Apex Goes to the Fair (Part #4) - Printable Version +- X-treme Wrestling Federation (https://xwf99.com) +-- Forum:  RP Archive (https://xwf99.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=113) +--- Forum: Archives (https://xwf99.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=13) +---- Forum: "Savage Saturday Night" RP Board (https://xwf99.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=16) +---- Thread: Apex Goes to the Fair (Part #4) (/showthread.php?tid=34603)

Apex Goes to the Fair (Part #4) - James Raven - 08-30-2019 CONTINUED FROM: http://xwf99.com/showthread.php?tid=34584 RAVEN: Bob? There’s an eerie silence inside the House of Mirrors. I swear, Robert Main had been standing with me a minute ago… or was it longer? I’m pretty sure he was here, but now? Nothing. Nobody. I stand alone in the darkness, the faint sound of shattering glass in the distance causing me to whip my head around so quickly I crack a vertebrae. RAVEN: Bob? No answer. I don’t like this. I can feel the hair rising on the back of my neck, a chill running up my spine as I wheel around in every direction looking for some sign of life. My own reflection stares back at me from each angle. I can see the panic on my own face, the terror in my own eyes. Where the fuck is everybody?! RAVEN: ROBERT! This isn’t fucking funny! Where are you?! I stretch my hands out in front of me like a blind man, feeling the cool surface of the mirrors on my fingertips. I feel around for an opening and begin frantically trying to navigate my way out of the maze. Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Remind yourself of the situation, James; you’ve been drugged and you’re allowing it to overpower you. Stay calm, stay focused, and get yourself back to Robert so that you can find Drew. There’s nobody here. There’s nobody to hurt you… RAVEN: BOB! When I find you I swear I’m going to kick the sh- “He’s gone, James. He left you.” The voice comes from right behind me, so close I can feel the breath on my ear and smell the sour stench of rotting death in the air. I spin, cocking my fist and slamming my elbow off of a mirror wall. RAVEN: Ow! Fuck! I clutch my arm as I look down the reflective corridor. I see a dozen versions of myself, but nobody else. I’m alone. Completely and totally alon- “You should be used to it by now, James. Everyone leaves you.” RAVEN: WHAT THE SHIT?! I spin around the opposite direction, the voice having once more come from right behind me. Shadows and silence to greet me, and nothing more. I feel around for another opening in the mirrors, but there isn’t one. I’m trapped in a corner, and feel my heart race begin to increase as my breaths get shallow and rapid. No no no nononononononono! STAY IN CONTROL, ASSHOLE! Don’t you dare fucking panic! “Mia left you, and she took your son with her.” I spin around like a fucking top, looking in every direction for the source of the voice. Nothing. “Your sister doesn’t speak to you anymore, does she? How about your father?” RAVEN: No! You shut the fuck up, it’s more complicated than that! “Aidan Collins, Roxy Nova, Big Shank… powerful friends, but every single one of them has moved on from you. Every single one found a greener pasture.” I collapse against a mirror wall, shoulders heaving as I sob uncontrollably. I can’t hold it together anymore, and fall to my knees on the floor and bury my face in my hands. RAVEN: Shut the fuck up… shut the fuck up, please… “Now Centurion. Who would have ever thought he’d find a younger and healthier horse to hitch his wagon to than the People’s G.O.A.T. It was a nice effort, James, the whole Apex Prophecy thing? You almost managed to make it work, to keep everyone happy, to maintain a friend… but shit happens, right? You should be happy. He and Lux will make fantastic champions together.” I don’t say anything else, I can’t. It feels like I’m having a seizure with the amount my body is convulsing, a foam dripping from my lips to my shirt as I shut my eyes tightly and try to sink into the earth. If I can’t make it go away, make ME go away. Bury me now, and spare me this shit. MAIN: James! Everything freezes for a second. Was that Robert? It sounded like him. There’s no way he’s still in the House of Mirrors, is there? I was SCREAMING for him! Surely he would have heard me? But with all of that logic applied… it sounds like he’s right there. I open my eyes slowly, and my heart stops. There’s a man standing before me, shoes tattered and worn. His pants are matted in mud, holes in the fabric billowing… but there’s no limb inside that I can see. Just an empty void in the pant leg. What the ever loving fuck? He’s wearing an XWF tee shirt, an old one. I don’t think I’ve seen that design in, I don’t know, 10 or 11 years? The shirt is as disgusting as the rest of his attire, filling my nostrils with the rank stench of mold and mildew. I look at his face. Oh, why oh why did I look at his face? It’s nothing more than a skull, a few patches of dehydrated flesh stuck to the bone like cartilage on the end of a chicken wing. Masses of worms writhe in his eye sockets and spill to the floor from his slack jaw. There’s no nose, no ears, no lips… just gaping holes for the worms to crawl through as he stares at me. “Boo.” I bolt up to my feet as if struck by lightning and sprint down the mirrored corridor away from the spectre, slamming hard into one of the disguised walls. I find an opening in the glass and leap through to another row of mirrors, then eventually find another opening and jump a row across the room once more. I slam hard into another mirror, hearing the crunch of glass and wood panelling underneath my shoulder as I ram into the barricade before regrouping and trying the other direction. “Don’t run.” I don’t look behind me. There’s no point. I just focus on moving forward and getting myself out of this goddamn House of Mirrors. REMEMBER, JAMES! Remember that you’ve been drugged! This is just a bad trip, nothing more and nothing less. Soon you’re going to come down, and everything is going to be fine! You’ll find Robert and Drew… and everything… is going to be… fine… “No it won’t.” He’s right behind me again. I don’t have time to escape the labyrinth anymore. It’s time to move! SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH! I unleash the hardest superkick I’ve ever thrown in my life, hitting the reflection of myself square and bringing the mirror down in a downpour of a thousand crystalline pieces. I leap through the hole where the mirror was and cock back my fist, putting it through the next mirror like a piston! SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH! Jagged slivers of glass embed themselves in my forearm, but I don’t care. Keep smashing, and get the fuck out of here! I smash a third mirror, and finally eye a glowing red “EXIT” sign in the corner. Or does it say “BREXIT”? No, no. That wouldn’t make sense at all, but if I tumble through that door and into Buckingham Palace I’m going to be pissed… I did NOT enjoy my time there for Leap of Faith two months ago. “Where are you going, James?” RAVEN: Shut the fuck up! “You can run, but Centurion has still abandoned you…” RAVEN: SHUT THE FUCK UP! I sprint for the exit and barrel through the door with all of my might, falling down a small flight of steps and out of the House of Mirrors. I land in the grass and dirt, the cool night air hitting my face like a tidal wave. I breathe it in as deeply as I can. I didn’t realize until now how warm my skin had gotten inside, or how much I had been holding my breath in terror. I inhale, filling my lungs repeatedly with the fresh air. It’s sweet. It’s rejuvenating. It’s- RAVEN: BLLLLLLLLLLLUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! It makes me sick, and my chest heaves as I vomit everywhere. It splatters off the dirt and back up into my face, it spews down the front of my shirt and matts down the stubble on my chin. Fucking adorable. I collapse to my back and roll away from the puddle, coughing as the acids burn my throat and leave my eyes watering. I gasp for breath. I try and calm myself down, staring up at the stars and listening to the sounds of joy and happiness coming from the opposite side of the building. I must have stumbled out a back entrance or something. There’s a thin line of trees about fifty yards away, and I stare at them for a long moment. I watch the branches sway in the wind; it’s peaceful. I think I’m feeling better now. “Why did you run, James? Don’t you recognize me?” I scramble to my hands and knees, eyes wide like a triggered PTSD patient. I don’t see him. He’s not in the doorway of the house of mirrors, he’s not standing in the grass or the dirt with me… I even scan the treeline for a silhouette, but nothing. “Don’t you recognize my voice?” RAVEN: … TJ? Everything freezes. No more bells and buzzers from the fair on the opposite side of the building, no more chirping crickets or hooting owls in the trees. The wind stops blowing, and the stars stop twinkling. I stand slowly, my fear melting away almost instantly. My heart slows and breathing normalises, flop sweat evaporating from my skin in the blink of an eye. “Good to see you again, James.” Suddenly, he’s standing beside me again. His face is no longer a mask of death. He looks like he used to, like my brother… RAVEN: What the… how? I lean in instinctively for a hug. I haven’t seen him in a decade. Not since, well… he stings my cheek with a furious slap before I get close. “What the fuck are you thinking?” RAVEN: What? “You’re throwing your legacy away, asshole! You were a fucking legend! You could have set the record for most Universal title reigns of all time! Fucking pathetic, James. You could have been the golden god of the XWF and instead you decided to slum it as some sort of tag team ace?! The Apex Prophecy has been nothing but an excuse for you to half ass things. They’re an anchor that let you justify why you don’t try to excel anymore!” RAVEN: You don’t know what you’re talking about. “Of course I do, and you know I’m right! You’re an outsider in your own brotherhood you dumb fuck! Main and Drew would sacrifice you in a heartbeat to save each other! You’re nothing more than a workhorse to them; a legend that somehow agreed to sit in the backseat and protect their fallback plan while Main tore through the roster as Universal champion! Ned looks up to Robert, he doesn’t care about you… and Centurion, don’t get me started on that traitorous twat…” RAVEN: STOP IT! Centurion and the Prophecy were the closest I had to family in the XWF! Dad was long gone, and you and mom were fucking dead! “Don’t act like that changes anything, James. This isn’t 2010 anymore! Things have changed, baby! Apex Prophecy was a nice attempt to hang on to the past, but Centurion caught on a hell of a lot quicker than you that he was on the bottom of that totem pole! He wasn’t going to get a share of those tag belts, Main and Archyle were holding them back from everyone but you… and that was just necessity! He betrayed ‘the family’! He turned his back as soon as Lux offered a sideways smile, and it was for the fucking tag titles! Do you really think he’ll stay loyal when the Universal title is finally within his reach? Don’t be a fucking idiot! He’s back in the XWF for himself… not for you…” RAVEN: YOU ARE THE ONE THAT IS A FUCKING IDIOT! “Clever.” RAVEN: Suck a dick, TJ! Centurion and I have each other’s backs! He’s the one ally I have that’s never turned on me! I’d do anything for him! “Would you take a bullet for him?” RAVEN: If I had to. “Well you will, Saturday night in the middle of the ring. Have you ever taken the Fall of Rome, James? Has Centurion ever actually beaten you? There’s a first time for everything, too bad when it happens he’ll take everything you and Apex hold dear.” RAVEN: That’s not going to happen. “Are you sure? What are you going to do to stop him? Would you beat your mentor into a coma like he would to you? Would you tighten that Ravenlock around his throat and squeeze him to sleep? Would you snatch away his hopes and dreams, then look him in the face backstage and expect him to smile?” RAVEN: I’ll… I’ll beat Lux… “Ha! Good fucking luck! Lux is the most dangerous person on the roster and you fucking know it! You’re dumber than I fucking thought.” RAVEN: No, that’s not true! I can beat her! “No you can’t! She called you her white whale, James! Do you know what that means?! She’s spent her career planning for you, James! All of her training, each calculated step on the career path… made with you in mind!” RAVEN: Bull shit! “Hardly. This is the moment she’s been waiting for, a test she’s all but begged for to test herself. To prove herself. This is just another Saturday night to you, James. You’re overlooking her.” RAVEN: I’m not. I know how good she is, I’ve known for months… but she’s not unbeatable. “Of course not. She’s just unbeatable to you. You’re spread too thin, you’re not focused or motivated anymore, and you’ve been using the Apex Prophecy to hide that fact! Admit it! LUX IS GOING TO SMASH YOU! Centurion is taking your title, and you’ll never hear from him again!” I don’t argue anymore, I don’t have the energy. TJ wins. “Unless…” RAVEN: Unless what? “Nevermind, you don’t have it in you.” RAVEN: Of course I do! Tell me, what? “You burn them all to the ground.” RAVEN: Excuse me? “Scorched Earth, mother fucker! To hell with them all! Centurion has been dead weight for you to haul since you met him, aging bones and sagging muscles with an overinflated name to keep him bobbing above water! KILL HIM! There’s a reason he never won a Universal title, James. He. Can’t. Hang. When the going gets tough, the tough take it to a new level that he just doesn’t have. Drag Centurion into the deep water. Look into his eyes. Drown the traitorous fuck.” RAVEN: I don’t kn- “You want to fucking lose? Be my guest! You want to show Lux exactly why you were her white whale? THEN FUCK THIS TAG TEAM SHIT! Be the Universal champion again! Be the goddamn legend! Shove your fist down her throat and a foot up her ass, and make her long for the days when losing the King of the Ring tournament was her biggest concern!” RAVEN: … “You were her white whale? You should be FUCKING insulted! She sees you as her coming triumph, James! She sees you as the trophy and career achievement that she’ll live off of forever! Rise up out of the sea and smash her ship to pieces, leave it scattered across the ocean floor and watch the terror on her face as the waves crash down upon her!” There’s a fire flowing in my veins, adrenaline pumping liberally. RAVEN: You’re right. Fuck them all! Burn it down! “Oh, poor naive James… THAT’S not burning it down.” RAVEN: What? “Destroying Lux and Centurion doesn’t make you the legend again. It doesn’t make you the Universal champion. It just keeps you Apex’s bitch for another week. Now losing… handing over all that gold… breaking Robert Main’s heart… creating a fissure within the brotherhood… Now that… THAT is burning it down.” RAVEN: … losing? “You heard me.” RAVEN: … no… I can’t? I’m… confused… I thought this whole time you wanted me to win? “Oh, James. What I want is far more complicated than you can possibly imagine. What happens Saturday Night is up to you. Just remember; have some pride in the Raven name. I was your brother. Robert and Drew aren’t.” RAVEN: No! Tell me what I’m supposed to do! Silence. He doesn’t answer me after that. I glance around the lot behind the House of Mirrors, but I don’t see him anywhere. Everything begins to move again, the wind blowing through my hair and the sounds of bells and buzzers at the fair filling the air once more. RAVEN: TJ! COME BACK! Two shadows rush around the corner of the building, rushing towards me. MAIN: Raven! I found him, brother! ARCHYLE: Hey! Hey! Are you alright, man? You don’t look so good… I nod, but I don’t say anything. I can’t, my head is spinning and it’s impossible to process anything that just happened. MAIN: Relax, buddy. Just relax… we’re together again. Everything is alright. No it isn’t Robert. No it isn’t. Lux and Centurion are ready for us. This whole Apex Prophecy thing was a mistake, I can’t be doing this… I… I… Burn it down. Stop it. Stop it, that’s just the drugs talking. I would never be able to live with myself if I was the reason we lost these titles. I’m giving it everything I’ve got, and I’m ending the strange bedfellows run of Cent and Lux. Ooooor… Burn it down. Drew and Robert stare at me a long while. I still don’t say anything. Burn it down. FADE TO BLACK