The Syndicate Emerges From The Shadows (Lei Cheng vs Draven)

His opponent wasn't keen on giving him time to recuperate. Lei could only utter a groan as Draven picked him up from the canvas. The Chinese boy's eyes snapped open wide in nervous fear as the youngest member of the Syndicate secured him between his thighs, hooking his arms. What was he planning? A piledriver? A power bomb?! "H-Hold on, let's talk about this..."

He didn't get a chance to plead for mercy, because Draven decided he wanted to prolong Lei's suffering as much as he could. Lei at first sighed relief, only to be abruptly shoved back against the turnbuckle. "Hrk!!" Before he could attempt to escape, his opponent began stamping down hard on his rib cage. "Gah! Aah!" It was as if Draven wouldn't be satisfied until his ribs were left shattered, and his lungs empty of air.

And the other male went even further, seeing fit to cut off Lei's airway by using his foot to apply pressure to the man's throat! Lei squirmed and grabbed his opponent's foot in an attempt to push or throw it away, but Draven was determined to keep him trapped there.

"Aagh...you...little bastard..." Lei managed to hiss out. Despite his predicament, he was adamant on fighting his opponent and resisting his attempts to humiliate and dismantle his confidence. "Why don't you...slink back into your precious shadows...because you belong there!!"

Grinding his boot away on Lei's throat as he squirmed and choked underneath, Draven listened closely to what the boy tried to say, and scoffed at his comeback, saying "Go back to the shadows? Oh I will once I'm done here....and I might take you with me!" before staring down at his bright blue eyes with his deep yellow ones and continued, saying "And who knows? I might find a nice place for you there." As he smirked and showed his sharp, white teeth.

He would continue to grind on Cheng's throat for another minute or so before finally letting go, walking away and giving him some space to attempt to recover as he walked over to Requiem. "Impressed yet?" He joked as he rested his arms on the ropes and looked down at the Second-In-Command, who simply rolled his eyes and motioned towards Lei. "Yeah yeah....I've got it under control." The rookie member would say as he turned back towards his "playtoy".

"C'mon, get up! You've got a crowd to entertain!" Draven would shout as he waited for Lei to get back to his feet. Once he had, Draven would continue "Now, give me your best shot! I wanna see the punch that you're packing!" as he awaited Lei's response, anxiously wanting the boy to throw an attack his way.

There was something predatory in the young male's threat, coupled with that imposing stare from his eyes. It was a dominating look - Draven clearly felt he had all the time in the world to abuse and torment Lei for his twisted pleasure. His smirk down at the Chinese man would be rewarded with a hiss as Lei continued to squirm under his opponent's foot.

When he was finally released, Lei sagged against the corner and gently massaged his sore throat while Draven addressed a fellow member of the Syndicate. Said member didn't seem too impressed with Draven's gloating, and neither was Lei for that matter. As he began to pull himself back onto his feet with the aid of the ropes, Draven ordered him to stand, before challenging the boy to launch his own, and best assault!

That made Lei's temper flare up - did his opponent think so little of him that he needed a free shot to be able to stand a chance? His hands gripped the ropes tightly, and his body shook...before he began to laugh. "Ha...ha ha...ahahaha!" The crowd looked confused at Lei's suddenly outburst of laughter, and no doubt Draven would be perplexed as well considering he was currently winning this match.

"Sorry...it's just...you think you're in a whole different league to me," The male actually hopped onto the ropes and laid across them casually, a cheerful grin on his face. The beating Draven had administered so far hadn't done anything to demolish his cocky, arrogant spirit. "But that couldn't be wrong! You're just a lowly jester, here for the prince's entertainment! That prince being me." He added with a jab of his thumb into his chest.

"But if you wanna hand this match over to me on a silver platter, it'd be rude of me to say no right?" Lei slid off the ropes and back to the canvas as he began to hop up and down, priming himself up for his attack. "Remember, you asked for this!" The Chinese man would bound across the ring and throw his arms forward, seizing Draven's wrist and making an attempt to irish whip him towards the ropes.

If he managed that and his opponent rebounded towards him, Lei would stamp his feet on the canvas before bracing his arm, preparing to swing it across Draven's neck in a clothesline!

Staring straight at Lei as he demanded he stand, he watched his hands grip the ropes tightly and smirked down at him. Draven couldn't wait to hear this kid beg for mercy....when suddenly he heard laughter? Looking at Cheng with a raised eyebrow, his suspicions were correct when the boy began laughing with confidence!

Watching as his opponent raised up and lay across the ropes, Draven and the other syndicate members watched in confusion as the man he had just been dominating was now acting as if he hadn't broken a sweat! Draven stood still and continued to listen as Lei continued to spout his arrogance as he got off the ropes and began bouncing up and down in preparation.

Still perplexed by the so called "prince"'s change of attitude, Draven didn't actually expect him to go along in attacking him so was taken by surprise as his tracksuit-wearing opponent bounded forward and threw him into the ropes, and before he knew it he was rebounded and thrown straight into a stiff clothesline!

Landing on the mat with a splat, Draven sat up after a few moments and rubbed his somewhat sore neck, murmuring "Fuck..." as Requiem looked on in anger before slamming his hands against the apron and yelling "Focus!"

He'd thrown Draven to the ropes and made for a clothesline, but even Lei was surprised as his arm smashed into his opponent's chest and sent him straight down to the canvas! The Chinese youth could only blink, feeling the slight numbness in his arm as he tried to register what had just happened. His foe was...lying on the mat, at his mercy? The audience was cheering...in support of him? He could only stare down at the fallen Draven, his jaw dropped.

"Oh...huh? Oh, I mean-Ha! Hahahaha!!" Lei swept his fingers through his hair and let out a cocky laugh, one that sounded even above the sounds of the audience. "How's that floor taste, punk?!" He couldn't help but preen under the limelight. He couldn't recall the last time he'd be in this kind of situation. So er...how should he follow up? The laughter cut off abruptly as Lei stroked under his chin, pondering.

Oh, he knew what to do. His opponent had made him suffer earlier. Time to repay his debt! Smirking down at Draven, Lei grabbed the other boy's leg and applied a spinning toe hold, taking the other leg and crossing them over before grinning and striking an L pose against his face, his tongue sticking out. Then, Lei dropped to the canvas, wrenching Draven's legs in a figure four leg lock! "Haha! You ready to squeal? Think you can admit to yourself I'm the better wrestler?" He snickered, putting as much pressure as he could muster!

Rubbing his aching neck, Draven felt a twinge of anger flow through his veins as the audience cheered at the sight. This was supposed to be his debut, his time to shine! Falling back with a groan and closing his eyes for a few seconds, he suddenly felt his leg get grabbed and open his eyes to see Lei with a grip of his leg. sticking his tongue out and getting ready to lock in a submission.

The Syndicate member's eyes going wide, Draven quickly raised his hands up in defence and shook his head in plea, but it was too late as Lei dropped down to the mat and locked in the figure four! Draven shouted in pain as Lei wrenched in the hold, mocking him as he did so. Growling at the hold, Draven responded "....NEVER!" with a roar of anger before forcefully dragging himself backwards, reaching for the ropes.

If he was successful, Draven would wait for Lei to relinquish the hold before quickly sitting up and tackling him to the ground, attempting to sit on his stomach and aim some angry fists straight for his face! He was getting humiliated in front of the crowd, and the embarrassment was clear on his face.

Ha! Listening to this arrogant punk howl in pain put the goofiest grin on Lei's face! He was so cocky, so egotistical, but look at him squirm now! Lei yanked harder on Draven's legs and swung his head back, basking in the cheers of the audience! He was brought out of his high by a defiant growl from his opponent, loud enough to sound even over the audience!

"Huh?" Lei stared across at his trapped opponent, who had dragged him over and seized the ropes! "H-Hey! Little...!" Lei gritted his teeth, waiting until the very last second to release his victim. Before he could scramble to his feet however, Draven had mounted him and was firing fists straight into the Chinese boy's face! Lei felt the knuckles pound into his cheeks, his eyes, his nose - Draven was determined to punch every inch he could manage!

Each successful hit brought a cry out of Lei as he tried to think of a way out of this. Draven's temper was getting the better of him, and he clearly wasn't used to being made a fool of. Especially before a crowd! From this, a light bulb went off in Lei's head - his face was starting to smart from Draven's barrage, so he shot his arms up to try and grab the Syndicate member's wrists! "Chill, you!" If he managed that, Lei would bring his head up to try and nail Draven with a headbutt!

Successfully mounting his opponent, Draven went hell for leather as he rained fists down on the poor Lei's face. Throwing fist after fist towards his face and his face contorted into one of anger, Draven wasn't thinking straight as he tried to cave a hole in the Chinese boy's head.

Hearing his foe cry out in pain from the barrage, Draven pulled his fist and aimed to throw it down forcefully when suddenly his hands were caught by the man. Momentarily distracted from the action, Draven attempted to pull them back and grunted "H-hey!" as he tried, but suddenly Lei threw his head forward and before he could notice what was happening, both men's heads collided for a forceful headbutt!

Taking him completely off guard, Draven, grunting out in pain, shouted out "FUCK!" and flew backwards, lay flat on his back against the mat as Requiem and Rhazien looked on, an angry look on their faces as their fellow member groaned in pain.

The enraged look on his opponent's face twisted into shock as Lei rammed his skull into Draven's own. The Syndicate member stumbled back and collapsed onto the canvas, while Lei...did the same. His own forehead was red from the impact and he rubbed it tenderly, his eyes screwed up in pain. Dammit...did those things really hurt this much? It was his first time pulling one off.

He slapped both hands against his cheek to will his senses back to normality. Draven was still worse off than him, so now was the time to regain momentum in the match! Lei lifted his legs up and threw himself back onto his feet, a hand on his hip and rubbing his finger under his nose with a cocky grin. "Hey, you should be grateful where you place your head! It might get knocked for six!" The Chinese boy began laughing at his own joke, doubling over.

Then he walked over to Draven, and it was now his turn to seize his foe by his hair and drag him up to his feet. The first thing Lei did was apply a headlock under his arm, trapping the other male. From there, Lei placed a hand to his ear as he grinned to the audience. "Who wants to see this kid fly?!" He yelled, the crowd cheering as he grabbed at the hip of Draven's bodysuit, bending his knees. If the youngest Syndicate member couldn't reverse it in time, Lei would hoist him upwards towards the ceiling lights for a vertical suplex!