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Centurion · (04-16-2020)

(The attack Centurion suffered at the hands of Nathaniel Idenhaus has left the Hart Champion a little shaken, but the reason as to why is still unknown. An attack by a member of Shane

’s goon squad was expected, and the fact that it was someone who hasn’t been full time in over a year should be encouraging to Centurion. And yet, it isn’t.

Centurion never considered himself to be a religious or spiritual man. He went to Catholic school as a child, and he has since become an Episcopalian, attending services every now and then. His sister, however, is a practicing and devout Wiccan – the spells, the chants, all that. Centurion barely understood any of it.

Then, he started dating Genevieve Tate, a pagan in her own right. Her and Allison share many similarities in their faith, though Genevieve’s traditions are rooted in something much older. Regardless, a lot of their worship is the same.

We open up in an unknown forest. While the exact location is not known, it is clearly somewhere in the northern part of the Northern hemisphere, as the trees remain without leaves and the sky has a grey hue to it. Sitting in the forest are three figures – the aforementioned Allison and Genevieve, as well as Centurion. Allison is sitting in front of Centurion, and there is a small fire that is built that separates the two of them. Sitting behind Centurion is Genevieve. Genevieve is moving around some rocks and branches, while Allison has a piece of paper in front of her.)

Centurion: What, you don’t have this memorized?

Allison: No, not at all. I think I’ve done this prayer maybe once before? This isn’t exactly a common one. Ok…

(Allison finally gets herself comfortable and has the paper in a position where it’s easily readable. She raises her arms over the fire and toward Centurion, while Genevieve raises her arms over Centurion and touches fingertips with Allison. Allison is about ready to start when Centurion breaks the mood.)

Centurion: Aren’t you usually supposed to be naked for this?

(Allison sighs and immediately drops her arms. Both she and Genevieve are wearing everyday, normal clothes – not the kinds of ritual dresses you would normally see in modern, mainstream portrayals of witches. Genevieve just shakes her head as Allison frustratingly responds.)

Allison: Number one – skyclad rituals are reserved for bigger worship ceremonies, not every day prayers and chants. Number two – shut the fuck up and quit interrupting me.

(Allison raises her arms again and is about to start the ceremony, but again, Centurion has to ruin it.)

Centurion: That’s not very “cleanse” of you. Your negative energy is really bring down the whole proceedings.

Allison: This spell of memory is going to turn into a spell of death really damn quick if you don’t stop being a smartass.

(Allison raises her arms once more and joins with Genevieve, and is finally able to chant without interruption.)

Allison: All praise to wise Mnemosyne, mother of Muses,
mistress of your mother’s wisdom,
buried deep within the earth, with bone and stone.

Genevieve: Mistress of memory, the sweet and the sharp,
protector of history, preserver of stories,
maintainer of tales of sorrow and joy,

Allison: yours is the truth within the fact,
the shadow cast on what we know
by what has been forgotten.

Genevieve: O mother of sight and inspiration, I call to you.
I honor you, good and gracious Mnemosyne,
I offer you my praise and seek your blessing

(Centurion, with his eyes closed, waits for a second. Nothing changes. All he is able to see is darkness, as the sounds of the forest are clearly heard.)

Genevieve: What do you see?

Centurion: Nothing. Just darkness. I told you this wasn’t going to work.

Genevieve: Look closer.

(Centurion lets out a sigh as he truly tries to concentrate. Nothing seems to come to his head…until…)

------Flashback: August 31, 2001------

(An image of Centurion lying on a wrestling canvas comes into plain view. He is much younger – his hair is long, and he’s wearing a proper pair of wrestling tights. His face is bloodied, and he looks like a mess.)

Genevieve: What do you see?

Centurion: It’s me. It has to be one of my very early matches. Probably a CCWF match. I’m not looking too great. There’s…someone is standing on me.

(As the light shines slightly brighter, there is a leather boot visible on Centurion’s face.)

Centurion: Someone attacked me after the match. Happened pretty much every night. That place as complete lawlessness. Shane

’s idea was “the more blood, the better.” There’s…someone laying next to me.

(The light shines a little brighter, and we see another wrestler, also face down and bloody, in the middle of the ring, with a boot standing on the back of his head, as well.)

Centurion: That was Hardcore Jono. He was around for a bit in those days. Decent talent. We never really got along, though, so he must have been my opponent for the night. That means, whoever attacked me, wasn’t doing so because of the match. They were trying to make a statement.

Genevieve: And what was that statement? Who attacked you?

Centurion: I…I can’t really…

(The light finally shines to the point where the entire ring is illuminated, and standing over Centurion and Hardcore Jono are two men in Nazi uniforms. One is holding a flag of Nazi Germany, and both of them are doing the Hitler salute to the crowd.)

Centurion: Oh, yeah. I remember these guys now. Adolph and Odin, called themselves “The Great SS”. They were as stereotypical Nazi as you can get – the uniforms, the racism, pretty much everything. They weren’t around very long, though. I completely forgot that they attacked me on their first night in the company.

Genevieve: It was 19 years ago, and you’ve taken several hits to the head since then. There’s a lot of stuff from your wrestling past that you’re bound to not remember. Do you know what happened next with these two? Did you get your revenge?

Centurion: …no. No I didn’t. The following week, they got beat in a match by two people I also hated, and they left the company immediately after that. I never got my match with them.

Genevieve: There it is. Your anger and frustration is held over by the sense of unfinished business that you have. You were a young kid when some Nazis used you to make a statement, and now you’re a much older, much wiser person, and a Nazi still comes in and uses you to make a statement. It reopened an old wound.

(As Genevieve says this, Centurion opens his eyes, and he is transported back to modern day – in the woods, sitting between Allison, Genevieve, and the fire. Genevieve has a smile on her face as Centurion rubs his head, but Allison does not look convinced.)

Centurion: Yeah, that makes sense. Nathaniel didn’t just represent someone coming after me – he represented all my past demons that I have never been able to account for. This road to redemption – it isn’t just about the people who I have wronged. It’s also about those that have wronged me.

Allison: Good theory. Right premise…but wrong situation.

(Centurion looks at Allison, confused.)

Centurion: What?

Allison: Being attacked by a couple of Nazis in the CCWF isn’t the reason you had a complete meltdown. Far worse has happened to you that you have bounced back from. Besides, you keep a notebook of wrestlers you want to destroy, and the names Adolph and Odin never appeared on there. No, I don't think this incident effected you this way.

Centurion: So, what? You're admitting that this whole thing didn't work? Because I'm ok with just being right again.

Allison: No, I'm not saying that, either. Mnemosyne was giving you the information, but it is up to you to decode it. Your brain wanted this to be something wrestling related. That's what it knows. That's what YOU know. Saying it has something to do with someone from your wrestling past is a simple way to explain it all. But that's not it. It goes deeper than that. The reason you had a breakdown like that was far more personal than that. Andy…

…talk to me about Dad.

------Let All That Is Hidden Now Be Found------

...who the fuck is Gabe Reno?

I've been racking my head around this mysterious man for the past few days. I mean, he's obviously important enough to leave such a lasting impression on Chris Chaos that he has to devote five fucking minutes to the guy.

I usually don't have a problem with wrestlers bringing up past stars in current events. Hell, I do it all the time, and people do it all the time to me. There is rarely a match that goes by that the name James Raven doesn't escape someone's lips. It's a part of wrestling.

Thing is, though - if you're going to reference an old wrestler, you need to reference someone that everyone knows. Just saying the name "Gabe Reno" means absolutely nothing to me. Who is that, the local mechanic?

Based off of the context of what Chris Chaos was saying, Gabe Reno was apparently some schlub who got a match against Chaos, was a massive underdog, but somehow won and became Universal Champion. I mean, it you're a massive underdog against CHRIS CHAOS, then yeah, you probably suck.

Chris Chaos' point was that he was entering this match as a massive underdog, but that he was somehow going to overcome the odds and end my title reign. This is a far cry from the first time we faced each other, when Chaos was shouting how much of a "living legend" he is and how great he is. I guess he figured out that strategy wasn't going to work, so set the expectations low and hope for the best. Hey, it's not a bad idea in theory.

Here's where Chaos' analogy falls apart - he may be Gabe Reno, but I'm no Chris Chaos. I don't walk into matches unprepared. Sure, I walk in extremely confident. Some may even call me cocky. But don't mistake my confidence with gullibility. I don't lose matches that I'm "supposed to win". Since my return to the XWF, here is the list of people who have beaten me:

Noah Jackson
Tony Santos
Robert Main
K-Money

That's it. End of list. There isn't a scrub among them. That's because, every time I'm across the ring from someone inferior to me, I take care of business.

You think I'm underestimating you, Chris? No. I think YOU are underestimating ME. I think you're not giving me or my title reign the respect we both deserve. You keep wanting to make these comparisons to your Universal Title reign and me. You keep speaking in this "let me teach you something, kid" tone, as if I'm not one of the greatest fucking wrestlers of all time.

Therein lies the problem, Chris. You keep forgetting just who the hell I am. You keep treating me like a wrestler who came in to this business a year ago - someone who is very talented, but whose ego may be a bit unearned.

You say things like "I was just like you"...no, you weren't. Call me in 15 years. Then tell me how much alike we are. As far as I'm concerned, you're still just a rookie. You had your cup of coffee with the title. Congratulations. Do it again, I dare you.

Still, if it was just that, I would have let everything Chris Chaos said slide. It's just the regular, traditional pro wrestling trash talk. Nothing new or exciting. I would have called him a dumbass and moved on.

But there's this one part that really got to me - may have gotten to me more than it should. Perhaps it's the lack of sleep I've gotten lately that's effecting me. Perhaps it's just the travel. Or perhaps Chaos actually DID strike a chord. Eventually he would hit one, I suppose.

It's all that shit about me being some sort of "puppet" to management. As if my title reign is somehow tainted because I'm being "protected" by my "buddies" in ownership. Strap in, folks.

If you think I'm so protected, Chaos, come with receipts. Give some examples. Point to where I turned down ANY challenge. In fact, I have been vocally asking people to step up. I wanted to give Atara Themis a title shot when Shane

fucked her over. I wanted to give Ruby a title shot when she came ridiculously close to winning Lethal Lottery. I gave Vita Valenteen and Tristan Slater shots when ownership flat out asked me NOT to do so. I have faced one wrestler, two wrestlers, five wrestlers in all variety of matches, and I've won every single fucking one of them.

No one's protecting me, Chris. You just think that because I'm more talented than you, and no one likes you. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that you decided to return to the ring and act like you were some kind of savior to the XWF. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that your girlfriend has a job specifically because she's banging you. Or maybe it has something to do with you being a whiny little bitch, blaming everyone but yourself for your own failures.

You think I get shit handed to me? As if Unknown Soldier didn't show up out of nowhere with the Devil's semen running down his chin and getting put in every main event match for several months. As if The Engineer didn't run Sarah Lacklan out of the XWF because he flat out refused to face her, knowing full well she would have lost. As if Chris Page and Robert Main didn't get a title shot simply by saying "pretty please?" Love Robert to death, but it happened. All of it did. And yet, where was I?

I was anchoring this God damn division, and I was doing it without complaints. EDWARD bites my thumb off? I wrestle two weeks later. Noah Jackson wants to put me in a dress at his pay per view? Fine, I'll wrestle in a dress. Want me to face Peter Gilmour for the 900th time? Sure, let's fucking do it.

I wasn't protected, Chris, because I don't NEED to be protected. The talent in the XWF is top heavy. There are a few wrestlers who are already champions, and a bunch of folks chasing that are completely unequipped to handle the pressure. Hell, it's gotten so bad that Shane

had to pull a Nazi out his ass just to have someone face me.

I know exactly what this is, because I've seen it a hundred times in people like you. You're setting the stage as to why you're going to lose. You want a handy built in excuse. "Oh, I lost because ownership wants Centurion to be champion" sounds a lot better than "oh, I lost because I absolutely suck." Thing is, no one is going to buy it from you. Everyone knows how terrible you are, and a loss to me will just hammer that point home.

And then we have Mastermind. Fuck, you're thicker than pig shit.

I'm boring? Wow, you're breaking new ground on that one. I've never been called boring before! ...except every day for the past 20 years. You think I give a shit if I entertain you? I've seen what makes you cheer. I know the dumb shit you're into. Quite frankly, being called boring by you is a compliment.

And let's face it, you think this reign is stale because it's lasted so long. That's it. It has nothing to do with my personality and everything to do with the fact that I'm unbeatable. You like volatility with the titles. That gives you the best opportunity to have a slice of the pie. If someone has a stranglehold on the belt? Well, you're kind of left out in the rain.

You know what is boring and stale? Holding the Television Title for over 100 days and not facing anyone of note in that time period. See, you're the kind of wrestler who does the least amount of work possible in order to go after your opponent. You read a roster page, maybe watch a match or two, and that's it. Everyone else you just make up. But me? I put on every match you had when you were Television Champion. You ready for this murderers row of top talent? Here we go:

You took the belt off of Damon Tyler...a legend, I'm sure. You then defended the belt against John Holliday, Kid Kool, "Broken" Oswald Autem Sephtis - that's certainly a mouthful - Dax Harris, and Peter Gilmour before dropping the belt to Hanari Carnes. In that same stretch, you lost a match to Moxie Monarch, but some weird bullshit happened that let you keep the title. You had a loss and a draw to Donovan Blackwater. I mean, come on, I may be boring, but I at least face decent talent and win my fucking matches.

Your words to me don't come from a place of confidence. They come from a place of desire. You WANT someone to beat me. You WANT me to be knocked down and have my title swipped out from underneath me. You WANT these things to happen because you find me to be an insufferable bastard, and nothing would make you smile more than to see me be humbled.

You want all this to happen, knowing full well that you're not the one who can do it. So you sit back, week after week, hoping SOMEONE takes this belt off of me, so you can breath a sigh of relief knowing you can show up to the arena and not have to worry about watching another Centurion title match again. But as the weeks have gone by, the possibility of that has been getting slimmer and slimmer. Gilmour clearly wasn't going to beat me - I mean, come on. You knew as well as I did that Tristan Slater was on his last legs and needed to be put down. And a one on one match with Chris Chaos wouldn't do it for you, because you know how much better I am than Chris Chaos. So, your only hope is to somehow roll up Chaos while I'm not looking - otherwise, you know you're going to be seeing a lot more of me, and you absolutely can not stand that.

There will come a day when I lose the Hart Title. This is inevitable. Nothing last forever. But that time is after I pass Azrael Erebus's number, and it sure as hell isn't going to be to one of these two dipshits.

I have a request for ownership - make this an elimination match. The last thing I want to hear is one of these two to claim the only reason I won was because I pinned one and not the other. I also don't need Chris Chaos running around for six months yelling "I never got my one on one shot!" In fact, fuck it - make it a gauntlet. I'll fight Mastermind first, and after that 30 second sprint, I'll fight Chris Chaos. Then neither of them will have any excuses.

You two want this belt? You're gonna have to kill me. Heads up - greater people have tried, and greater people have meet their...

FINAL FANTASY!!!

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