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The "Donny Mantra returns was just wrapping up as the lights came back up in the arena, the excitement in the air palpable, mainly thanks to some of the more long time fans remembering the years gone when Donny had been a notable name not just in WWFG, but in the world of wrestling as a whole. Many of the newer and younger fans outside of that circle were quickly being brought up to speed as well, so Donny's return was working both as something old for many, and something new for others, a point the commentary team was all too happy to mention.

"Is that real? Could Donny Mantra really be making a return?" King was asking excitedly, watching the fans as the noise swelled "It's certainly got these fans cooking, huh J.R? How did you not know about this? Hell, how did I not know about this? Just how many years has it been since we last seen this man?"
"I'll be honest with ya King, I don't really have an answer for you on most of those points, and as for how long, whilst I can't give you a number in years, I think I last saw him at your wedding"
"The last one?"
"No, I think it was at least one of the two before that"
"Firstly, lets not mention my previous marriages again, especially when used as measurements in time, and secondly, I hope we don't end up waiting too long for him to show up"

King's words seemed to be ones of prophecy, because just as he had finished uttering said wish, the crowd was bathed in a deep purple light as Donny's old but familiar music shook the arena.



The curtain under the screen was tossed open with a flick of both of Donny's wrists and the Scotsman stepped out onto the stage, the crowd all rising as one to greet him with thunderous approval. Soaking it in, Donny leaned back with his thumbs hooked into the waistband of his kilt. Backstage, there had been lingering doubts on whether this was really something he wanted but standing there, now, listening to the people go wild in that moment blasted it all away. He could have stood there all night and enjoyed the shivers that were running a race up and down his spine but he knew there was more to this than just what he wanted. Turning to glance back at the gorilla position, he nodded once and, following the signal, a half dozen of his trainees poured out after him.

Four young men and two young women, dressed in your typical gym gear with WWFG shirts gawped, reeled and stood awe struck at the sound and feel of the live crowd. The noise was for Donny but he knew that, regardless of who the crowd was excited to see, the effect would be the same. Nodding towards the ring, he headed there now, lightly slapping a couple of outstretched hands as he went. Like little baby ducklings, his trainees followed albeit in a more excited manner. Donny was playing it cool for the most part but the kids were excitedly high fiving the fans and posing as they followed all the way to the ring. Donny sat on the middle rope for the women as the other slid, jumped, hopped and damn near tripped their way into the ring. Donny took a corner nearest the time keeper, standing on the second rope to scan the crowd with a grin before calling for a mic, catching the one tossed to him with ease before stepping into the centre of the ring and looking down the hard cam.

The mic was barely raised when the noise surged once more. Every other noise in the arena was temporarily drowned out as thunderous chants of his name came in waves. He turned, looking to the assortment of would be wrestlers behind him and mouthed "Feel that? That could be you some day" to them before turning back to the audience, waiting for them to settle before speaking.

"Well hell guys, I don't remember ye ever being that loud for me before" Donny quipped, prompting another swell in sound that got him to laugh before continuing ""Then again, it's as they say, you never know what you got until it's gone"
The noise started to raise again, but Donny quickly cut it off by continuing, knowing full well the people were prepared to react to every little easy puff ball sentiment he tossed their way.
"No more though, because what was was gone has returned, what was lost has been found and just in case ye can't read or you missed those big, bright words a minute ago, my name is Donny Mantra, and I. Am. Back"

This time, he let the crowd cheer as loud as they wanted. Even when it began to ebb, the crowd seemed to catch it's second wind and battered them with a deafening rendition of "You've still got its"

"Oh I've still got it do I? I'll be honest with you, that wee montage, with it's smart cuts and transitions could make anyone look good, but I assure you, not tonight" this got some slight, playful boos that he couldn't help but grin at. Crowds still wanted things to move at break neck speeds, some things never changed "But soon, I'm going to prove that, yes, I do still got it. I'm going to show that some things are ageless and I am going to earn those accolades all over again"

Donny smiled at the sound once more. Then he playfully slapped his forehead and motioned to the group that stood with him "Oh, in all the excitement, I was blow harding about myself so much, I almost forgot. I've brought some friends along. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a relic of the past, but I come to you tonight, not just with a dose of nostalgia, but a taste of the future. These young men and women, you don't know them now, but I assure you, you soon will, are going on this journey with me, and the first step on this journey starts with this"

At this, he turned the mic around and offered the handle to a young man with mid length blonde hair. A look of shock and excitement crossed his face as his friends around him excitedly goaded him on. To speak live on a WWFG PPV, in front of thousands of fans and millions at home, there could hardly be a better start for someone so young. Controlling the excitement long enough to steady his hand, he cautiously took the mic from Donny, the mans teacher placing a hand on his shoulder to turn him towards the camera, even now guiding him ever so slightly. The mic raised to his lips, he paused to drink in the encouragement from a crowd kind enough to give him his own pop. Surely nothing could spoil this moment.... right?

For many, including the rookies in the ring, the unwanted interruption was surprising, for Donny though, who now had a knowingly cheeky grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, it was as he expected. He put a hand to his face to cover the small amount of amusement he felt at the familiar ground being tread once more, managing to hide it all by the time his class were turning from the entrance way to him, bemoaning the sudden interruption. He waved a hand and put on his best consolidation face as Bison made his way out. Seven feet tall and a quarter mile to four hundred pounds, if there was one thing Donny knew for sure, it was that people like that could afford to be bastards.

He suffered through the initial sales pitch, playing the role of irritated babyface for everyone else before taking the verbal hit on the chin with a playful nod. It was certainly true that his last match was quite dated at this point, but feeling the way he did, he knew that he was about ready do be a better version of himself. The rookie that he had handed the mic to offered it back to Donny which he took with a nod. The heckles of his students were up, the audience wanted someone to put the big man in his place and Donny at least had something to say.

"Ok big man, first off, saying I don't stack up to you is hardly fair when King Kong could barely stack up to you, though that great ape has you beat in the looks department at least, and second, and this is a fair warning to everyone that might just be tempted to try your magical stuff, I actually had a student who tried your Bisonade. The effects were certainly quick but not as expected, its not every day you see someone firing a torrent out of both ends"

This at least elicited a laugh from the crowd, with Donny miming wafting a smell away from his face, his students doing a little bit of jaw jacking before he continued, turning to a camera to address said student for a second.

"Get well soon Barney, I'm sure you'll be able to walk straight again some day" before turning back to Bison "And third, you mentioned a number of celebrations you've attended, which was the opening of a club, someone else's big victory and... you're own retirement" Donny trailed off, giving the massive Bison a sad look "So not much of your own massive wins there. Me on the other hand, I've won rumbles, I've won gold, I have main evented in some of the largest arenas, in front of the biggest audiences and came out on top. So whilst you struggle and strain to add one more millimetre to your biceps, just one more gain and then, surely, you'll hit it big, at your age, I was adding accolades, I was gaining respect and now I am the past, brought present, training the future"

Jabbing a finger in Bison's direction and back at himself, Donny had been slowly building up fire as he spoke and the noise from the crowd had been also been slowly building to the point that Donny had been shouting into the mic just to be heard, and when he finally finished, the crowd had erupted into a cacophony of noise. He was fired up, looked ready for a fight but inside, he had a responsibility. There was a right way to do this, and a wrong way, and those veteran instincts were telling Donny to pour water on this fire, for now at least, this fight would come, all in good time, but it wasn't now.

"I am a lot of things. Champion, winner, success, but right now, I'm simply going to be what I've been for the past few years, a teacher. There's a lesson to be learned here so listen up boys and girls" he said, glancing at the younger wrestlers to make sure they were listening "There will always be assholes that want to bait you into a fight they want. The trick is to make it a fight you want. That fight isn't here, its not now, but it's soon, and when it is, I'll be ready to a point that your size won't matter, you're not the first giant I've faced, and you won't be the last and in time, I'll know exactly how to topple you, just like the others before you, so keep drinking your fruity laxatives and I'll come fetch you when I want"

With that, Donny beckoned his team to follow him out of the ring, one by one, they stepped through the ropes and onto the floor whilst Donny supervised from the ring apron. All but one of the students, the blonde man whose moment had been snatched from him by the afore mentioned seven foot a*****e. He had been rooted, staring at the big man until finally snatching the microphone from Donny's hand once the rest of them were out of the ring and squaring up to Bison.

"Nah, screw that, my name is Liam Truss and I'm ready now! Bison, I challenge you to a match right this second. No one disrespects my teach like that, or me! I'm going to humble you in front of all these people and mark my first match with the shock of the century"

At 6'3 and 260 pounds, the kid was certainly no lightweight, but Donny knew all to well just how big of a mistake he was making. He was trying to shout at the kid, talk some sense into him, but the fired up kid had the crowd screaming in response to his own fiery stupidity. Just as Donny had always known. They wanted things now, no matter how bad the result was going to be.

Someone in the back was either angry to see Donny back or a big Bison fan, because by the time Bison was tossing his mic aside, a ref was already half way to the ring. Young Liam was backing up to his corner, bouncing on the balls of his feet and shadow boxing, getting himself fired up for his big match.

Annoyed as Donny was, he wasn't so far gone as to be pissed at the kid. Moving to the corner now as well just as the ref had slid in and was asking both competitors if they were ready, Donny was trying to fire off as much advice as he could to the rookie in a short amount of time.

"He's bigger and stronger, so use speed to avoid. Hit hard at the openings and be ready to dodge at all times, no matter what. Be dirty if you need to, just-"

Donny couldn't finish, the ref was telling him to get down, which he did, pressing his hands into the apron's matt. For all his training and all the advice Donny had shared the past couple years, it may as well have been farts in the wind as, determined to prove just how strong he could be, Liam charged at Bison the second the bell rang, going for a clubbing clothesline, Donny's shouts of fustration from the side lines being lost in the roar of the crowd.

Screams of encouragement quickly turned to screams of horror, then silence as Liam charged right into the boot of Bison. The sickening collision of face and foot came only second to the way Liam hit the mat. The speed he had been moving at turned him over 180, bringing him down hard on his head and shoulders before flopping down hard on his back with barely a sound.

Donny was the only one of the six outside the ring to move. The others, caught up in their friends bravado, stood there, as stunned as the audience whilst Donny circled round the ring to be closer to Liam, pounding the mat to try and stir him, shouting at the youngster to move.

All Donny could do was glower up at Bison from his position outside the ring. Liam had only just started to come around when Bison drove his elbow into his chest, air escaping him like a bellow being stepped on, rolling onto his side in agony and spluttering hard as he tried to draw air into his lungs, all the while Donny was lowering himself down slightly to be in line with Liam's eyes, willing him to move, rise, fight, anything to alleviate the torture.

The long, pained groan was low, but that was only because there was no air to turn Liam's voice into a scream. It was starting to get uncomfortable to watch to a point that the referee was starting to question Liam on if he wanted to continue, but again, the lack of oxygen filling his lungs made it impossible to answer.

Donny was pacing now. he knew shouting at Bison would do nothing to help Liam, so instead he was pressuring the ref to step in and end this, though by the word of the rules, nothing could be done yet.

Air goes in. The pressure lifted from Liam's chest, and his oxygen deprived lungs inflated as he desperately sucked in air. The cold stung his insides, like breaking the surface of the water after drowning for so long.

Air goes out. Being yanked to his feet took a second and it took one more second to collapse those lungs once more. He didn't collapse. Instead the force had him staggering back towards the corner, the centre of his torso turning red, that old familiar sting. As hard as Bison had hit him though, there had been a time he had been hit harder. He remembered Donny, giving each of the trainees a chop, just one, so that they could feel just how effective it could be, and for all Bison's muscle, for as much as it burnt up his skin, Donny's chop had hit him with such force and torque that, for a second, he thought he was going to die.

So when his back hit that turnbuckle, he bounced out of the corner, took that fast step, and for the first time that night, took one of his teachers lessons and applied it. Firing out of the corner, he aimed to deliver a chop of his own. Clean, sharp and precise, he put everything he had into it. All the while, Donny roared from ringside, one, large rebellious scream escaping Liam at the same time.

His hand stung from the chop, and the giant hadn't even taken a half step back. Goading him now, Liam took his own step back and glanced down at Mantra. From where he stood, Donny could see just how wiped Liam was. Nothing was more energy sapping than the air being kept out of you for so long. He didn't want Liam to have to go on much longer, but he was never one to throw in the towel either, and neither were these kids. So instead of telling him to get out of there, he simply nodded at Liam. No words, just stared at him hard enough to let him know it had to be his best.

Another step back, then another. Liam hit the ropes and came off them with authority. Both hands clasped together, he spun on his heel, came in low then swung the club straight up, ignoring the tiredness and pain just long enough to deliver a vicious spinning hammer blow to the underside of Bison's jaw.