Kathleen did better than what happened to her days ago. She recently won a few matches and this time, she managed to get back on Sakuya, who injured her badly back then. She slowly improved as a wrestler and many of her opponents there considered her as a threat. She doesn't mind doing hardcore matches, as she loves a thrilling and exciting match. With her baseball bat in hand, she was almost a force to be reckoned with. It's not a rare sight to see the blonde tomboy to be covered in blood stains, whether it's from her own or from her opponents. She was completely unhinged in the ring.
As usual, she returned to Juniper's diner for a quick meal before continuing her usual routine. She racked up some money from her matches, mostly from the same underground fighting ring she fought in. She was able to buy herself new clothes, including a proper wrestling outfit that she thought that she looked great in it. It had a neat star-shaped keyhole on the chest that exposed a part of her cleavage as part of her star motif.
"Back from the ring, ehh sister?" said Ashley as she smiled upon seeing Kathleen returning from her usual wrestling match. "Of course, I did better than before this time. Anyways, I'm very hungry. What's for today, Mom?" said Kathleen as soon as she sat on the counter. Juniper served her a dish of egg sandwich with hash browns. "Today's special, and of course you can have it for free" said Juniper with a smile on her face.
Violy did not show up today, but instead a rather unfamiliar person popped up in the diner. He was clad in a scientist outfit with an ID tag on his neck and a pair of glasses on his face. He had a brunette hair and strangely dark eyes, almost black. "Excuse me, may I have a cup of espresso and a bagel sandwich, please?" said the man as he sat on the counter while reading on the menu. Kathleen glared at him, feeling uneasy at first.
"Oh, I'm just ordering my breakfast. I haven't ate today. Anyways, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Dr. Charles Little, Valhalla Consortium's Head of Research and Development. My boss is really interested in Espers and she has been researching them for years. Espers are amazing beings don't you think? Youth with supernatural powers, just like those superheroes from comic books, except they're real. I feel you're one of them too" said Dr. Charles.
"What makes you say that?" asked Kathleen. "Well, you exhibited several traits that an Esper would do. Your eyes glowed when you fought against that spider Deviant, and yes only Espers could defeat Deviants. Our Agents couldn't even deal with them at all. That is why my Boss is interested in you" answered the scientist. "But, I don't like this Freia woman. She's been acting strange lately. She's obsessed in Deviants, and now she wanted to capture Charybdis all by herself. The leader of the Deviants itself, known for its ferocity and its brutal nature. It kills everything it sees. I myself cowered before that thing!" continued Dr. Charles.
"So, where is that thing now. I need to end it once and for all, for what it did to my parents. I can't rest until my parents can rest easy after I defeated those Deviants" asked Kathleen. "Well, it emerged in this very city, Angel Grove. It was dormant for many years after the Great Lumian War, but for some reason it rose from its dormant state, along with its own legion of Deviants. And one of them was the one responsible for the death of your parents. I believe you're the only one who could stop Charybdis" said Charles. He wanted Kathleen to fight the Deviant's leader, yet the blonde girl felt a bit afraid at first.
"I'm not gonna get over this if I can't fight that thing" said Kathleen. "I feel my past is haunting me once again, that time when I was bullied for being an emo person. I wanna prove everyone that I could protect those who I love. I lost my parents and my foster parents, and I won't let it happen again to my adoptive mother sister" she continued.
"I'm sorry to hear about that. Anyways, the fate of this city hangs in your hands. You must bring down Charybdis, or else you will lose more of your beloved ones. It might even go after your adoptive mother and sister" said Dr. Charles. "It has an insatiable appetite for human flesh and destruction, and I hope you can get yourself ready to fight it" he continued.
"I learned a lot from that twintailed girl I saw on the TV years ago. Her name was Taylor Parker, the Entropy Champion of AFW. She was a very cool and amazing girl, yet I never met her in person. But she taught me a lot, from her wrestling moves and her undying determination to win and to fight for the audience's impression. I bet she'll be proud of me if I can defeat this thing" said Kathleen. "I'll be heading to the usual place again to train, and when I'm good, I'll fight Charybdis" she continued. Her face was filled with determination.
"I'll do anything to help. For now, I need to expose Freia's wrongdoings and conspiracy. I heard that she's going to capture Charybdis and use it for her own good, and she's going to capture people like you as part of her project. She wanted to create henchwomen out of cloned people. The Agents that served as Valhalla's footsoldiers? They're biomechanical clones. However, they lack a bit fighting skills, and Freia seek to perfect them by using people with knowledge on martial arts. I hope we can meet again someday, I need to go back to Valhalla's HQ" said Dr. Charles. The scientist left the blonde girl and went back to his workplace in order to put his plans in motion.
"What a nice person, right Sis?" said Ashley. Kathleen couldn't answer much, as she needed some time to train in order to fight Charybdis, the Deviant's leader and save Angel Grove from utter destruction by the Deviants. She then went to her usual wrestling gym and sparred there with her friend and fellow wrestler, Renee Steinhauser. "Took you long enough. Where have you been, Katie?" said the raven-haired wrestler, clad in red with a line-shaped face paint underneath her eyes.
"Oh, just been beating up some monsters. C'mon, let's have a good match and hopefully I'm ready to tussle with that so-called Charybdis!" said Kathleen as she readied herself and climbed up to the ring.
Meanwhile, Dr. Charles returned to the Valhalla HQ in Palo Alto. What he saw there was shocking. He found Caitlin lying in a pool of blood inside her office. She was assassinated by someone, and none of the Agents could help her.
"Dr. Charles.. come closer.." said Caitlin with a rather disheveled voice. "Don't trust… Freia.. She took everything from me… my research, my work, my company and now, my life… She's a treacherous bitch.." continued the dying CEO as the scientist listened to her last words. After that, Caitlin succumbed to her wounds and passed away.
"Freia.. you thieving bastard. I can't believe you killed Caitlin, took over Valhalla and now you're getting away with your twisted plan involving Charybdis and kidnapping martial artists to create an army of yours! I must let the world know about her dirty plans. I cannot let her scurry around with that dangerous Deviant on her side" said Dr. Charles in a very angry tone. He then proceeded to use Caitlin's PC to send a file containing Freia's research, plans and others to Lazuline, a foundation dedicated in protecting and researching Espers and developing a sustainable source of energy. He emailed the files to Mizuki Takahitsuji, the current CEO of Lazuline in hopes for her to read them and spread the words to the others.
"Sneaky, aren't you?" said Freia as glared at Dr. Charles. The scientist looked back and saw the redhead woman with what appeared to be Charybdis on her side. The demonic beast also glared at the scientist as well with its insect-like eyes. Its mandibles drooled as if it was about to prey upon Dr. Charles.
"Stay back! I'm warning you!" said the frightened scientist as he took a handgun out of his pocket. He then shot Charybdis's right eye with its pistol. In a flash, the Deviant hid its eye and leapt upon Dr. Charles. He could only scream as the Deviant killed and assimilated him, leaving nothing behind.. Freia smiled as she finally got rid of the two people who prevented her from taking over Valhalla. She first ordered one of her Agents to assassinate Caitlin, and now she let Charybdis loose upon Dr. Charles, killing and consuming him.
"I'm here, my love.. It's been a long time since we talked together" said a humanoid figure as he walked out of Caitlin's room, wearing a torn and blood-stained lab coat. Charybdis has taken Dr. Charles' form and voice, as well as his sentience. Freia recognized the voice not as Dr. Charles, but as the creature that killed him. Charybdis was actually one of the two Progenitor Deviants, the origins of all Deviants that was sealed eons ago during the Great Lumian War between the forces of Juno and her Angeluses with the Lumian race against Dark Nightmare and his undead Deviants.
"Now, ve shall rule ze world together, vut first.. continue your rampage in Angel Grove, feast on zose pathetic humans." said Freia before she let Charybdis loose into the city again. A dark storm is about to strike on our heroines.. one even worse than before.