It was then that he froze, noticing something on the floor near his actual locker. It was the corner of a card that slid slightly underneath the wooden fixtures, peaking out. There wasn't explanation as to why this caught his eye, and just that thought made Hiro's stomach drop. It was almost like it was put right there, in his direct line of sight from this chair, as if someone had been in the room while he was in the ring. It didn't look like anything was taken, no -- and it certainly didn't look like stuff had actually been moved...did it? He'd left his bag over there, right? The jacket he wore coming in to the building was hung up in that exact cubbyhole...he was confident in that, he thought. There couldn't have been anything out of place, or at least Hiro was working overtime trying to convince himself of that. He walked slowly to the perfectly placed card, leaning down gingerly to pick it up. The reverberating sound of a beating heart pounded within his ears, the lump in his throat choking him as his side ached, his breathing labored, his vision darkened. If he picked this card up and found it to be a playing card, a potential sign that Blackjack had been here, Hiro would be on the next plane back to McIntosh with 18-holes booked for next Tuesday.
Now, with fingers trembling, Hiro pulled the card slowly from under the fixture. He kept his eyes closed as he didn't want to be met with an ugly reality, but realized through his fear that it seemed like the card was a bit longer than it should have been. Playing cards like your traditional ace of spades or even an uno card wasn't a length like this. His eyes opened and in his hands he found a tarot card, he could tell not just from the size but from the mystically trippy designs on the back. It was definitely more on macabre side of things, hints of black, yellow, and white with skulls and wispy lines. Hiro walked back to his seat, looking things over on the card. This wasn't the M.O. of the man locked up in the supermax prison he'd seen earlier in the night -- but Hiro also couldn't figure out just who this could belong to. Perhaps it wasn't a message left for him, but an actual tarot card left behind by someone else in the past. It wasn't his forte at all, and over the years Hiro had forgotten some of the hobbies of his fellow workers in the past, especially those who may have worked in this building one of the last times WWF:G had been there.
Hiro leaned back in his chair and dropped the card to the ground, letting out a long painful sigh. The fear Blackjack instilled in him had mitigated the pain in his body in the moment, but it all came rushing back as he decompressed on the chair. Once again, he would talk to himself -- "What the hell is wrong with me? Seriously, a god damn card is gonna scare me? What if we run Vegas coming up, what will people think of me? I've already got the family of a God to answer to, a gang of dragons has wronged me, and the Midnight Marauders are stronger than ever before. I can't be afraid of a damn casino on top of all of that, this is pathetic. Maybe I don't belong here, after all."
Hiro slumped forward with his elbows on his knees, looking down to the ground once again as he searched for an answer that he was wrong in the repeating patterns of the laminated floor. It was then that, as if fate spoke to him, he saw that same tarot card on the ground -- the side he HADN'T looked at. The card, it was the Knight of Swords, upside down. The Ethnic Enigma was intrigued, picking it back up as he tried his best to make heads or tails of what this card could mean. It was strange, but the card almost brought him a little bit of peace. He thought that perhaps in this moment seeing such a strong figure on the card would allow him to find the strength he needed to face what was coming, to enhance his will to go on. Maybe, just maybe, this situation wasn't completely out of his control, there wasn't a big boogeyman coming to get him and his conversations with the Fusions would eventually become fruitful and for the best. It didn't make a lot of sense in the moment, but with card in hand, Hiro would stand up and grab his coat...refreshed. Well, mostly anyway, except for it still feeling like someone was poking his abdomen scar with a needle. As he began to get changed, his phone would ring. Hiro walked over and swiped right to answer, throwing it on speaker phone.
"Hello Hiro, this is Sgt. Bloot with the McIntosh Sheriffs Office. We got your number from a neighbor, we wanted to let you know your house was broken into tonight. There were some things knocked over and shoved around, but a lot of high value items were left behind. The only thing we can tell for sure is missing was a championship belt you had hanging on your wall with a few others, it was on the bottom left of the wall. We're going to be cornering off the building until you're back, if you're able to get here as soon as possible it would be appreciated."
The shock set in immediately as all the good vibes washed away, fear filling Hiro's heart and anger causing his face to go hot and red. He dropped his jacket and the card and rushed over to pick up the phone and take it off speaker, putting it his ear. He thanked the officer with fury behind his words and let him know he'd be back on the first flight out. He hung the phone up and tossed it towards his bag. "You have got to be kidding me...that has got to be the BBW TV Championship that was taken. I was the last champion to hold that belt, that is THE belt, Shanahan allowed me to hold on to it and THIS happens? How am I going to explain THIS now!? Dammit, what the ******** dude."
Hiro shoved the chair over to the ground and let out a visceral growl as he grabbed his jacket off the floor and quickly put it on, leaving in his gear as he stomped out the door with his belongings. The card remained on the ground, once again showing just the back, but now visibly damaged.