Illusion

Mercy Wrenn had been busy in the office while The Friction program was on. It was one of her duties to keep track of the show as the Chief Manager of Talent Relations for Friction's personal Assistant. However, it wasn't a job she particularly LIKED. Wrestling intrigued her as far as it could service her needs in a fetishistic way, however, the brutality and the violence was something she didn't really care for. What turned her off more than anything, though, was the fact that she always felt like someway, somehow, she was one bad decision from ending up inside that horrible squared circle. That paranoid thought was enough to quash most of her interest in the sport.

Most of her points were driven home by the evening's main event. Cassie Elliot was taking on a masked girl named Dark Angel in a match that could only be won with one girl in the hospital. She was pretty sure that if herself or Rally had was going to make this match, this wouldn't be either of their choices. Rally was a tough girl but she was sensible enough not to make matches that specifically sidelined her talent. Especially when both of these girls were rising stars. Mercy knew very well that Lukretia was EXACTLY the type of woman who would not mind one bit if half the company was put in the hospital by the OTHER half just to make a point of who the strongest were. Mercy knew that was ludicrous.

The match was as brutal as could be and when it was finally over, Mercy cringed at the sight of Dark Angel's nearly lifeless body. Cassie had been pushed to the bring and the way in which blood seeped out from her mask, it looked like she had actually just killed the masked girl.

"Shit, shit shit!" Mercy squealed as she saw the girl being carted off. She quickly grabbed her phone and punched one of the buttons, barely having a passing thought about the irony of having the medical bay on speed dial.

"Yes?! This is Mercy. Mercy Wrenn." She spoke into the phone. "I'm obviously calling about the condition of Miss Wilson. Uh huh... Yes, I... yeah... Well, what is her condition!?" She barked, furrowing her brow.

Mercy then breathed a sigh of relief. "Stable? That's great. How severe are the-" Mercy tapped her fingers. "Uh huh. What do you mean, NOT SURE!? Well, keep me posted! I better be the FIRST person you contact when she so much as twitches, got it!?" Mercy yelled. "Of course I'm going to notify her family! Do you think I'm some kind of monster!?"

Mercy hung up the phone and eased into her chair. She ran her fingers through her pink locks and stared at her computer screen. She lurched forward and pulled up a file. She started looking through Talia's information and found the listing for next of Kkin. Aurora Wilson. She was already in Tokyo, otherwise, Talia would have been all alone. Mercy thought back to when she first met Aurora. She had decided not to tell the girl who her sister was. That she was running around the AFW as some horrid little monster. Aurora seemed much nicer, much sweeter and more level headed. But what did Mercy know? Talia seemed like the sweetest young thing you could think of before she snapped.

Mercy clicked her mouse a few times. Talia had signed a kayfabe agreement which meant that no one was to reveal her true identity unless it was upper level management or under the direct order of Talia herself, unless, of course, Talia was unable to keep the secret herself. But Mercy wondered how far that kayfabe pact extended? She looked at the phone and ran her finger over it. It wasn't like she had to say WHAT happened to Talia.

With a heavy sigh, Mercy lifted up the phone and began to dial a new number. It rang and rang and finally clicked over to voicemail. Mercy spoke with a somber tone. "Miss Wilson, this is Mercy Wrenn from AFW. I have some... bad news.. I'm afraid your sister Talia's been taken to the hospital. She's stable, but comatose."

Aurora shook her head in disbelief. Everything had been going so well since she had gotten to Japan. Everything was falling into place for her. But now this. Now...

"What is this?" she asked the waiter once more about the raw pink fish in front of her. He looked at the American, smiled, and gestured for her to eat it. "Oh...umm...thank you," she said and bowed her head slightly. Why'd we invent fire just to not use it? But she was in Tokyo. And she was feeling confident and enthusiastic. So... "Here goes nothing," she said and popped the piece of sushi into her mouth whole. She chewed it slowly with a raised eyebrow. The texture of raw fish was new to her. But it wasn't overly fishy or anything. It was really just getting past the mental block of eating raw fish that was difficult. As she finished, the waiter came back and asked her something in Japanese that she definitely didn't understand. She gave the thumbs up sign, forced a smile, and nodded her head. The waiter said something, laughed, then said something else. Aurora glanced over the menu and pointed at something that looked like cooked chicken in a Teriyaki sauce or something. The water smiled, bowed and walked away. It was amazing how easy it was to get by here just through pointing and shakes of the head.

After the meal, Aurora was walking back to her apartment when she checked her phone. "Oh damn..." she muttered to herself at the "1 Missed Call & Voicemail" message displayed on the front screen. She must not have heard the vibration in her bag. It was an unknown number, though, so she was skeptical. Nevertheless she hit play and listened in as she got closer to the hotel. She smiled at a passing man who made no effort to hide the fact that he was checking her out. But the smile suddenly crashed and she stopped walking when the message finished. For a moment, she stood there paralyzed. She looked back at her phone and hit play again this time to listen intently. It replayed exactly what she thought she heard. "What...what happened?" she asked out-loud as if the voicemail of Mercy could answer follow-up questions. "I don't-I...why...oh shit..." she swore in disbelief. How did this happen? She immediately picked one of the contacts on her phone to call.

The phone rang once. Then twice. Aurora squeezed her free hand tightly shut in frustration. "PICK UP!" she screamed. When she finally heard a click on the other end, her voice calmed but she came off really urgent. "Mamouru! Mamouru I need your help. I need you to pick me up and take me to the hospital. Something's happened and I don't know where it is and I have to get there right now and if I try to find the place I may get lost and I don't want that to happen again and I really really need to get to the hospital right now...I need your help." After being awarded the Nobel prize in run-on sentences, Aurora ended the call and ran up to her room to pack a few things in case she needed to camp out at the hospital. She then came running back after only a minute to the front of the hotel. "Where is he? Why is he late?" she asked out loud. All her frustration was being directed at Mamouru even though he had done nothing wrong. Everything seemed to be going so perfect. She hadn't even got to say hello to her baby sister yet. And now this?

Mamouru was in the AFW facility watching the match in a corner of the huge complex where he wouldn't be disturbed. Cassie was in the literal fight of her life. An Ambulance match against Dark Angel. He wished he could have been at ringside but there was no way that he wasn't going to be in the building.

As the match continued on, it became harder and harder to watch and he found himself pacing back and forth. Cassie had somehow gained the missing piece. That killer instinct that turned her from a cute girl with natural ability and skill to a monster inside the ring. The thought was both thrilling and gruesome. And as the match reached the climax, Mamouru watched as Cassie crushed Dark Angel to the point where she was squeezing blood from the girl.

After the match was over, Mamouru knew he had to go to the medical bay. He had to see Cassie and make sure she was alright. On several levels. She was bleeding pretty badly from the match but more than that, was she alright?

As he was on his way, his phone began to ring. He wasn't expecting a call and when he looked at it, he saw that it was Aurora. As excited as he was to hear from her, he considered ignoring the call and calling her back later. He couldn't imagine what she had to say other than maybe she watched the match? He sighed and after another ring, decided he could always see what she had to say and tell her they could meet up tomorrow or later that evening. Some other time.

He clicked on his phone, just outside of the medical facility and before he could even Get out anything other than a "M-" He was besieged by the panicked girl. His eyes widened at her words. He couldn't understand what SHE needed to go to the hospital for, but there was a chill down his spine.

"I'll be there as quick as I can, Aurora-chan!" He said in a worried tone, but she had already hung up the phone by the time he had barely gotten the words out. He quickly turned and left the facility. He tried to get to a cab and over to her hotel as soon as he could, rushing into the lobby and looking around to find her.

"Aurora-chan!" He called out, waving his hand to try and catch her attention. He noticed she already had some things with her and furrowed his brow. "What happened?!" He asked, motioning for her to speak while they moved. "Are you in pain?" He really couldn't fathom why Aurora would call him and not someone who could provide her more immediate assistance.

Aurora paced back and forth as she waited for Mamouru. She replayed the voicemail in her head over and over again. Comatose. Comatose? COMATOSE! What the hell had happened to her? When Mamouru showed up, she nearly dropped her phone as she put it away. She picked up her bag and pumped through him towards the exit. "Take me to the medical facility of the AFW. I need to go right now!" Aurora started off before even saying hello. The word coma drifted through her thoughts again and she stopped. She dropped the bag and covered her face with her hand as if she was about to cry. "It's...it's Talia...my sister...Mercy called me and said she'd been hospitalized...I don't know what happened but I need to get there right now." As she finished Aurora picked up her bag and tried to walk out expecting Mamouru to take her there. She left out the word coma because she was afraid saying it out loud would make it true or something. And she didn't want it to be true. "I mean seriously...what the fuck are they doing in fucking developmental leagues that put her in such fucking danger?" She nearly broke her phone pulling it out of her pocket. "And Mercy only now calls me to tell me about Talia. She couldn't have just told me her number or where I could find her..." Aurora rambled on in frustration, clearly distraught by the news.

Mamouru hailed a cab as soon as he was outside the apartment. He frowned at her words. "Talia-chan?" He said. He hadn't heard from her in a long time, other than Aurora asking Mercy about her. As the cab pulled up, Mamouru opened the door for her and slid in after her.

"Aurora-chan." He whispered and put a hand on her leg. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not as bad as Wrenn-san said. Maybe she just got a concussion or something?" That was the biggest injury that happened these days and it usually required at least a doctor's visit and often a night in the hospital.

"Well see her soon. You need to be strong for her." Mamouru said and squeezed her leg.

Aurora impatiently tapped her foot on the floor of the cab. Why wasn't it going faster? Use the bumper to push the other cars out of the way! Mamouru didn't seem too worried. It didn't upset her, though, as she neglected to mention that one bad word. His optimism made her think things really were going to be alright. "I don't know...like...I feel like she became a wrestler because of me." Aurora sighed like she had some burden on her shoulders. "I mean I was flattered and proud and all...but she's my baby sister...she's not exactly built for wrestling...she's tiny..." She gripped her hands together. "I don't want her to get hurt...just because I wasn't being the proper role model for her..." She rested her head against the seat and sighed once more.

"And now she's hurt..." she added with teary eyes. "How much longer is it going to be?" she suddenly shouted up front and sniffled. It's not like Talia was going anywhere. But the anxiety of waiting...of not knowing exactly how she was killed Aurora. She had to find out as soon as possible. "Have you ever had someone close to you get hurt before?" She asked after a third, angry sigh. "What...how would you calm down?" It was only then that she noticed his hand on her leg. She looked at it for a moment before gripping onto it with hers and squeezing rather hard.

Mamouru's face frowned as he watched Aurora begin to worry. It was a hard thing to endure and he could only imagine how much more painful it was for Aurora. When he felt her put her hand on his, he lifted his other, turned his body and clasped hers tightly.

" Auriora-chan." He whispered. "You know you can't blame yourself. "Whatever Talia is doing, she's making her own decisions. Even if she's trying to follow in your footsteps, that is her choice. What could you have done? Told her no? Change YOUR life?" Mamouru shook his head.

"Yes... I have, of course I have." Mamouru turned his head. "I... just am a calm person. I found that reaming calm helps out others at ease. It's just my nature."

Shortly, the cab stopped at the big hospital and Mamouru got out. and waited for Aurora. He led her inside and to the front desk, asking the nurse where Talia had been taken so they could rush up to where she was.

Aurora tried to nod and agree with Mamouru. She really wanted to. But even hearing his words didn't relieve any of the guilt. She still felt just as bad. As the cab came to a stop, Aurora opened the door and stepped out very quickly, nearly forgetting to grab her bag on the way. The nurse directed them to the ICU. As they entered the wing, a security guard stopped them. "I'm sorry, we can't let non family members of patients enter," he said and Aurora nearly pushed through him.

"I'm her sister!" she shouted. "I'm...I'm Talia's sister, let me by!" The guard looked at her for a moment then stepped out of the way and let the two pass. Once inside, she quickly looked around at rooms as she passed by ignoring the names on the walls. "Where...where is she?" she asked out loud. One of the doctors overheard her and walked over to the two. "Talia Wilson...I'm her sister." Her urgency kinda dropped at the presence of the doctor who crossed his arms a bit grimly.

"I'm sorry about your sister," he stated first. "Talia is currently in surgery...Are you aware what happened to her?" He wasn't entirely sure what she knew of the situation and didn't want to say something that could have offended her.

"N-No! Someone just told me she was here like twenty minutes ago, I don't even know what she's doing or-"

The doctor wanted to tell her Talia was going to be alright but he wasn't sure. But he didn't want her yelling either. "Please calm yourself," he suggested with his hands up. "She was in a really bad fight...During which three of her ribs were broken. One of them broke inward and punctured her left lung. Her lungs filled with blood and-" he stopped when Aurora's face looked horrified. "We were able to drain the blood from her lung, but she had already lost a substantial amount of oxygen." It wasn't good news like he wanted to tell her. But Talia's injuries were that serious. "She...hasn't regained consciousness but her brain patterns appear normal...so we just need to wait for her to wake up." There were a lot of other things bad, but the doctor felt that was a good place to stop for now.

"Why is she in surgery then?" Aurora asked tearing up a bit.

"We're surgically re-placing her ribs so they can heal properly. Her lungs will heal as well in time." But Aurora still wasn't relieved at all. "Considering what she went through...this is the most we could do for her. All we can do now is wait."

What she went through? Aurora pulled out her phone. "Thank you doctor..." She pulled up Mercy's number and texted her 'How did Talia get injured?' She took a few steps over to a nearby seat and sat down while forcing a straight face. She wanted to be hopeful and positive but it was hard. The idea that all she could do was wait was tearing her up on the inside. She wanted to see her sister and make sure she would be alright. She still hadn't even laid eyes on her. "What the fuck happened?" she asked out loud hoping Mamouru could answer her somehow. It all seemed so surreal.

Mamouru watched as Aurora frantically pushed her way through the hospital, mowing down security with her desperate tones. He threw apologetic looks to those she left in her wake, keeping a brisk pace behind Aurora until she found a doctor who was willing to explain the situation.

Mamouru's eyes widened when he heard what had happened to her. Whoever she had unfortunately been in a fight with, had not just been merciless, but had been downright cruel. Someone was looking to end her career... or maybe worse. But as Mamouru watched Aurora pull out her phone, he began to think and walked over to the doctor. "Excuse me, doctor." He aid,, trying to keep him from leaving them. He was beginning to put things together. Talia had been in a fight, about twenty minutes ago. Mercy was the one who had called Aurora to tell her about Talia's condition. Her injuries seemed to match up with the same ones that had befallen another girl, roughly twenty minutes ago.

"Excuse me, Doctor." He said. "Did Miss Wilson also suffer injuries to her jaw by any chance?" He asked as though he were a detective on a case, rather than a concerned friend.


***

Mercy frowned when her phone buzzed. Ever since that match, she had been busy, busy, busy. She groaned and sighed, her body language reading 'what now?' as she picked up her phone. She raised her eyebrow when she saw that it was Aurora.

She didn't know whether or not she should tell her the truth or send her back a text that would placate her. She thought about it for a moment as she stared at her phone and picked it up, dialing the woman. Aurora, at least, deserved to hear some placating answer to her face.

Mercy tapped her pen on her desk as she let the phone ring. She knew the girl would pick it up straight away, but she still had to be quick about what she was going to say. Certainly Aurora would be out of sorts and she also wasn't sure what information she had about Talia yet.

The doctor looked up from some papers with a confused look. "I don't believe so," he said a little reluctantly. He hasn't thoroughly examined her entire skeletal structure from the x-ray. There had been far more present issues and he didn't have time to look for small things. Nevertheless, now that it was in the air, the doctor tapped through some papers and pulled out an x-ray sheet. He held it up to the light and inspected it closely. "...Actually yes she does. There appears to be a fracture here," he pointed with his finger. "It looks...a little bit mangled like a significant force crushed her there." He examined it further but shook his head. "It's not life threatening though. That'll heal over time but not fully. She'll have to relearn how to eat and talk but otherwise she should be fine. The fracture will repair itself but this mangled part here probably won't." The doctor sighed. On second thought, she wasn't going to fully recover after all. "How did you know that by the way, were you there when it happened?" the doctor asked with a raise of his eyebrow. "I can't fathom why these wrestlers risk their health so much just to 'entertain' a crowd.

----------

Aurora sat on the other side of the room staring at her phone. She just wanted an answer. A number popped up. "Hello?" She answered. She knew it was probably Mercy from the number. "What the hell happened to Talia? The doctor says she's...really fucked up," Aurora nearly cried at saying those words. "What kind of a match was she put in where someone would actually make her drown in her own blood?!?" She suddenly asked extremely angry. "Was it a mixed match? Was she put up against some psycho man that did this?" Aurora stopped when she noticed nurses looking at her. "Who did this?" She asked quietly at the end. As far as she was concerned, it didn't matter if it was an accident. Someone was responsible for this. And she wanted to know who.