It was LAW's first show after Do or Die, and the events of that card were fresh on many a fan's minds. Even as the next episode of the promotion's television program was underway, there were few that could forget the excitement the supercard had to offer. There was one match, however, that left people with questions - the Falls Count Anywhere cinematic match between Cecilia Lombard and...well, was it really Jonathan Steele? The card announced Cecilia's opponent as that veteran wrestler. It looked like Jonthan Steele. But as the match progressed, the fans couldn't help but question if Cecilia's opponent really was Jonathan - or indeed, if he really was even human.
Throughout the match, Jonathan had shown almost superhuman strength and endurance, shrugging off all of Cecilia's blows as though they barely even caused him to flinch. He and his disciples had appeared and disappeared from whereever Cecilia tried to hide, springing on her from every corner and every angle before she so much as had a chance to react. This wasn't anything new for him - he had been this way since assuming the identity of the Anomaly - but it had reached its zenith in this match. The things he did seemed to defy not just the rules of wrestling, but of reality. Yes, it was a pre-taped match, and one could stand to reason that he may have edited and recut the footage, especially given he had chosen the location and likely played a role in recording, but even though that was what everyone wanted to believe...no one could really be sure. Just what had happened? Just what was Jonathan?
Tonight, though, those questions would be answered by none other than Kanon Fujiwara - Jonathan's chief disciple. It wasn't the first time she had needed to answer for Jonathan, and much like that time, she would announce her presence through the jumbotron in the arena. As one match finished, and the next segment was set to begin, the lights in the arena would flicker and falter before at last going out. And just as the fans were wondering if there was some sort of technical difficulty to blame, the screen lit up once again with static - static that soon gave way to the image of a pallid young woman in elaborate black attire seated at a desk in the darkness, lit only by a flickering candle perched atop a skull. Was it real? Did anyone want to know?
Spoiler
"Such is written in the Codex Joculator Dei - the Book of the Trickster God. Its origins can be traced back to an obscure Kabbalistic text, long since supressed and denied by even the most learned scholars; the only known surviving copy was transcribed and translated into Latin from the original Hebrew in around the fifth century AD by a monastery in Sicily, and subsequently relocated to Constantinople and then to Baghdad, where it was preserved in secrecy for centuries to come. Before it found its new master. Before that new master passed it to me - his most honored and most grateful of disciples. But, of course...I get ahead of myself."
"What is this book, you may ask? A treatise on an entity of greater power than even I could fully comprehend. A being that has lasted far longer than any of us, and has influenced history in ways far deeper than we will ever truly know. A being with the power to hold a mirror to the darkness in the hearts of mortal man - to show the deeper desires not even we know we understand. And the power to bring forth these feelings - to make them real. To invert the soul, and to let the inner darkness shine, while turning the masks we wear to others and to ourselves inward. To set us free."
"And woven into it, the spells and seals to contain such a being, for those who consulted with this entity - this Anomaly - feared him, and spurned him, and wished to hide themselves from his gaze. Yet it is not he they ran from, but themselves. They knew what he would show them was truly what was in themselves - and the truth of who they were terrified them. They used the book to shut him away, to try and use his power for their whims. Yet, the realms of the arcane and the eldritch are not realms that mortal man is wise to tread lightly. And any such attempt to control my Father would only, in the end, turn back on those foolish enough to measure their power against that of our outer masters."
"It was long ago that the book was thought lost - hidden away by those who feared it and its powers. Yet, my Father was not so easily conquered. In time, he found a new host. He named his disciples - showing them the power within them, helping them attain their darkest desires. We are the Selection, for we have been selected to do his will. And I alone have been entrusted with Father's great power. Not that I may control him - but that I may see that his will is performed, and call upon his power to do so."
"So it was with Cecilia Lombard. So it was with those before her, and so too it shall be with those after her. He shall see his power over this company grow, and that his disciples are revealed; that they may be vindicated in their hearts. And I am his agent, his faithful, and an instrument of his will. It is a position I accept, and that I carry on my shoulders. Long have I suffered. My suffering has born darker desires. Yet, it is...comforting, to know my suffering may serve a greater purpose. That all will be set free."
Once again, as Kanon said her last word, she fell into a trance - her body went limp, and she fell face-first against the table, where she lay there motionless a few seconds. Eventually, though, the light of the candle faded. And as the screen went dark, it cut back to static. Only then did the lights rise on the arena. And only then did the show go on...
...but what was coming?