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Ghost Tank · (07-31-2018)

===========PROLOGUE===========

I managed to put the thought out of my mind long enough to compete at Leap of Faith. What thought you ask? No way, I’m sure you follow my career so closely that not even the smallest detail of my story could possibly slip by you, but just in case, allow me to recap.

Right before Leap of Faith, I received a voicemail from myself. I had no recollection of leaving said message, but nevertheless, there it was. In this message, I warned myself that I had done something so heinous that once I found out about it, I was going to be rocked to my very core.

Great, I thought. Here we go with the crazy shit again. A recurring problem for me sure, but one that I thought I was finally past.

Guess not…

So, as troubling as this message and whatever horrible thing I may have done was, nothing would prepare me for what would happen next.

I flipped in the TV to find a news report on an act of violence. No, not just an act of violence, a murder.

The victim?

The girl that I had been dating for the last few months.

Oh, and the guy that she was apparently cheating on me with.

That last part didn’t register right away, but once it did, I realized why I might have done it.

What’s that?

When did I become the murderer you ask?

Well funny story there.

When the news revealed the murder weapon as a katana sword, I instantly thought about the message that I had left for myself. If you can recall, I worked a few matches under a hood and called myself Wraith. If you didn’t know, then you really aren’t paying attention. Anyway, I ran to the other room where I had kept the katana and not surprising at all, my sword was missing. At that moment I knew that I was the one who killed her.

So now that we’re all caught up, the question is, how is all of this shit going to affect me going forward?

The truth is, I don’t know….

===========July 31st 2018===========

I looked out beyond my front porch. It was dark, almost like a black tar was covering the once plasma blue sky. A wall of rain seemed to drop all at once. The sound was just one constant blurred whirring noise. I had planned on going out for a run today. Not just because I could use the conditioning, but also because I needed to clear my mind. My grip on reality has been called to question. I fear that I’m once again slipping away into a darkness as something sinister latches on to my very soul.

Dramatic I know, but until you’ve experienced another living within you, battling for control, you can’t really begin to understand what it is that I feel.

I look down to my cell phone. 37 missed calls, even more text that I’ve not bothered to respond to.

Most of them from my partner, Cadryn Tiberius.

I can’t say exactly why it is that I have been ducking him for the last couple of weeks. I just feel like he’s a burden. A weight that’s dragging me down.

No…

That’s not true and I know it.

Cadryn has been the closest friend that I have ever had in this business. Sure, I chum it up with guys like Robert Main and Engy, but none of them have ever been as close to me as Cadryn. None of them know the things that he knows, yet he still chooses to be by my side.

Of course Cadryn doesn’t have the cleanest of closets either.

Maybe that’s why we are as close as we are. Our crazy is just compatible.

Even when we stood on opposite sides of a stable war, we both continued to care for the other. Cadryn was the first to step up and cry foul when I was fired from the XWF last year. That’s something that I never forgot. Something that has never really set well with me.

Where were my other so called friends?

Sure, Robert Main and Jim Caedus eventually made a case for me to keep my job, but their efforts were lazy and forced. You could tell that they were only speaking up because they felt obligated to.

Cadryn wasn’t obligated at all. If anything, he would have benefitted from my termination. The Kings were out to run AX3 out of the XWF. They considered themselves the measuring stick that the roster should compare themselves to. We as AX3 attempted to challenge that. We ultimately failed, collapsing under the weight of our own egos and bad decisions, but it could have all ended much sooner had Cadryn just stood back and allowed Jane

and Theo Pryce to fire me as they had originally intended.

No, Cadryn isn’t just a good friend, he’s my best friend.

So why is it that I’m avoiding him so?

The truth is, like many aspects of my life at this moment, I don’t know.

I take a deep breath and release it as a long quiet sigh as I tap his name to call him back. By the fourth ring I begin to wonder if he’s going to give me a taste of my own medicine, but right as the fifth ring starts, he answers.

Cadryn Tiberius
“Gravy...”

There’s a short pause as I stumble for the words to say.

Dark Warrior Micheal Graves
“I’m sorry I haven’t returned your call before now.”

Cadryn Tiberius
“What’s going on with you? I haven’t been able to get a hold of you since before Leap of Faith.”

There’s a lot going on. I may be losing my grip on reality. I may have murdered my girlfriend. I may be becoming someone else entirely.

Dark Warrior Micheal Graves
“Nothing, just been busy is all.”

I can tell by the silence on the other end that he’s not buying it.

Cadryn Tiberius
“Where are you at? Maybe we can meet up somewhere and have a few drinks.”

Dark Warrior Micheal Graves
“I’m at home.”

Cadryn Tiberius
“What? You do realize that we are defending the titles tomorrow night, right?”

Of course I know that you nimwit, just like I know that you have no room to give me shit for not jumping on the first flight down. What have you done? Have you even cut a promo for the match?

Cadryn Tiberius
“Gravy?”

No, you haven’t. Because you expect me to carry you, like you always do. You’re entire career has been about latching your trailer to the strongest caboose you can find and enjoying the ride to the top while you give the least amount of effort you possibly can. You did it with me when you debuted, you then did it with the Kings when you decided that they were the bigger shark in the water, and now you're doing it with me again since the Kings all but abandoned you. Essence of Excellence my ass, they should call you Mr. Thirty-Percent!

Cadryn Tiberius
“Mikey, you still there?”

I snap out of it, but am left wondering where all of that hate came from.

Dark Warrior Micheal Graves
“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry, I was just thinking about something. Anyway, I’m taking a flight out first thing in the morning. So I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Cadryn Tiberius
“Are you sure everything is ok?”

No...

Dark Warrior Micheal Graves
“Yes, I’m fine. I’ll talk to you later.”

Cadryn Tiberius
“Ok boss, I’ll see you tomarr...”

And just like that I cut him off by ending the call. Afterwards I’m left staring out into the storm. It’s beginning to break, but I’m left with the mother of all storms brewing inside of me, and no idea how to proceed.

===========PROMO===========

Dark Warrior Micheal Graves

“Intense pain is a wonderful thing.

Your life flashes before your eyes.

Things that you once took for granted start to become crystal clear.

At Leap of Faith after I speared Chris Chaos off of the platform above, and the two of us lay broken in a heap of splintered wood and gore. I looked over to my left and stared Chris in the eyes and thought to myself, why did I do this? Why did I risk my life to take out Chris Chaos, to help Robert Main? Later, as they were loading me into the ambulance, I could hear the announcement over the PA. Robert Main had grabbed the 24/7 case. Robert now has the world in his hand. A case that guarantees him a shot at The Engineer. A case that almost guarantees that he walks away from that conflict with the Universal Championship, and me? All I have to show for the effort is a sore back and a few stitches.

So back to my question. Why did I do it? Why did I sacrifice myself to allow Robert Main to opportunity to take the glory?

I did it because I consider Robert to be a friend.

I did it because my friend needed me.

I did it because Chris Chaos is directly responsible for the death of another friend... Jim Caedus.

Or maybe I did it because I’m a chump.

Maybe I did it because I’ve allowed myself to get to a point of normalcy that has allowed me to be easily manipulated by those who say a kind word. Those who meet me with a smile and a handshake. Those who hide their true intentions behind the thin vale of friendship while using me to help further their own agendas.

As that ambulance pulled out of the arena that night, I finally realized just how much of a fool I’ve been.

In this world, there are no friendships. At least, not any strong enough to truly matter. Everyone that enters this company from day one has the same goal in mind….

To be the man, to be the best, to carve out a legacy through the flesh of others.

That’s what this is, always has been, and the only time friendships come into play is when someone can be manipulated into furthering the others agenda.

Take for instance a tag team. One where one person does all of the work, while the other coast by enjoying the fruits of his partners labor all while bragging to the world about his excellence.

As I said, intense pain is a wonderful thing.

Enough about that though, right now, I need to focus on the task at hand. The fact that this Wednesday, we’re scheduled to defend out Tag Team Championships for the first time, and it’s against a team that proves just how dead the tag division has become.

BX3…

The fact that BX3 are being awarded a shot at the tag titles is a complete disgrace. These guys are nothing more than a joke. An old, played out joke that should have died after the stable that they mockingly stole their name from ceased to be, but no, here we are nearly a year later, and BX3 are still alive and well. Losing match after match, and making lame dick and fart jokes along the way. Their schtick was played out after their first week in the company, yet here they are climaxing at the opportunity to walk out of Warfare with gold.

Hey, no worries though. It’s not like Bilbo was just Xtreme champion or anything.

Oh wait…

Bilbo was Xtreme Champion, but he won it from a sleeping Madison Dyson who likely ALLOWED the pin to happen just to fuck with Jenny Myst, and quickly lost it to a losbo sloth who just so happens to be one of the most under the radar roster members we have had the pleasure of not seeing over the last couple of years. Then she went on to lose it just two days later to…

Tommy Wish?

Yikes, maybe it’s not just the tag team division that’s in dire straights, but fear not, because I’m not here to fade quietly into the night and let a couple of Special Olympics rejects take what’s mine!

BX3 and I, we’ve been here before. They’ve been beaten by my hands, they’ve been stabbed by my sword, and they’ve continually been humiliated whenever our paths have crossed. Warfare will be no different. I will walk out with the tag team championships intact, and if Crimson Dong decides to try any funny business, I’ll make sure that he leaves Warfare as the Crimson nub!

So BX3, prepare to get as close to these belts as you ever will. Looking up through blood soaked eyes as I lift that gold high in the air and move on to my next, and hopefully real challenge!”

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