Author's Note: Before we begin, what do you think of the picture above? This is more-or-less going to be either his casual gear (or at least what he mostly wears when he public) and/or his gear for special events when he wants to wear it - also, you might notice that Damon Archangel/Jason Shadow has only got face-paint over his eyes here. 

He still wears paint in public - as he does with some of his gear, because it's impossible to tell the difference for most people (especially Damon) between "The Soulless Dooms-Day" Damon Archangel and the guy behind the paint, Jason Shadow. There will be reasons explained over time in the story, but otherwise feel free to make your own theories up if you'd like to...within reason...Anyway! Back to the story!

It had been a couple of days since 'The Soulless Dooms-Day' had beaten Shingo Takagi to win the NEVER Openweight Championship, and currently he was sitting in a hotel room in Tokyo, with some face-paint on over his eyes and a different coloured mask and clothing on. It still fit his regular gear, but was more for casual use.

He had regular clothes and one or two smart suits, but he rarely liked wearing them unless he really needed to or he was with his family - and even then it was rare.

He was currently leaning against the window of his hotel room, and slowly glancing between both his phone on a desk, and outside of the window to the streets below. 

He didn't often use his phone unless he needed to - and even then it was only to check any missed calls he had or texts he had, or checking the time. He didn't like using social media for any reason, and the only real reason he had it was because it was to keep in contact with friends or family. Nothing else.

He didn't even use a camera phone to take pictures - just a camera. It was a habit that he picked up from his parents, even despite the fact that Jason was now the only member of his family who was - as some people would put it - 'behind with the times'...not that he particularly cared too much. 

His phone soon went off, and he glanced over before walking over and picking it up. He saw that he got a message from Bayley, who had sent a text saying 'Saw your title match the other day. It was amazing! Are you still in Japan now?'

The question rather perplexed Damon a bit as he glanced at the text, but slowly he sat on his bed and texted back in his usual style. 

'Thanks. And yes, I'm still in Japan. Why?'

It may have seemed rather cold, harsh and vague at times, but that it similar to how he normally spoke - and it was something that Bayley, Alexa and anyone he did know had become used to. Still, he had not been expecting the answer he got in response.

'Great! We're doing some shows in Japan over the next few days, and me and Lexi were wondering if you wanted to meet up somewhere?' 

Needless to say Archangel had not been expecting that, but he allowed himself a brief smirk at the reply he had gotten. He soon responded back. 'Sure. I know a place to meet up. Or I can pick you both up if you want.'

'No thanks. We'll ask Kana (Asuka) or Kaori (Kairi Sane) for directions.' he quickly got a response, and he nods to that, even though he knew she couldn't see him unless spy equipment was installed text messages...wait, that's not possible is it...? You never know with tech nowadays.....

Archangel recognised the names, since he had met them on a few occasions in Japan before they had gone to NXT. He may not be the most social of people, but he was more than likely to spend time with those he respected and was fans of - and vice-versa - if asked. 

And on a few occasions he would hang out with Kana and Kaori alongside a few others whenever he was in Japan doing a show.

He had been considering moving into Japan on a more permanent basis, as he really enjoyed working in Japan and had plans on remaining with New Japan and DDT Pro-Wrestling for a while longer if he could. He still wanted to work in Ring of Honor, and maybe other promotions, but not so much on a full-time basis.

But anyway, he soon texted back to Bayley. 'Okay. I'll be in the town for a while, or in the streets around the area until then. Let me know when you are nearby.'

After everything was all set up with everything, Archangel got up and went out to sort some things. It surprisingly didn't take as long as he thought it would to get a response from either Bayley or Alexa as he strolled along Japan, looking in the occasional comic shop or he would glance briefly at other shops that had foods and such that he'd never even had before - in Japan or anywhere else.

When he did get the response, he decided to head straight to the place they were meeting at. He didn't have to wait too long for Bayley and Alexa to arrive when he did get there...not that he had gotten bored or anything whilst waiting - fans of "The Soulless Dooms-Day" appeared when he arrived, and they were asking for pictures and autographs from him.

Although he wasn't a big fan of groups of fans, given that he was pretty much the definition of a social loner most of the times - be it in or out of the ring - he still did sign some stuff and let fans take pictures, all whilst maintaining his ever-present serious and silent demeanour and having his NEVER Openweight title over his left shoulder.

When Bayley and Alexa did arrive, they saw this little fan photograph and autograph session outside of the restaurant they were meeting at, and both were a little surprised that he was doing this. But they were even more surprised when they noticed how his free hand would hover away from the side of anyone he was taking a picture of, doing so in a respectful manner, regardless if they were male or female.

Eventually the crowd died down, and Archangel glanced over - seeing the former "Huggable One" turned whatever nickname she has right now and "Five Feet of Fury" almost immediately, though whether or not he'd already spotted them beforehand was something that Bayley and Alexa pondered on - and he soon placed his bag before waving them over. 

When they came over, they both ended up hugging Archangel - not caring that on this occasion if someone took a picture considering Damon was their friend. Though Damion himself was still taken aback by that, and yet still kept his hands to the side in a respectful manner, even if he'd yet to say a word.

"It's good to see you again Damon!" Alexa soon said as the two WWE superstars parted from their hug with the Hardcore wrestler. 

"Good to see you both too..." Damon soon said in response, soon extending his hand towards the restaurant as they soon entered. Some of the people seemed to recognise the wrestlers as they came in - both customers and staff alike - and they even asked for pictures or autographs as well. 

Archangel was thinking of saying 'no' because he was hungry, but immediately went against that thought and agreed to it anyway alongside Bliss and Bayley - Damon fishing out his NEVER Openweight Championship once again afterwards to make the moment even more special. 

Eventually they did get some seats and ordered, and Bayley soon asked first as they got comfortable "So, how've you been since we last saw you."

Damon simply smirked a bit under his mask, pointing a bit to his title and saying simply "Not bad. You two have been busy too, I noticed." They both chuckle at that quite obvious attempt at diverting attention from his own success to theirs.

"True. By the way, congrats on winning the NEVER Openweight title not long ago." Alexa said as she has a look at the shiny-shiny of his (couldn't resist putting that down *chuckles*). Damon simply nodded a bit, glancing at the title a bit. 

"It wasn't easy. Shingo Takagi is a tough son-of-a-bitch...but I managed it, barely. And now...I hold a title that is definitely more to my hard-hitting style." He felt like he'd been doing an interview there, even though he'd only really been talking with people he'd considered, in recent months, as friends.

Both Bayley and Alexa nodded to that, with Alexa asking as she indicated to the lack of face-paint on, compared to when the three of them last saw one-another, and asked "How come you've only got your eyes and ears painted today?"

Damon glanced over at "Five Feet of Fury" at that, before responding after a bit of thought that involved him taping his a couple of his tattooed and painted fingers as he both thought about his answer and used it for his answer. "I occasionally choose to go out in matches without most of the paint on...but I keep this on instead. I look stupid otherwise."

Both Alexa and Bayley doubted that, but didn't have a chance to ask as their food and drinks soon arrived. 

When it did arrive - Damon himself trying something out that he hadn't before - 'The Soulless Dooms-Day' glanced around briefly to make sure that nobody was looking as he moved his hands to his mask. 

He was fortunate enough that he was sitting with his back to people - mostly to save himself some embarrassment when he removes his mask, in his opinion - before slowly removing his lower jaw mask so he could have what he ordered.

When he did remove it, Alexa and Bayley were rather surprised to see what he looked like without most of his face-paint on, and with his mask off. 

Jason noticed this, and slowly rolled his eyes a bit as he said, with a tone that says 'Not really an issue here', "Now you know why I wear the mask and paint most of the time...I look awful when I don't have them on, or when I'm not in my gear..."

He then thought of something and then briefly chuckled for a few seconds as he said aloud so only they could hear him "On the flip side...also helps when I don't want to be recognised."

What he didn't really know was that Alexa and Bayley didn't think he looked too bad, even without most of his paint on and without the mask - even if they did sort of understand why he wore both now. Both got his look over, instead of making him look average. 

"You look nice, even without the paint and mask." Bayley complicated, which caused Archangel to raise his eyebrow to that, not believing that for a second - something that both "The Goddess" and "The Role Model" seemed to pick up on.

"She's right, Damon, you do. You're fine just the way you are." Despite the compliments from Alexa and Bayley, Damon still didn't agree with them. But, not wanting to seem ungrateful, he nodded a little nervously in a 'thank you' manner. 

And then, Archangel and the two Women's Champions got a surprise from someone that 'The Soulless Dooms-Day' knew all too well, when he was met by someone ruffling his hair a bit and doing a half-serious side-headlock....which he didn't sell, because of the obvious.

"Well, well, well! What do we have here then boy? 'The Soulless Dooms-Day' on a date without his buddy? I'm almost hurt!" 

Bayley and Alexa were a little surprised by who was there, and Damion allowed himself a brief smirk on his face. "Humorous as always, Jay..." Before he elbowed his 'attacker', "The Switchblade" Jay White, who merely laughed it off before pulling up a chair next to him with a beer bottle in hand.

"Ah, come on! Just having a bit of fun with ya mate. See you're with friends though." 'The Switchblade' said with a teasing smirk. 'The Soulless Dooms-Day' soon introduced the three to each other.

"'Switchblade' Jay White, meet Alexa Bliss and Bayley. Alexa Bliss and Bayley, meet 'Switchblade' Jay White...And Jay? No inter-promotional hate..." Despite the intimidating tone from 'The Soulless Dooms-Day', 'The Switchblade' simply shrugged a bit at that before holding his hand out to the two Women's Champions - which they shook in return.

"We didn't realise that Damion was friends with Bullet Club." Bayley said in what was genuine surprise, but Jay chuckled a bit before giving Damion a hard slap on the back. 

"Me and Damion go waaay back to my Ring of Honor days. Though I still can't seem to convince this little shit to join Bullet Club." Jay responded with a bit a humor to his tone. Damion simply rolled his eyes a bit before responded. "He's just worried I'll go and join Tetsuya Naito's LIJ stable, or Minoru Suzuki's "Suzuki-gun" stable. He knows I'm way too unstable for CHAOS."

Jay feigned ignorance with a glance around the room, but Bayley and Alexa found the almost brotherly vibe from each other taking the mickey out of one-another to be almost weirdly reassuring. Or at least in terms of that they now knew Damion had people he spoke to outside of them.

Alexa soon asked "Hey, Mr. Jay? Do you have a clue why Archangel is how he is? Or why his badass gimmick is the way it is?" The other 3 at the table seemed to pick up the unintended reference "Little Miss Bliss" had called "The Switchblade", and tried not to laugh at it. Jason rolled his eyes a bit, but decided not to tell her. 

Jay shook his head a bit as he took another sip of his drink. "Nope. Sorry. All I can tell ya about his deranged style is that this little shit here keeps his secret close to his chest. He's more hard to figure out than a spy." 

Damon smirked a little at that description, but before he could get a chance to respond to that, or see if Alexa or Bayley responded to Jay's answer, Damon got a call from his phone and excused himself to answer it. He returned a few minutes later with a surprised yet confused look on his face. 

"Who was it?" Alexa asked first as 'The Soulless Dooms-Day' took his seat again. The answer he gave was a little surprising to Jay, though probably a lot more surprising to 'The Role Model' and 'The Goddess'.

"It was...Chris Jericho. He wanted to speak to me about something. Possibly wants to ask me if I'll join his little promotion, AEW." 

Jay rolled his eyes a bit, soon saying as he stood up and patted Archangel's shoulder. "Well, hope ya get a good deal if it's the case. Otherwise, I'll see ya at the next show." 'The Switchblade's' nonchalant attitude to the news slightly amused 'The Soulless Dooms-Day', and he punched him in the shoulder a bit a bit as a joke.

"I don't plan on leaving New Japan if I do get a job there...I'm not someone who settles for one promotion to stick around at." "Not even if WWE asked you to work for them?" Bayley was the one to ask that question, and Damon simply shrugged his shoulders before responding "Never had an interest in working there. Too...restricting. Need my options to go anywhere."

That was something that all of them could agree on. 

Eventually, Jay went off on his own way to do whatever business he had for the day, and not too long soon after the trio of 'The Soulless Dooms-Day', 'The Role Model' and 'The Goddess' left as well and went on a walk about through some of the busy streets of the city they were in - with Bayley and Alexa enjoying the sights and taking pictures for their Instagram as they did so, whilst Damon stayed out of the way of those and merely admired the scenery. 

The trio did eventually head off on their own separate paths to their respective hotel rooms or the gym after a while - Damon himself heading off to speak with Jericho on the phone at his hotel room - but Alexa and Bayley both gave Archangel a friendly hug and thanked him for what was, in their words, an amazing day before they did part ways...something that really made Jason feel strange at knowing...

As Jason entered approached his room however, he noticed something immediately out of place...his hotel room door was wide open, and what looked like the hotels cleaning staff trolley-thing (whatever those things are called) was outside the door as well. Damion raised and an eyebrow to that, and began to take something out from his boot as he began to slowly walk in without making a sound or speaking a word. 

And what was the thing he pulled out from his boot, you might be wondering? It was, quite simply...a knife!

When he got through the doorway, he noticed someone with a gun in hand and dressed in whatever the male hotel room cleaners dress in going through his room looking for something - Damon's things completely untouched, surprisingly, for the time being. 

When he saw this, he immediately threw the knife in his hand at the person - which hit him hard in the hand handle first and causes the gun to be knocked out of the persons hand, because believe-it-or-not he didn't want to get convicted with a crime with the knife - and causing his room invader to lose focus, before Damon came in and took down the invader with a choking-like version of The Dragon Sleeper submission, only locked in more harshly than you'd probably see in a wrestling match - causing his unwelcome guest to pass out within a minute or two despite his struggling!

When he was sure that the invader was out cold - which he checked by smashing his elbow into the guys face to check for a reaction...after making sure he was still breathing of course - he dropped him to the floor and got up, putting the knife away before calling the front desk about a 'little problem'.

He made sure that he took his mask off when the authorities were brought over. Though the hotel staff were rather surprised by the nonchalant-ness from Damion after the break-in experience...well, it was either that or the fact that he gave them money for - in his words - compensation for the damage to the room. 

He was given a spare room, and when he got into it he simply dumped his stuff down and looked through the window - glancing out to the scenery as he reflected on the days events. 

He'd reunited with Pamela and Alexis (Bayley and Alexa), had lunch and a day out with them, introduced them to "The Switchblade" Jay White, gotten a call from Chris Jericho - even though he still had to talk back to him later as well - and put a stop to someone potentially stealing his stuff from his now old room.

That last one definitely was unexpected...and yet, he smirked at that as well. A little chaos to a pretty interesting day? He couldn't ask for anything more exciting! 

If only he knew what would happen when he defended his NEVER Openweight Championship for the first time...then, he might be more eager about what was to come.....

Author's Note: I'm sorry if this isn't the best of chapters, but it was rather tricky to come up with much for this chapter, and pretty much most of my brain power before I could finish this went to the chapter after this, which - depending on when you read this - will be posted on the same night/day that this one is posted.

Still, despite that, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as you could, and you enjoy the next chapter. Which I hope will surprise you and draw you into it, especially in its end. 

Also, I know I didn't have the conversation between Damion and Jericho, but the reason for that is because I want to keep the extent of that a secret for a little while longer, and because I couldn't think how to word it right in the story. 

Anyway, I hope you all stay safe, and I hope you all have an amazing day!