Post by The Nihilists on Oct 1, 2019 11:57:41 GMT -5
~The network feed shifts to static and then cuts in on AWF star and tag team specialist Esmur. He is walking out of a building and looks none too pleased. He has bandages on his head and is visibly wincing holding his back with every step.~
~He points upward and the camera zooms out and shifts up to a hospital. It seems he has just been discharged. He begins to walk as the camera refocuses on Esmur and follows.~
~He stops and looks around at the serene city street. People are bustling about and he seems to enjoy a bit of anonymity without his mask or his partner. He looks down and balls up a fist then puts it in front of his face~
~He looks around and begins walking again. He seems to be leading to a small well-kept garden on a house to the side of the road. In the garden there are flowers. He gestures to the whole garden~
~He reaches down and picks up a rose and begins walking.~
~He approaches a garden that is mostly roses. A rose garden you might say.~
~He crushes the flower in his hand and lets the petals fall to the wayside. He shrugs and keeps walking down the city block and turns a corner to face the sun. He basks in its light.~
~He turns to face the camera again.~
~He turns his back to the camera and walks away~
~We fade back to the regular programming~
”Well that didn’t go according to plan. The idea was a valiant return to the federation I call home and a chance to showcase the skills that made me so dangerous those months ago. The result was getting crushed onto my head a few times by a madman who has long since passed the bounds of sanity in an effort to exact revenge on me for beating him with my partner almost a year ago. Still Fired Up was not a failure. My submission skills were on display as was the will that made me a beast in the ring. And I must say, I quite enjoyed my time with Chris Card. The things the man can tell you about the finer points of technical wrestling was … enlightening. Still … the ending saw both of us stuck … here.”
~He points upward and the camera zooms out and shifts up to a hospital. It seems he has just been discharged. He begins to walk as the camera refocuses on Esmur and follows.~
”And now we get to the topic on everyone’s minds. End of Days. Where does Esmur get off entering ANOTHER tournament without the aid of his partner? If that is the question you all missed the answer at Fired Up. Gebin and I are out to prove that we are the two most effective superstars and that together we are unbeatable. To do that we also need to be unbeatable on our own. For our new … purpose … we need to show you all the evolution of the team. But that is a topic for a day that will come sooner rather than later, but not today. The topic for today is the tournament to win a briefcase for a guaranteed title shot in our own fed or in a global X*Crown event. A briefcase that says whoever is on top needs to watch their back for this guy. This guy is money. This guy can call his shot and take you for a ride in the darkness.”
~He stops and looks around at the serene city street. People are bustling about and he seems to enjoy a bit of anonymity without his mask or his partner. He looks down and balls up a fist then puts it in front of his face~
”So AWF will be represented in this tournament by two people who showed incredible promise at Fired Up but fell short. One man who fought a titan and a psychopath backed by cults and the other … who fought his own partner, and his own ego … instead of one of the most dominant stars in AWF and the hottest up and comer around. And he threw his entire run away … with the swing of one fist. It is frankly that type of arrogance that held us back for so long. And that stopped our show of dominance those months ago. It’s something we learned from. It is a fool’s errand to try and make an impact in ways that are guaranteed to be self-destructive. By using a foreign weapon to remove your partner … Rocco Rose … you insured that you would never see victory. That is the thing with tag team wrestling. It takes a good wrestler to win a match, it takes a smart wrestler and a good strategy to win a tag team match. And it seems you are not one for smarts and strategy. Show your true colors and your lack of self-confidence and in the same moment show you know exactly the fastest way to fall from the precipice and land in the muck.”
~He looks around and begins walking again. He seems to be leading to a small well-kept garden on a house to the side of the road. In the garden there are flowers. He gestures to the whole garden~
”You see, a well-tended garden tends to flourish because all the plants are carefully picked, arranged, pruned, and cared for. No one dominates. There is a rosy outlook for this garden. And yet … there are some that try to overwhelm everything. A stray vine, a poison ivy, a parasite … anything can tip the balance. And while a dominating force stealing nutrients from the others and crushing those in its way can be devastating … it is easily rectified by removing the cancer. For even if the weeds are … Legion … they can be shorn away. But a nuisance is much harder to remove when it commands the attention and directs the story around it.”
~He reaches down and picks up a rose and begins walking.~
”A rose by any other name would smell as sweet … and yet we get stuck with the thorns. Rocco … you are the worst type of garden nuisance. One that changes everything to benefit itself by commanding attention.”
~He approaches a garden that is mostly roses. A rose garden you might say.~
”Beautiful, striking, fragrant … and … a little boring and one-note if you ask me. You see Rocco when someone decides to forcibly claim the attention and sway public opinion unjustly … you get monotony. And I have to say that is what I am hearing from you. You are like this rose. You dominate the conversation, the people all talk about you, compare others to you, see you up front and center. Beautiful on the outside but dangerous on the inside … and with a few nasty thorns. But like all flowers you need the light, you need the attention of others to thrive. Because if you upset the rose for even a minute …”
~He crushes the flower in his hand and lets the petals fall to the wayside. He shrugs and keeps walking down the city block and turns a corner to face the sun. He basks in its light.~
”And yet I was similar to you but in a different way. We didn’t want the fame, the fortune, the adulation. We wanted attention to spread a message. We wanted to harness the spotlight to darken it. To try and bring everyone to even footing. To try and get a message across to improve everyone. But in darkness as in light there are pitfalls. And now I am here to walk a new path and accomplish the original intent of our mission before we were blinded. Make no mistake Rocco, this is only an exhibition … to show that what you did on Sunday and what I will do this upcoming Sunday is not a fluke, but a sign of the potential in this garden we call AWF.”
~He turns to face the camera again.~
”The outlook for end of days is indeed rosy. Rosy for you, rosy for me. AWF is well represented and I have no doubt that we will meet again in earnest in the finals. But that is where the pink glasses come off. Because where you once found me huddled in darkness you will now find me blazing in the light. At Prestige XL … you will sample a taste of the light … and wither like the temperamental flower you are. Because I have renewed vigor and a new purpose. And starting now … starting with you … and Duke Kosloff … justice has a new face. Judgment must come for all and only those who can step out of the darkness and take life into the light will survive. The question is simply … does the rose weather the storm that is my untethered offense. Or does it wither and die?”
~He turns his back to the camera and walks away~
”Rest assured this is only a warm up. But I cannot show any mercy or deviation. If a match is put before me … I will enact justice on my opponents. And in the end … WE will excise the cancer from AWF … and then the XHF. We will be the ones to free you all … and let loose the sun. And you may not be the only example on Prestige.”
~We fade back to the regular programming~