Deadline is Tuesday, September 17th, 11:59 PM EST
No extensions will be given this round.
Deadline is Tuesday, September 17th, 11:59 PM EST
No extensions will be given this round.
Moody blues fill the scene; a bedroom, devoid of furnishings, sans a simple Vienna wardrobe and table set, a singular chair and a cradle, all plain and white. In the chair sits a man, a babe in arms, covered in thick woolen cloth. The man rocks back and forth with this recent birth and mumbles gently. The man in question? Steven Holmes, â??The Eliteâ?, the number one ranked contender for the Worldâ??s Heavyweight Championship. This man, this warrior, this fierce competitor however is at his most vulnerable here.
He hoists this child up and they look at him, tired bemusement on their face as he smiles earnestly. He brings it closer, kisses it on the forehead. He rises from this scene of presumed fatherhood and places the child in the cradle. She does not seem tired. Why does he insist on putting her to bed? Holmes himself wonders, before realising the colour in the room has changedâ?¦ drastically so! It is crimson, the walls are melting. The once pure and clean furniture is black, charcoaled, burnt. He panics, looking left and right. He looks in the cradle. There is no child.
Sweat now forming, he panics, searching right, then left. He screams the childâ??s name, but no sound comes out. He clutches at his throat, now filled with burning. Dropping to his knees, he is deprived of air. As he looks up he sees it, the Worldâ??s Heavy weight Championship in the possession of one Xander, the current, reigning and defending champion, and his arm? The child. Holmesâ?? eyes feel at a point of bursting, blood vessels popping. He screams valiantly, but to no avail at all. Slowly the champion turns, baby in hand and almost in slow motion, he walks out and into the fire, unharmed by the flames.
Holmesâ?? eyes grow heavier and heavier and heavier whenâ?¦
SNAP!
A panting Holmes sits upright in his bed. Sweat drips from his panicked brow onto no doubt extortionately priced sheets.
He looks right.He looks left.
There finds tranquillity and peace. There he finds Celeste Crimson. With his gaze firmly fixed upon her, Holmes finds her body lain, relaxed, at peace. Holmes smiles, softly, genuinely. He too finds the storm raging inside the pit of his gut easing. Her hair has fallen over her cheek, and thus when Holmes shifts himself over to her, he brushes the hair back, before planting a peck of a kiss on his wifeâ??s cheek. She groans, unwaking, adjusting herself lazily before returning to peace.
Holmes though is affixed. He sees a photo, framed and on their bedside table â?? the child, young, pure, innocent, and now gone. Sadness rips into Holmes, his face dropping as he slowly backs away and lays back down, to the loneliness and solitude of the midnight hoursâ?¦
_______________________
Day now.
Holmes sits on an old wooden bench in a well manicured garden. He is in his robe, pondering last night, and perhaps something more. He is intensely transfixed as birds chirp joyfully, enjoying the luxuries of a premium stone bird bath in the small gardenâ??s centre. This should be a place of tranquillity too and yetâ?¦
???: Good morning!
He turns sharpish to catch the source of the call, snapped out of his funk. Once more it is Celeste Crimson, once more the storm within slowly subsides. He smiles, half-heartedly, yet honestly.
Holmes: Good morning, loveâ?¦
Celeste wearing her own robe, one fitting of her moniker, stretches and yawns like a lioness in the wild. Holmes chuckles lightly.
Holmes: Sleep well did we?
Celeste: Like the dead.
Holmes: Hmmmmâ?¦
Suddenly there is an ever so pregnant pause in the air. Nothing for a moment or two as Holmes looks to the ground between he and his lover whenâ?¦
Celeste: It happened again didnâ??t it?
Holmes: It did.
Celeste: How many nights is this?
Holmes: Third straight.
Slowly his eyes lift to meet his wifeâ??s. She is stoney faced now, arms folded.
Celeste: Have you thought... is this worth it? Is what youâ??re doing in the ring worth this trauma, bringing theseâ?¦ these demons up?
He ponders for a moment, studying his wifeâ??s eyes. They are big and round and watery and he is in love all over again. And he answers, as truthfully as he can:
Holmes: I donâ??t know. I honestly do not know.
Again a pause. There is tension here, fertile ground of trauma and past pain. Celeste attempts to skip over it and look to the future:
Celeste: Whoâ??ve you got this week?
Holmes: Kagura. Ka-gu-ra.
Eyes drifting away, he is half paying attention, half still lingering on the nightmare. On the loss, the pain, the agony the de--
Celeste: Hey!
He snaps out of it again. His tired eyes meet hers as she moves to sit next down beside him. Her hand grabs his, their fingers intersecting so easily, so gracefully. She offers him comfort. There is such ease to this, such love. He leans his head on her shoulder, seeking support. They speak in low, hushed, intimate tones.
Celeste: You know youâ??ve got nothing to prove? You know that youâ??ve shown the world you can be as good as you ever were?
Holmes: It isnâ??t the world Iâ??m trying to prove something toâ?¦
Celeste: I donâ??t need you to tear yourself apart to show what a man you are. I know what a warrior you are. My kingâ?¦
She plants a tender, wet kiss on his forehead. He closes his eyes and trembles slightly.
Holmes: Itâ??s not for you eitherâ?¦ my queen.
Her chin on his head now, her arms shifting round to support and hug him.
Holmes: I have things to do in that ring. Lesson to teach. Vengeance to extract.
Celeste: But you dealt with K.Oâ?¦
Holmes: Indeedâ?¦ and I thought thatâ??d be it, and yet here we find ourselves, myself confronting past demons both in ring, and out. Xander offers a chance at redemption, he offers a return to greatness, he offers glory and grandiose. But for some reason he is entwined with darkness in my mindâ??s eye. For some reason he is evil incarnate in the bottom of my being. For some reason I feel the burning desire to use him a bloody brush with which to paint a violent masterpiece, to compose a symphony of destructionâ?¦
Celeste: Your killer instinct sharpens in the oddest of ways.
Holmes: Its bloody dangerous Celeste.
Celeste: Then embrace it. Channel it. Beat Kagura. Beat Xander. Become the Worldâ??s Heavyweight Champion. And show the world you are still that damn good.
Holmes: But itâ?¦ I wanted to expel something from me. I wanted to dispel this phantasm that has lurked in the corner of my soul. I thought a few matches here and there, a nice farewell run, a final bow on the big stage. Xander, the World Heavyweight Championship. It affords me moreâ?¦ I never planned on this, I neverâ?¦
Celeste: Ssssssshhhhh! Itâ??s okay.
She gently strokes his face.
Celeste: I forgive you Steven. And so would she.
There is a little whimper from Holmes. Celeste has her eyes closed, and her husbandâ??s face pulled close to her now. They sit there for awhile, to the sound of birdsong, two people in the world, in love. It is beautiful. Soon thereafter, she releases his head, cradles his cheeks with her palms and raises his face to hers. Their eyes are tightly locked, intensely so.
Celeste: I was never enamoured with the idea of you returning to the ring. I thought we were done. But you never could quite get over it. You never could quite feel content with your body of work. And I trusted you then to make the decision to mount a comeback. Well, I trust you now to overcome. Youâ??ve overcome worseâ?¦ weâ??ve overcome worse. You have the chance to banish the demons of the past, but youâ??ve got to confront them, thatâ??s the issue. And I know itâ??s scary, and I know it hurts. But you need this. For you. Slay the demons, claim the crown and become the champion you were born to be. Okay?
She smiles big. And releases Holmesâ?? face. He nods; there is a new found determination there.
Holmes: Iâ??m not sure this spectre will lift until after I face Xander properly, until Kingdom Come. You may have to bear with me a little until then, but I promise, that when I become champion, we will escape this, one way or another.
The arrogance of the statement makes Celeste guffaw.
Celeste: When you become champion? Now youâ??re starting to sound like the Holmes of the pastâ?¦
Holmes: Perhaps itâ??s time I embraced it a little more. My heart is black after allâ?¦
They share a devilish smirk with each other. She playfully asksâ?¦
Celeste: What about Kagura? Donâ??t you have to slay that dragon first oh prince of mine?
Holmes: Sheâ??s cunning, clever, capable, a champion. No slouch in the ring. Her mastery of grappling is second to almost none. Indeed she holds the one piece of gold I never have. Sheâ??s a bonafide monster. Unfortunately there is but one lone warrior capable of out wrestling this she-devil. A hero to slay this dragon, to bring peace to the land, and you my dear are looking at him. Proud and nobleâ?¦
Holmes mockingly stands in a heroic pose, hands on hips, chest puffed out.
Holmes: Who needs the Red Mask or the White Knight when youâ??ve got â??The Eliteâ?? The golden standard reset.
He catches himself in this outright hammy moment, looks at his wife who is about to start rolling around laughing and deflates. She bursts out laughing. As her rip roaring chortle echoes, we begin to take leave before Holmes himself offers one final utterance:
Holmes: Well I thought it was cleverâ?¦
Kagura seethed as she blocked another empty coke can that had been chucked at her by an angry fan. Once the news online broke over what she had done, all hell had broken loose. She could hardly go anywhere without getting malicious looks from people. Already she had been asked to leave two stores. Like what the hell? All she did was destroy one title belt. A belt that held just as much history and significance as the world titleâ?¦
Former world champion fined by management!
Did you know that the Eurasian championship belt that WZCW superstar Kagura appeared with on Meltdown 162 isnâ??t the original? It was reported by sources that a few days before, Kagura was fined by WZCW acting general manager Vance Bateman for destroying the original title belt sometime before the show.
The former world champion was fined $10,000 for the destruction of company property, plus an additional $25,000 for the commission of a new belt. The current champion could not be reached for comment.
Vance Bateman did however express his anger at Kagura actions. The general manager was quoted by stating, â??[Kagura] was dealt a bad hand at the Lethal Lottery but that doesnâ??t excuse this sort of behavior. What she destroyed was more than just a title belt, it was a piece of history that many fans and wrestlers alike hold sacred. [Kagura] is hardly fit to represent WZCW as a champion right now.â?
Please check in with WZCW.com for new developments surrounding this story.
Website Manager
David Kerms
â??Why should I care about that?â? she had asked her manager. The two of them had gotten into a big argument once Sasuke realized what she did.
The man was old school. Desecrating a title like that was something that wrestlers just didnâ??t do. â??I can empathize with your feelings, Kag. The way you lost the world title was shitty, but shouldnâ??t you be happy to hold the Eurasian title belt? Youâ??re avenging that loss against Titus from years ago.â?
Kagura scoffed, â??Beating Titus at Unscripted and winning the world title was my requited action, Sasuke. I wonâ??t argue with you over this, because you clearly do not get it.â?
Weeks later and Kagura was now holding what she considered to be the â??trueâ? Eurasian title. A title made specifically to honor her inauguration as its first title holder. Fuck what Titus accomplished with the old one. Fuck Garth Black and everyone else too. Right there at the current time, becoming the â??trueâ? Eurasian champion was the only one that mattered.
You canâ??t cover up history in an attempt to make yourself feel betterâ?¦
Thatâ??s just a big lie, right Kagura?
Itâ??s obvious how you really feelâ?¦
Kagura put her fork down. She had barely touched her food. She and Sasuke were in Panama for the next round of shows. The fans here had been less hostile than the ones in the US. Kagura was secretly grateful for that. Her emotions had been a whirlwind ever since the Roulette Rounds. One minute she was ranting and raving and the next she was completely silent and ignoring everyone. Sasuke couldnâ??t read her anymore and had stopped trying. There were times when he asked why he was even bothering to hang around her like he did. He didnâ??t really need the money and she didnâ??t really need his help.
Most of his backstage interviews amounted to, â??Kaguraâ??s gonna kick this persons ass.â? Well, yeah. No shit. Kagura said all that she needed to through her actions. None of the other wrestlers hung around her or even spoke to her anymore. Some of them had nasty things to say on social media about her actions, but no one confronted her face to face.
â??The food here sucks,â? the raven haired beauty replied, pushing her plate forward. â??Why did you choose this place?â?
â??I chose it because the food looked good,â? he responded. â??You didnâ??t have to come along.â?
Kagura frowned in annoyance. â??Whatever.â?
She leaned back in her chair absentmindedly watching the people around her. She wasnâ??t happy. To express the way that she currently felt would mean examining her own shortcomings but she had already spent months doing that. Was she not allowed to be disappointed with how things turned out after the Lethal Lottery? She was given a mid-card title as peace offering and was expected to fall in line like a good employee. Fuck that.
â??I donâ??t want to be Eurasian champion, Sasuke. I want the world title back.â?
The older man didnâ??t even look up to meet her gaze, â??Then vacate it.â?
â??I already did, in a way. Iâ??m the â??trueâ? Eurasian champion now remember?â?
â??Then defend that,â? he said getting increasingly more annoyed himself.
â??Sure, but only because itâ??s expected that I do so. You donâ??t get it, do you Sasuke?â?
â??What donâ??t I get, Kag? Youâ??re mad that you lost the title. Everyone that has ever been in your shoes has felt the same way. Get the fuck over it and concentrate on defending what you do have,â? he finished, pointing to the title draped behind her chair.
Kagura growled and suddenly stood. With one shift movement she flipped over the table sending plates, silverware, glasses, and food flying. For was second, Sasuke could only stare up at her in disbelief. Then his face began to contort in anger.
â??What the fuck are you doing?â? he bellowed.
She smirked and turned and walked away leaving the man to handle the situation. â??Whatever I damn well want,â? she replied under her breath.
---
â??The truth is I want to compete. Itâ??s in my blood. That wonâ??t ever change. But am I not allowed the right to feel angry and frustrated after losing the title the way I did at Lethal Lottery? I didnâ??t even get a proper feud or a proper match. I didnâ??t even get the chance to savor my moment in the sun. It was gone before I even had the chance to turn around. My career is nothing but a group of dead cherry blossoms falling to the ground. Thatâ??s how I really feel. No one has ever admired me for my hard work. No one has ever thanked me for my sacrifices. No one has ever tried to emulate me. Iâ??m a two time world champion, a Queen for a Day, a Gold Rush winner, and a triple crown champion. yet there are still those who believe that Iâ??m not worry of being in the hall of fame. My career basically amounts to a pile of shit. All this time Iâ??ve fought to prove myself worthy of being called one of the greats, and I think Iâ??ve done that now, so I no longer care what happens or the consequences I reap for my actions. I am no longer on a path that the kami can measure or control.
What I care about most is hurting others the same way that Iâ??ve been hurt for so many years. Revenge on this world, this industry, these people is what I want. I donâ??t know if Iâ??ll ever be truly happy again the way I used to be.â?
---
Steven Holmes be warned. At Meltdown 163 you are not facing an ordinary woman. You are staring into the eyes of psychopath burned completely by the inferno of despair this world has wrought. All the pain you plan to inflict, all your promises of victory, to use Kaguraâ??s head as a trophy as you step over her body to the next obstacle is nothing but a farce. Win or lose, you wonâ??t be the same man ever again. You should have stayed at home attached to the bosom of your wife.
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