Post by BrainScratch on Jun 25, 2019 9:34:31 GMT -5
(I've always wanted to make that pun. RIP Avicii)
- BULLS ON PARADE -
After making short work of his match at Anarchy 49, one might expect Isaiah Zepp to celebrate. Perhaps he could enjoy a night in one of the beautiful cities of Spain, a sample of the local cuisine, or just a relaxing stay in his hotel. Instead, after an intense workout, our dual Legacy/Anarchy Champion finds himself among people covered in fake blood. With Pamplona's Running Of The Bulls set to take place in early July, hundreds of Spain's men and women have gathered in the streets carrying buckets that read "Un Bagno Di Sangue Per I Tori", meaning "Bloodbath for bulls".
While Isaiah is clad in his usual black sweatshirt, many of the protesters are topless and wearing plastic horns. Isaiah marvels at the absurdity, but also revels in the passion of their movement against animal cruelty. A regularly-dressed man bumps into him from the blindside, and the two apologize.
Isaiah tries to introduce himself. "Uh... me llamo Zepp. Que tal?"
"Ah no worries my friend, I speak some English. I am Erizo, I recognize you! You were a hero for your people, and a wrestling star. We are glad to see you here. Come, come! You should be on the stage!"
Erizo guides Isaiah to the front of scene, and he delivers a quick message of his support that Erizo translates. He's handed a bucket, and after a moment of hesitation, he splatters his hoodie with the fake blood and raises his fist in solidarity, also raising the morale of the protesters immensely.
In the distance of the gathering, a well-dressed man angrily puffs a cigarette and crushes it into the ground before speeding away in a sports car.
- POOL SHARKED -
Isaiah invites Erizo for his trip to Ibiza, mostly as a means to be an interpreter and help him find places to exercise and eat before RSW Pandemonium. Most importantly, Erizo's goal was to find a decent billiard table. With a snap and a click – two sounds common to hear around Isaiah lately – he assembles his pool cue and the two wait by the side in a Spanish bar called Paraíso Perdido. Suddenly, a man strolls into the establishment puffing a cigarette, dressed elegantly in a custom white suit and a matching silk cape. He's followed by a pair of shady looking characters, who move ahead and yell orders to the other patrons. Many leave immediately, and one nudges their friends and yells "Rolando!" Soon the bar is empty, save for the bartender, these three men, and Zepp and Erizo.
"Quite an entrance. Who is this guy?" Isaiah asks Erizo.
"Mal. How you say, bad news... That is what he is."
"Gentlemen! I have been hoping to speak to you, one such as great as Senor Isaiah Zepp... My name is Rolando. Rolando Secada."
Secada offers his hand like royalty would. Erizo nervously accepts it. Zepp notices all the rings on his fingers before gruffly shaking the hand.
"Mr. Zepp, I fancy myself a sportsman like yourself, we are actually quite similar!"
"I hear that once a week... So what's your game?"
"Ah, to the point. I like that. I was hoping for a match at the table." Rolando snaps his fingers. One of acquaintances quickly fetches him an expensive and pristine cue. The other grabs a regular stick from a rack on the wall. "Dos a dos, we verses the two of you? Sound good?"
Erizo seems sheepish, "I don't really play all that well!"
Zepp reads the room for a second, feeling a premonition, but he consoles Erizo with a pat on the back and a wry smile. "You won't have to. What are we playing for?"
Rolando laughs heartily. "Nothing serious, my friend! The loser buys the drinks, you see?"
Isaiah still feels wary by his presence, but they agree and proceed with a close matchup. With only the eight ball remaining, Rolando's backup misses a bank shot and Isaiah quickly pockets it for the win. Secada seems disappointed, but smiles in his defeat and gestures his other helper to acquire a tray of champagne glasses containing bubbly liquid. One seems to have a smudge on the side of the glass.
"Congratulations my friend. Now please, enjoy the finest cava this country has to offer."
"I'm afraid I don't partake."
Rolando finds this odd, but comes up with an alternative. "Perhaps a... soft drink then?"
Trying to be helpful, Erizo quickly blurts out. "Maybe a mare rosso?"
Secada quickly waves his finger behind the bar again as his subordinate acts quickly. Isaiah eyes the fizzing drink suspiciously, before taking a deliberate sip. He recoils at the taste.
"Haha, yes, the mare rosso can be bitter." Isaiah's initial repulsion is followed by a further feeling of uneasiness. Erizo tries to check on him, but Zepp suddenly loses his balance and falls to the floor. Rolando continues to cackle. "Very, very bitter indeed..." Even if Zepp did not live straight edge, the concoction of sedatives added to his drink would still have knocked him out quickly.
Erizo screams at Rolando in Spanish, asking him why. The last thing Zepp sees before slipping into unconsciousness is Secada nonchalantly throwing Erizo a clip of money, and his goons throw Erizo out of the bar.
- THE BULL FIGHTER INFERNO -
Isaiah awakens to the sound of a small crowd roaring. As his eyes flutter open, he realizes his arms are tied above him to a large pillar of wood. He surveys the onlookers, who appear like rich aristocrats, although the venue is dark and dingy. Across the dirt arena stands Rolando Secada, now wearing a green ensemble and a bullfighting cap. He points a rapier toward Zepp.
"Ahh, my friend, you should learn to hold your drink, hah! And you should learn your place when visiting a country... I have seen the things that happen in other nations when you open your big mouth. You seek to ruin our history! Our traditions! If they stop the Running Of The Bulls, soon they will cease our very way of life! La Vida De Matador!"
Isaiah hears the snorting of a beast behind a wooden gate. Rolando continues his diatribe. "It is not the slaughter of animals that we represent, no no. This about majesty! Pageantry! Is that not what you say about your sport!? And yet your people have murdered human beings in your rings in more gruesome ways than we sacrifice these primal beasts. We send them to the gods for a higher purpose! You merely fight like dogs! And now... you will die like one."
As the gate flies open, Isaiah realizes he's been draped in a bright red cape. A humongous bull stomps into the arena and is struck by a whip from Rolando. The beast lunges, but Secada easily dodges and repositions so that the bull is staring directly at Isaiah. He cracks the whip and the bull goes into a fury. Panicked, Zepp lifts his legs above his head as the bull careens into the wooden support beam, getting its head stuck. Isaiah is able to sit on the back of the bull and undoes the knots, and he flips from the bull as it bucks, luckily landing on his feet.
Rolando is impressed, but he readies his blade. "Your time is up." He swings upward, but Isaiah rolls under it and steals the whip. Rolando swings again, but Isaiah wraps up his sword with the whip and he smothers Secada with the red cape.
Isaiah mutters to him lowly. "There is no time." The bull frees itself, and aims for the colorful red cape, gashing Rolando in the shoulder. As he cries in pain, Isaiah darts for the wooden gate and slaps it. The bull charges headlong, and Zepp is able to secure the angry beast a it rams into the gate unsuccessfully. Isaiah raises a hand to it's head, and manages a very short pet that doesn't decrease the anger, but at least elicits a defeated snort.
Rolando whines from the ground, "Kill him! Someone kill him!"
As the aristocrats clamor disgustedly, Rolando's goons begin to surround Isaiah. However, another ruckus emerges from the entrance, as protesters wearing bullhorns and fake blood pour into the makeshift coliseum. Erizo charges into the fighting ring and helps Isaiah out as the protest turns into a bonfire, as they set sections of the arena on fire and brawl with the wealthy spectators. (For everyone's sake, they thankfully leave the gate and the bull alone.)
"Erizo, I thought you took his money..."
"I did. And then I gave it to them. They didn't need much convin"
"That's actually... kind of brilliant. Next time I'll pick the drinks, though."
- HEAR THE PANDEMONIUM -
An RSW camera rolls inside Ibiza's arena. Isaiah Zepp deposits his hoodie, still splattered in fake blood, into a locker as he smiles and leaves the origins of the red splotches to the imagination of the viewer. He's connected both the Legacy and Anarchy titles together and is wearing them like a long shawl over his neck.
Isaiah: "Feels good to be in a wrestling venue again... But there will be time to discuss that later. As a great philosophy text once read: I can see tomorrow! I can see the World to come! I can see tomorrow! Hear the Pandemonium! Or rather, that was a Killing Joke song, but I digress. A shot of pure Pandemonium is headed for your screens, ladies and gentlemen. I hear Joe Beb's bringing the pandas, so I'll create the moans. As we near Riot Star Wrestling's supposed reunion special, it's time to reinforce that I carry the weight of this world now."
He lifts the ends of the belts up to be level with his neck.
Isaiah: "I'm RSW's Atlas. It can go as far as I can push it. And in a world filled with Pandemonium, I'm an agent of chaos and I thrive here! Not the fakers, not the whiners, not the complainers who force themselves into the spotlight. The light shines on me because it seeks me out. I was chosen by the light, chosen by the fans, chosen to change it all. And it chose me to do it on the biggest stage imaginable with the most EYES to see it. But it's up to the world to change with me. As I'm locked into another crash course against Senor Vinnie, I ask... who will change?"
Isaiah: "Vincenzo, vincenzo, vincenzo... You are a great man. Perhaps you are many great men in that tilted brain of yours. Let's reiterate the facts, you defeated Lex Collins, and that was a rare feat here. You struggled against Andi while I summarily disposed of the trash, but who's to say your match hasn't kept you hungrier? I'm expecting the fight of a lifetime, my friend, and I sincerely hope for it. Because that's what RSW needs."
Isaiah: "The past of this place is gnawing faster, Vinnie. They're coming. Do you understand? The names might only be names to you, but to me they are harsh reminders of what's gone wrong in our past. So I WANT you to be better than I am. Because that's what could keep them at bay. Can't just me little ol' me. So bring your ALL again, you will need it."
At that point, Isaiah's cellphone rings. The voice of his sister blares out of the speaker.
"Isaiah Zepp what the hell is this on the news about a fire and bulls!? You said you were just playing pool again!"
Isaiah: "I suppose I should take this... Off you go."
Zepp brushes the cameraman back and we fade out.
