of whether he still has a place within it.

Much has changed since the last encounter between these men, with the ego of the GodKing giving way to a more grounded mentality and approach, whilst the Pacific Rim Nightmare appears to drift further in the opposite direction with every passing week. The pair have been through one brutal contest after another over the past month and each bears the marks of the wear and tear it has produced upon their bodies. Dark red lines climb the back of the Cruiser-X champion, scabbed over remnants of his battle with the Xtreme Icon last week in the Barbed Wire Massacre. The Czar of Scars is in no better shape after going toe-to-toe with former Heavyweight Champion Hitman Alex in a match of the same stipulation, the bulge in the middle of his right pant leg indicating that the damage his knee sustained has not fully healed. The path to the King of Xtreme is far from a gentle one but it would all pay off for one of them come Xtrememania, where the winner will compete on the grandest stage of them all for the most presitigious of championships.

The bell rings out at last, beckoning the finalists forth. They approach one another with the utmost caution, taking their time to step into the other's reach. As they stand there, the tension in the air becomes incredible, punctuated by the alternating screams of the fans as they cry out in chants of "VLAD-IM-IR!" and "KO-BA-YA-SHI!" The Barbarian Lord reaches out slowly, holding out an open hand in a rare display of respect for his opponent. Akira looks over the offer and back to the Romanian, unimpressed. Regardless, he opens his own fist and brings it up, but instead drives his palm across Strife’s cheek with a stiff slap that rings out up into the rafters. Vladimir staggers back a step, taken off guard by the blatant show of disrespect and the Pacific Rim Nightmare quickly follows up with a stiff kick to the side of his injured knee. It buckles readily at the first impact, the GodKing having to shift his weight to keep from going down upon it. He paces over to the ropes, looking for some quick support, despite being in the open moments of the contest, but Akira, as well, has only just begun. He spins the Behemoth around to face him and throws his upper arm into the underside of the Lionheart Champion’s chin, shooting him back against the ropes from the impact. Kobayashi turns away from him and reaches back over his shoulder, taking the Czar of Scars by the head and dropping down to a knee, flipping him over his shoulder down onto the mat with a snapmare. He rises up and pounds his kickpad across the small of the veteran’s back, bringing a wince to his features before rushing past him and into the ropes. On the rebound, Akira puts his educated feet to use once more, driving the wind from Vlad’s lungs with a soccer kick to his midsection. With his morale and body already taking a punishing series of blows, the 11 time champion rolls out of the ring to regroup.

Akira, frustrated by the lull, yells at the Barbarian Lord in his native language, the Japanese words a mystery to him. The “KO-BA-YA-SHI” chants begin to grow again and Vladimir shakes his head, trying to work out the proverbial cobwebs as he climbs back onto the apron and takes a deep breath before reentering the contest. The Hardcore King reaches out and takes his opponent by the arm sluggishly, his mind running wild with all of the ways in which this could possibly work against him, but it is these doubts themselves that leave him vulnerable as the Pacific Rim Nightmare does not share his hesitations and swings his leg out into the tender knee once more, causing it to jerk inward at a sickening angle before it goes out from under the Behemoth. This time Strife is unable to catch himself and goes down upon the knee, allowing his rival to step in beside him and wrap an arm about his head. The Cruiser-X Division champion clamps down tightly with a headlock, restricting the flow of blood to the Barbarian Lord’s head as he continues to make the most of the advantage he’s held from the beginning. He cranks on the pressure, Jack Hammer stepping in to ask Vladimir if he’ll surrender the contest despite the match being in its early goings. The GodKing declines and Akira squeezes down upon his cranium harder, hoping to make him rethink this decision. The Czar of Scars has other plans, however, as he holds onto the Japanese superstar and scoops an arm under his thigh. He hoists him up into the air and drops back down, slamming him down upon his back with a thunderous clatter. The Last Warlord of Osaka grimaces and rolls onto his stomach, reaching back to comfort the area that was devastated last week in the Barbed Wire Massacre.

The men begin to make their way back to their feet as the crowd cheers on, but the aching knee of the Romanian limits his speed and as he looks up from a kneeling position, he finds that his opponent is already upright and has almost closed the distance between them. The Black Heart Warrior takes Vlad by the back of the head, but the veteran swings an elbow forward and into his gut, giving himself time and distance enough to get up. He steps in behind Akira, who has turned from the blow to his solar plexus, and digs his nails into his back before raking at the wounds he sustained against the Xtreme Icon. The Last Warlord of Osaka screams out in pain and arches his back at the reminder of the hell he endured. The Behemoth is so pleased by the sound that he drags his claws down the back once more, then turns the wailing Kobayashi around and takes him by the wrist. Vlad pulls his opponent in toward him, stepping aside and flinging him toward the ropes, but the Black Heart Warrior comes back with a touch of revenge in mind. He drops down low, jutting his legs before him and slams the soles of his boots into the GodKing’s injured knee, knocking it out from under him. While the Romanian clutches his battered joint, the Cruiser-X Division champion rises back up without a second wasted and throws himself into the cables once more, coming back on a warpath as he leaps into the air and draws his legs up before stomping them down viciously for the face of Wrath Personified. Strife barely clears the landing as he rolls out of the way, taking to the outside again for a chance to rest up his punished patella.

Akira, feeling decidedly less patient than before, makes his way out of the ring, following the recuperating Romanian. Vladimir turns toward him, hearing a noise from behind, and is greeted with a hard slap to the face that near instantly welts, branding his cheek with the outline of his opponent’s hand. Kobayashi rolls the GodKing back into the squared circle with little resistance and slides in behind him. The men rise back up and the Black Heart Warrior is first to strike, striking his open palm against the chest of the Czar of Scars. Strife returns fire, slamming his elbow across the jawline of Kobayashi, who gives back one of his own. The pair exchange another set of hard elbows, each barely flinching despite the audible cracks of flesh and bone, refusing to show the other weakness. As they do, the fans enjoy a trade of their own, calling out for their favorite with every blow they land. The Lionheart champion changes artillery, slinging a ball of knuckles into the chin of the Last Warlord of Osaka. Akira throws a rare punch of his own, which the Hardcore King returns with even more gusto. The Japanese native steps in, batting his skull forward, but the Behemoth follows suit, meeting it with a headbutt of his own. The men stagger back a step, then continue their brawl, the veteran coming back in with a jab to the mouth and catching a strike of his rival’s palm to the side of his neck. A heavy haymaker causes the legs of the younger man to wobble and he finds himself unable to answer it before Vlad plants another into his cheekbone. Kobayashi changes tactics, desperately shooting a kick out for the sore knee of his opponent and catching it, at last eliciting a display of agony from its owner. The Barbarian Lord presses on despite the pain, looking to take off the Pacific Rim Nightmare’s head with a huge right. The blast finds nothing but open air as Akira ducks under and shifts around to the back of the Behemoth, wrapping his arms about his waist before pulling him up into the air and throwing him overhead down onto his shoulders, rattling the ring.

Akira rubs at his assaulted jaw as he bends down and takes the GodKing by the shoulder, helping him up into a seated position before crouching behind him and wrapping an arm around his neck. He grabs onto his own wrist with his free hand, giving himself a bit of extra strength and control as he clamps him arm down around the Behemoth’s throat to limit the flow of blood to his brain. Vladimir grimaces at the pain as he reaches up and pulls at the arm seizing him, trying to pry it away. He finds no luck in this, however, the makeshift noose tightening the more he resists it. Darkness begins to creep in from the outskirts of his vision as Jack Hammer steps in front of him to ask if he’s ready to give the Pacific Rim Nightmare what he believes to be inevitable. Strife refuses, unable to live with the regret he’d feel if he did so, and does the only thing he can think of. He reaches over his head, grabbing onto Akira’s and presses his feet against the mat, raising himself up before letting them drop out from under him. He lands on his bottom, the inertia carrying up through his body and into Kobayashi’s skull, who releases his hold to attend to the effects of the jawbreaker.

Vladimir works quickly to get back to his feet, but he’s not done nearly enough damage to keep Akira out of the way, receiving a front chancery as he’s almost gotten himself upright. The Black Heart Warrior holds fast as he bends the Behemoth down and raises a knee sharply into his sternum. He shoots for another, but Strife wraps an arm around the leg and holds it, bringing his foot in behind the Pacific Rim Nightmare’s remaining support. He gives a small push, toppling the Asian over his outstretched leg and onto his back. The GodKing then swings his leg over and drops it across his opponent’s thigh, coming down onto his own bottom as he wraps his scissors his spare leg over it to hold it tightly in place. He wraps his arm around Kobayashi’s ankle and draws it back with all of his strength, pulling the leg taught and stretching the midpoint, perhaps looking to even the odds in that particular department. The pain of the kneebar is written across the face of the Last Warlord of Osaka, a grimace twisting his features as he sits up, propping himself up with his arms. Before him, the Barbarian Lord scowls at him, threatening to rip the limb from his body if he doesn’t surrender. The referee steps in beside the men, asking Akira is he would like to do so, but the Cruiser-X Division champion ignores him, reaching across the gap and slapping the jaw of the veteran again. Strife tightens his grip in response, but the Black Heart Warrior begins to throw open palm strikes into his sore knee, forcing Vlad to relent after a handful in the interest of self-preservation. He rolls under the bottom rope and takes a seat on the apron, grabbing at his leg and trying to ease the misery he’s feeling.

Akira, spotting his opponent taking another break as he’s rising up, walks over to him and throws a light kick across the back of his head, doing so more for insult than injury. He climbs out through the ropes to join him as Vladimir pulls himself back up using the top rope and the pair are soon once more trading blows, fighting for an opening against the other. The Black Heart Warrior begins to get the upper hand, dealing out more shots than he’s taking until he has the GodKing almost backed up to the corner of the ring. He steps in close, pulling Strife’s wrist down between his thighs and grabbing onto it from the other side. Akira wraps his free arm across the throat of the Behemoth and holds on tightly as he yanks him up into the air and drops off of the apron. Unlike their previous battle, there is no table there to hinder the fall of the Barbarian Lord this time as he’s flipped forward and down onto the back of his head on the thin black padding at ringside with a horrific thud. The men lie near motionless from the wrist clutch exploder as the crowd whips into a frenzy, fervently screaming “HOLY SHIT” over and over in unison.

The Pacific Rim Nightmare is the first to pull himself together from the fall, having the advantage of not landing upon his head. He looks over to see the GodKing slowly begin to stir and works fast to not let his opening go to waste. He quickly lays his leg down between Vladimir’s, resting his heel upon the midsection of the Czar of Scars, then pulls Strife’s injured leg up to his side, holding onto it tightly as he wraps his free leg just over the tender joint and tucks it behind his straightened limb, creating the move’s mythical ‘4’ shape with his legs before baring down upon Vladimir’s. The Barbarian Lord quickly shoots up, grabbing at his knee as Akira pulls at it, wave after wave of sharp agony running up through his body with every passing second. Jack Hammer swiftly makes his way out toward the pair, brandishing a microphone and asking the veteran if he is ready to quit. The Lionheart champion shakes his head furiously and begins to pull at his hair, beside himself with pain. He drops back down onto his back, lying flat with his eyes clenched tightly shut as he tries to ignore the stretching tendons in his leg. Vlad digs his elbows into the mat and begins to row himself backwards with them, amplifying the horrific feeling as he drags his opponent along with him toward the apron. Once he’s close enough, the Romanian reaches desperately under it, grabbing the first thing he can get his hands on, which happens to be a barbed wire wrapped chair left over the from the previous week’s contests. As he pulls it out from under the ring to a chorus of cheers, the Black Heart Warrior abandons his hold, wanting no part in an encore. He rises back up to his feet, quickly peppering the body of the Behemoth with stomps and kicks before ripping the weapon from his grasp. While Vlad pulls himself up to take a seat, Kobayashi flips the ring’s skirt up and chucks the chair under it, making sure to do so with enough power to make it less accessible than before. The crowd jeers his actions, all eager for the contest to become more fitting of the ‘Xtreme’ aspect of its title.

As Akira turns back around, the Czar of Scars reaches out and grabs him by the lip of the tights, using them to pull him forward and into the guardrail. This buys him just enough time to return to his feet as the Pacific Rim Nightmare does. Kobayashi, far better for wear, slams a series of open palms across the chest of the Romanian, continuing to soften him up in any way that he can. Vladimir has abandoned his fears, albeit a bit late, and fires back without hesitation, rattling his opponent’s teeth with a stiff right. The Last Warlord of Osaka slumps back against the guardrail from the blast and the GodKing quickly returns to the underbelly of the squared circle, sliding out a kendo stick. Before he can raise it up, his Asian rival stomps upon the shinai, denying him it before raising his knee up into the bridge of Strife’s nose and backing him off. He kicks the weapon away, again drawing the ire of the audience as he does so, but ignores their appetite for destruction as he goes back to work on the defending champion. He raises Vlad’s head up, grabbing it by the hair and then slams it back down onto the edge of the ring. The veteran responds, throwing the point of his elbow into Akira’s solar plexus and as he backs off holding it, the Bambi Killer rises up and shakes his head of the fogginess one occasionally experiences when someone tries to imprint their face upon a solid structure. The Cruiser-X Division champion, infuriated at the gall of his rival to resist him, come at him at full speed, but Vlad slips out of the way, scissoring his feet across the calve of the Warlord and tipping him forward to meet the edge of the ring with his mouth.

With Akira temporarily distracted from the drop toe hold, Vlad begins to hobble his way over toward the bamboo sword. He bends down slowly, the throbbing in his leg clouding his mind as he wraps his fingers around the handle and lifts the weapon into air for all to see, met with a choir of approval. Suddenly, the Pacific Rim Nightmare comes rushing in from behind and grabs ahold of the implement just over the GodKing’s grasp. He rips it away and chucks the kendo stick out into the crowd, who are none too shy about voicing their dislike of this decision. He turns back around and Vlad greets him with another knuckle sandwich, which gets returned to him in kind. The men go back and forth, shot for shot, neither giving an inch, round after round, all the while oblivious to the procession of hands in the audience crowd surfing the discarded weapon back toward ringside. Stepping forward and putting his weight behind a hard slug, Strife at last breaks the stalemate, sending his opponent reeling into the steel steps. Suddenly, an object comes into his view from the corner of his eye. He turns toward it to find the bamboo sword, held out over the guardrail and waiting from him to accept his fate like a cheap home movie recreation of Excalibur. The Barbarian Lord takes the weapon and clutches onto it with both hands, raising it high over his head as he closes in on the Black Heart Warrior. Akira looks up toward him just in time to see the tethered lengths of bamboo before they slap across his forehead, causing him to tumble back over the stairs as the skin reddens and raises. He clamors up toward his feet, his back open as he does so. The opportunity is not lost upon the Romanian, who quickly cracks down upon the scabbed over spine of the Last Warlord of Osaka, bringing him to life as he screams out in agony and rises up. Another slap of wood catches him across the back of his biceps as he arches his back in misery. Akira turns toward his attacker, seeing another blow come at him from his left and swiftly ducks under, popping up behind the Behemoth and slipping his arms under Vlad’s. He pulls them up behind the GodKing’s head and laces his fingers, locking in tightly before he rips him off of the ground and bridges back, slamming him down upon the base of his skull on the steel steps. This action seems to finally win the crowd back over some, the chants of “Ko-ba-ya-shi” striking back up in response to the brutal tiger suplex.

Akira wastes no time as he gets back up and takes Vladimir by the hand, pulling him up to his feet and rolling him back into the ring. He slides in after him and rises up, seeing his opponent helplessly crawling toward the ropes in an attempt to do the same. He pounds his kickpad across the side of the Romanian’s ribs, a dull thud ringing out as he reaches back to cover them. Strife speeds up his pace, reaching the ropes and pulling himself upright as he turns to face his rival. Kobayashi briskly walks over to him and ducks down, grabbing onto the back of Vlad’s thighs just over the knees and pulling them out from under him. He drags him toward the center of the ring, holding the legs up to his sides before stepping over the GodKing and rolling him onto his stomach. As he draws the legs back, the effect is plastered upon the face of the Hardcore King, who is writhing in pain. As Jack moves in to check on him, the Lionheart champion’s hand is already hovering over the canvas, the agony almost unbearable. He tries to keeps his wits about him, pressing his forehead to the canvas as Akira cranks on the pressure. Vlad slams his hand down against the canvas, but doesn’t raise it back up, instead opting to claw at it as he begins to pull himself across the mat inch by inch against the resistance of his opponent. He eventually reaches the ropes, but they are of no use to him in the contest since there are no disqualifications. This clarification from the referee brings a smirk to the mouth of the Black Heart Warrior until he feels Vladimir pulling once more, clawing his way out of the ring until he is hanging down over the side, relieving the pressure on his knee. Akira is forced to release him, letting the GodKing plop down onto the mats, where he immediately grabs at his leg in pain.

Akira paces around the ring a moment, muttering words in his native language in frustration that his near victory fell through. He seethes and swears until it boils over and he finally makes a move for Vladimir, reaching out through the top two ropes and grabbing him by the hair as he’s standing up. Strife shoots upright, revealing the kendo stick in his grasp as he jabs it into the face of the Pacific Rim Nightmare, driving the tip into his eye viciously. Kobayashi grabs his assaulted oculus and stumbles away, a shiner forming under the hand covering it. The Barbarian Lord tosses the weapon into the ring and flips up the apron, rooting around the ring’s undertow and grabbing out more weapons. First comes a chair, which flies up over the ropes and lands in the center of the ring with a loud clatter, a cheese grater and a barbed wire wrapped brick following shortly after. As he goes to slide back into the ring, Akira meets him with hard stomps to his shoulder, slowing his progress. He then scoops up the steel chair, seemingly stooping to Vlad’s level before kicking the kendo stick that dotted his eye back out to ringside. Vladimir stands up at last and, as he does, the chair comes down upon his scalp. He takes a step back and shakes the cobwebs out of his head before looking up to his opponent with a smile. The GodKing chuckles and slaps the top of his own head, then lowers it in an invitation for Akira to give it another go. The Last Warlord of Osaka accepts, bringing the seat back down upon the Romanian’s cranium again with such force that it caves at the impact. Despite the tremendous power of the blow, the Barbarian Lord simply looks up with a grin and laughs at his rival’s futile attempts as crimson begins to trickle down from a tear in his flesh below his hairline, his resolve having been hardened by years of relentless chair shots. The Black Heart Warrior is a bit bewildered by the sight, but not deterred. He changes targets, swinging around to his left and slapping the steel across the injured knee of the Czar of Scars, who cries out in pain and stumbles away.

The Blackheart Warrior drops the chair into the center of the ring before collecting his opponent, taking him by the wrist before whipping him across the ring. He steps in to meet him as Vlad returns, but the GodKing suddenly ducks down, swinging around Akira’s thigh as he brings an arm up between his legs and rolls him back onto his shoulders. The Barbarian Lord presses up to his feet and tucks the Asian’s ankle in behind his opposing knee, folding it down over it before hooking his arm under the ankle and stepping in over him, flipping him onto his stomach. The Czar of Scars pulls up with all of his might, leaving his captured opponent’s cheek pressed against the mat as he cries out from the pain of the Texas cloverleaf. Akira struggles, trying to steal a page from Vlad’s book as he claws his way toward the edge of the ring, but the Behemoth is wise to this plan and pulls him back toward the center of the ring. The official questions Akira, who stands firm in his desires to continue in spite of the pain, but after a moment, a second questioning is met with a less decisive answer. Just as it looks as though there’s no way out for the Pacific Rim Nightmare, the blood from the GodKing’s wound reaches his eye, the sting of it causing him to release Akira as he tries to correct his vision.

With the odds now in his favor, Akira rushes back up to his feet, ignoring the pain in his joints as he throws a hard kick into the weak leg of the Behemoth, bringing him down onto it. He starts to slam palm after palm into any open space that he can find, punishing the Barbarian Lord with every ounce of strength that he has. He pulls his head in between his thighs and lurches forward, wrapping his arms around Vlad’s midsection and then pulls him up into the air, flipping him forward before slamming him down onto his back with a powerbomb onto the steel chair. Before Vladimir can even react to the impact, his leg is clutched to Akira’s side, who looks for a single leg Boston crab. Before he can initiate it, however, a hard right pounds against his chin, causing him to let go as he stumbles back to collect himself. The GodKing rolls over onto all fours and begins to crawl away, but a huge kick catches him across the side of the face, dropping him flat as the Black Heart Warrior continues his assault. He presses his boot down onto the throat of the Romanian, choking the life out of him as Vlad grabs at his ankle, desperately trying to pull it away.

Akira takes Vlad by the hand and pulls him up to his feet quickly, stepping in behind him as he hooks an arm up between the legs of the GodKing and one over his shoulder. He whips him up into the air and sends him down onto his shoulder and neck with a huge backdrop driver, the Kobayashi fans coming to life in support of him as he lands the signature move. He quickly moves in for the figure four once more, but Vlad quickly rejects his advances, pushing him back with a kick to the side of the face as he reaches for his boot. The Barbarian Lord tries to ignore the damage he’s suffered and rushes back up to his feet, knowing it’s the only way he’ll have a chance of increasing his odds in this contest. As he turns to face the Pacific Rim Nightmare, a boot slams into his ribs, nearly driving the wind from his lungs, but he grabs onto it tightly, refusing to let go of his claim. The Last Warlord of Osaka swiftly gives him the other, swinging his boot up and into the side of Vladimir’s head with a sickening thud that leaves him in a heap upon the canvas. He pulls Vlad’s leg to his side and wraps his own around it, clutching it tightly as he returns the kneebar from earlier in the contest. Strife quickly sits up, tears welling in his eyes from the intensely sharp pain in his knee, a guttural whine escaping him through gritted teeth.

As the Asian continues to pull at Vlad’s leg with all of his might, stretching the tendon and trying to tear it, Jack Hammer steps in to ask the all important question of the night. Vladimir, writhing in pain and seething with fury at all he’s suffered so far tonight, screams at him. “FUCK THE FUCK OFF! THIS ISN’T FUCKING DONE UNTIL I SAY IT IS!” Suddenly, the rage boiling inside of him takes over and the Behemoth raises up his free leg, kicking it out and slamming his heel into the teeth of Kobayashi. Vlad rises up to his feet, his injured leg wobbling as he does so uneasily. Akira does the same, a hand covering his busted and bleeding lips and nose. Knuckles pound down across the protective hand, slamming it back into the tender lower face of the Black Heart Warrior. Vlad takes him by the hair and pulls him over toward the ropes, sending him flying out through the top two and tumbling across the ringside mats. The Czar of Scars follows him out to ringside, quickly picking up the kendo stick before turning and slamming it across the turnpost. He does this several times until the wood fractures and breaks, the top half flinging across it and nearly hitting the announce table. He turns back toward Akira, who is up to his knees and jabs the remaining sharp fragments of wood down into his scalp. As the Japanese native screams out in pain, Strife digs in with the shinai and begins to jerk and twist it, releasing a torrent of blood from Akira’s scalp that runs down through his hair and begins to pain a crimson mask upon his face.

Having left his mark, Vlad tosses the remainder of the stick aside and goes back to under the ring, pulling out a couple of lighttubes as the crowd still continues to scream out “HOLY SHIT” from his attempt bury a kendo stick in the brain of his opponent. The Romanian turns to Akira, who also seems to be rummaging under the ring and pulls him out. As he does, the Cruiser-X champion suddenly slings an open container of salt at him, the seasoning hitting Vlad in the face and getting into the wound on his forehead. He screams out in an unholy pain, dropping down to his hands and knees, the lighttubes landing before him. Before he can even think beyond the searing agony, Kobayashi ups the ante, rising up and leaping into the air before stomping down upon the base of Vladimir’s skull, driving his face into the lighttubes. They burst with a crack, a fine white powder rising up as the Behemoth rests upon the shards, fresh blood tricking down his face from across his brow. The only man to slay the GodKing on his first try grabs him by the hair and pulls him up to his knees, tilting his head back before dumping more salt onto it. Strife screams out at the burning sensation to the delight of Akira and the bloodthirsty KoX crowd, the inhuman cries only growing more sickening as Kobayashi ditches the salt canister and rubs the salt deeper into the wounds with his hand, grinding it in with all of his strength.

Looking to distance himself from his attacker, Vlad drives his skull back into the stomach of Akira and presses up to his feet, quickly sliding into the ring. The Black Heart Warrior follows after him, not willing to let up while the advantage is in his court. He approaches the GodKing quickly, but this soon turns against him as Vlad clutches his wrist and pulls him in, flipping his arm up over the shoulder of Kobayashi as he presses his stomach to the mat. He raises the arm up high, putting the pressure upon his shoulder, hoping the Fujiwara armbar will bring him the victory he’s been searching for. Akira grimaces at the pain in his shoulder, but refuses the opportunity to make it stop when Jack asks him, desperate to cling on long enough to win his shot at the world title on the grandest stage of them all. Suddenly, the Barbarian Lord looks over to his left, spotting light glistening off of metal. With a smile on his face, he pulls Akira’s arm down and tucks it between his thighs, wrapping them tightly around it to hold it in place. He reaches out and grabs the cheese grater he’d thrown into the ring early and takes hold of it by each side, bringing it against the face of the Pacific Rim Nightmare. With all of his might, the Hardcore King draws back, raising up the head of his opponent and straining his neck while the sharp edges of the grater dig into his flesh. Hammer again asks the Cruiser-X champion if he will relent the fight, but Akira declines to do so, screaming out in misery as fresh blood begins to pour down over darker swatches of dried crimson. Vladimir, ever methodical and vicious, begins to jerk the grater side to side, tearing away at his rival’s flesh and unleashing more and more of his blood. He pulls back with one final burst of strength, the metal edges beginning to grind against skull as the slowly drag up Akira’s forehead. An otherworldly, terrifying screech escapes the hardened Kobayashi as he finally screams out what the fans have been waiting all night to hear.

“WATASHI GA YAME! WATASHI GA YAME!!! I QUIT!! I QUIT!!!”

The bell rings out at last as Vlad releases Akira and drops onto his back, the blood still seeding from his ravaged and salted wounds. He rolls out of the ring, nearly collapsing at ringside as he slumps against the apron.

Watts: “Ladies and Gentlemen… Your winner and the KING OF XTREME – VLADIMIRRRR STRIFE!”

Official Jack Hammer grabs the Lionheart title from the bellkeeper’s station and brings it over to its owner, laying it across his shoulder as he raises his arm high into the air. The fans rise to their feet, many of them cheering while a chant begins to rise through the commotion.

“YOU SICK FUCK! YOU SICK FUCK!”

The side of the Barbarian Lord’s mouth begins to curl up into a grin at the sounds and he clutches his title closely, having avenged his loss and won the tournament he set out to do in the name of his lost friend. He mouths the words “This one was for you, man” and points up towards the sky before beginning the long, unsteady walk away from perhaps the biggest victory of his career.