“N-no matter how many times you sting me, I will always get up!”

“Do your worst…!”

“... I suppose we cannot escape our fate, can we?”

“... I don’t know, love. I lost count. I’m probably going to bed too early, is all.”

“Mr. Pryce?”

“It’s a Free-for-All. You want to pay in blood? You just got your wish. Just make sure you show up here, and that any blood on you belongs to someone else.”

The call ends, and the Lion is left staring at his phone, somewhat dumbfounded.

“My Lion? Is everything okay?”

Raion looks at Ryleigh.

“That was Theo Pryce. He wants me to come back too. I find it strange that he called just as you were telling me about it…”

The Crown Jewel of the Dixon Family adopts a puzzled expression.

“I know, right? Quite… unusual, I would say.”

They stare at each other for a short while, and both break out into laughter.

“You always sound so cute when you’re playing coy.”

He looks at the golden box at his room once more, and, perhaps by the light of the morning sun, it seems to be shining with a pale glow…

“But it might be time to find out whether this Lion still has fangs. Perhaps… I may even begin to sleep soundly once more.”


“Now take the final blow! SCARLET NEEDLE, ANTARES!...”

The Lion grits his teeth and waits for his doom…

*CRACK!*

“... What?”

But as the blow hits, he feels but a soft touch. Soon he can move his loosening limbs. He can breathe in deeply for much needed air, he can feel the tastebuds on his tongue, and he can hear the voice that tormented him go from coldly monotone to warm, and even friendly.

“I’ve hit your vital pressure point. That will stop the bleeding, and your senses will eventually go back to normal. The Goddess pleaded with me to stop, but she always knew you’d pass the test.”

He still cannot make out who wears the gold armor in front of him, but soon the wearer turns his back, and begins to walk away.

“Wait! Will you not finish it? Will you not finally strike this disgraced Saint down?”

The gold-clad figure stops, and the only thing the Lion can make out is a shake of the head.

“The one that stands before me is not disgraced, but my fellow Saint of Athena. And his name…”

But it turns back to face him, and the Lion is stunned to find his own face staring back at him - now wearing a smile that he could finally call his own.

“... is Raion Kido. The Gold Saint of Leo.”


“Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Into the fray once more.”


In the city of Arlington of the Lone Star State, there is the Caelum Moore Sculpture Garden - an open-air exhibit of stone art. Among these is an arch-like structure resembling the ruins of Stonehenge - two columns of granite and a large horizontal stone above them.

And between the columns of this arch stands Raion Kido - clad in his glowing golden armor, as if he were a guardian of the entrance of this arch.

“For those of you that may not know me, my name is Raion Kido. Bearer of the Gold Cloth of Leo, warrior of hope… Saint of Athena.

Needless to say, it has been some time since I last showed up on any ring at all, let alone an XWF one. But this is my home, it has always been, and I know for a fact that there’s people here that wanted me back.

So here I am once again, and I promise to you that this Free-for-All shall be the stage where the XWF fans shall get to hear the Lion’s roar once more!”

The arch behind the young Osaka wrestler is the lone witness to the words of the Lion, and the quiet wind that blows, the carrier of his message throughout the emptiness of the garden in the night.

If Raion Kido was to return, he should do so as he was remembered - the fierce Lion whose word was the prelude to the explosion of the stars.

But it was time to announce himself to the other contestants - after all, lions were never meant to stay in darkness.

“Now, to those other entrants that don’t know me, please allow me to introduce myself. Some might say, and not without cause, that I am a very successful wrestler, as I am a former XWF Champion, a former XWF Tag Team Champion, a double champion, having held those simultaneously at one point, and the winner of the 2023 Leap of Faith match.

Some of you know this first hand, and if you don’t believe me, you may ask “Deathproof” Corey Black about our match in the Denzel Porter Invitational. You may also ask some of the XWF’s own talent present what happened to them when they felt the Lightning Bolt strike their hearts - look no further than Bobby Bourbon and Thunder Knuckles.

But as I look at the rest of the people that have signed up to get a taste of blood, I ask you all, what is the measure of success?”

A brief silence follows, as Raion shrugs his shoulders. Whatever he might have achieved in the past, this was a new time, and a new event.

And even though the stars in the sky, and the constellation that gave Raion his path in life are eternal, it was also time to show that this was a new Lion - and that his new fangs were made to draw blood.

“Is it the amount of titles and achievements one holds throughout their career,as with B.O.B. D or whatever name he goes by these days, or the good Dr. Louis D’Ville? Is it reaching the pinnacle of heights in a promotion, as with XWF Hall of Famer Centurion? There’s people here that have achieved that degree of success elsewhere as well: Johnny Bacchus and Spencer Adams in Action Wrestling, Matt Knox in PWA, Sebastian Everett-Bryce and Sloane Taylor in UGWC, or Kaya Parker in Zion.

And for every one of them, myself included, there is another side to that coin. With that success comes pressure, a pressure that, sooner or later, no matter how long it takes, will lead everyone to buckle under its weight. That is what occurred to me, and there is no way for me to turn back time.

Therefore, this is the only way I have to pay for my failure of the past - in blood. For only through failure can we achieve success - and that shall be the terms by which the winner of this Free-for-All is ultimately decided.”

The Lion points towards the camera, a mischievous glint now glowing in his eyes. Plenty of talent from around the wrestling world would gather at this event, and the former double Champion was not about to speak about what occurs in promotions from which he is not part.

But was it not his duty, as a homegrown XWF talent, to show these people exactly what they were up against? It would be rude, after all, to leave them with the wrong impression - even if giving them the right one meant they had to bleed.

Of course, the ultimate aim of Raion Kido is to achieve success - so it is time for him to get back to focus on his goal.

“Is success the ability to persist in the imaginaries of the thousands in attendance and the millions watching at home, as with Jason Cashe, as strange as that would sound in a man of his dubious stature? To stay a household name despite the passage of time as with Barney Green? To cultivate a certain ever-lasting image that brings recognition, as with Cypher or the Enigma?

Is it tenacity like that of RL Edgar? Is it the drive to succeed that Crash Rodríguez, and Mark Cross have?  Or perhaps it is resiliency despite adversity and the passage of time, as with Dick Drizzle or the DadBod.

Some might very well say it is so, and yet there is another side of the coin for which to look - for every drop of success there is a greater one of failures. And this too is something about which I can tell you - because it was a long time that it took me to achieve my first success in the XWF, and against great adversity that I regained the XWF Universal Title after having lost it.

But rather than marks of shame, those failures can be turned into badges of honor, for at the end of the day, they are the proof that we have fought, and that we lived to tell those stories, and that we lack not the courage to fight the same battles, again and again, until we finally succeed.

And for that, members of the audience, is why I stand before you today - for this is the one battle I intend to fight, and to win, if it shall serve as proof that at the bottom of failure lies success - even should it take until your very last drop of blood.”

As the Lion’s teeth peel back in a snarl, his canines are now on display - canines that had not seen action in quite some time.

This was the moment to sharpen them in the flesh of those who would stand between him and his return, and to his ultimate goal.

To be the best wrestler that the XWF could possibly desire.

“Perhaps success is dedicating entirely to being the best in what one does within the ring, as with the Sean Parker’s airborne skills, or as I know first hand with Mark Flynn’s mastery of technical wrestling. Perhaps it is also staying true to one’s nature despite the entire universe being against you, as would be the case with Dickie Watson.

There are some people that equate success with notoriety, and will do anything to get noticed no matter the consequences, as is the case with Slade Durant, Joe Montuori, this Shazz Nasty woman, or Noah Jackson’s constant spewing of expletives, or Kieran King’s endless antagonizing of whomever he happens to fixate upon at any given moment. Success despite all consequences and against the world. As disgusting and abhorrent as I find it, it works for them, and that’s enough.

And yet the other side of that coin is the ability to back up whatever claims they make, and that is something in which they almost often fail. I don’t need to look very far behind to see - just ask Shazz Nasty what happened when she tried to antagonize a fellow wrestler on account of their gender identity, and why she has been quiet ever since.

In this, at least, I can claim that every statement that the voice of the Lion has ever pronounced has been nothing but the absolute truth - and that, when called upon to defend it, I always have, for I have never needed controversy in order to elevate myself. When it comes to Raion Kido, there is only my voice, my words, and the power of the cosmos that I hold within my soul, as do all of us.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is yet one more motive for which I am coming to the Free-for-All. Because unlike all of you, every statement made by the Lion is written,and backed up with blood - and come January 28th, I shall have made certain that this sentence I have pronounced upon you is signed with yours.”

This time, the Lion throws a punch at the camera. Notoriety, controversy and scandal may be what works for this group of misfits, but as long as he stands, they shall not succeed.

For it was time for Raion Kido to show that his return in the XWF would not be in vain. Not after his own shame.

Redemption was his goal, everything that stood in his way be damned - especially the likes of King or Jackson.

“For those of you that do know me, these words may seem strange, but you know what? There is an ultimate truth at the end of this all. I’ve never really believed in a bloodless fight. What value is there in leaving a fight unscathed? It merely means that an opponent did not even have the skill to leave a lasting mark. It’s the hits we take, the scars we bear after our battles, are the true marks of valor, and we should wear them proudly, because it means we fought, and we came out of it.

And that, more than anything, is to me the measure of success. For it is through earning those scars and taking the blows, and hitting back, that everything else follows. That dedication to our craft, the recognition that we earn and the accomplishments we achieve, all of that comes from having bled.

But here, my friends, is where the ultimate meaning of success shall be redefined.”

The Lion throws back the white cape behind his Gold Cloth. Much as he would not mind bleeding if it meant everyone else went down, the goal was to be the only one whose blood would not run.

And if that is what had to be, then so be it.

For in the end, nothing else matters.

“Because among all 30 entrants today, the only measure of success shall be not who’s left standing when the final bell has rung, but the one whose body sheds no blood. It’s my blood or all of yours, and I’ve already done too much bleeding on the inside to come back to the XWF to let anyone down.

So this Free-for-All, ladies and gentlemen, is my form of absolution. Either I shall pay for my absence in blood, or the blood of all of you shall be the way I earn my redemption. But the outcome be damned, there is only one reality. One way or another, you shall learn of one of the greatest wrestlers that has ever graced this company, and you shall see him right in front of your eyes - perhaps the last sight you see before you end up seeing red once you have tasted the Lion’s fangs.

And when that happens, and when I am the last left standing, all of you can take pride in the fact that your blood was drawn by the fangs of the Lion himself, and that you live to tell the tale. You may consider that a badge of honor, and a mark of valor, but for me, it will have meant the true price to pay for my return, and the true measure of success. For as it was once said, my friends, success is measured in blood.”

Teeth gritted, fists clenched, and a ferocious snarl in his face, the Lion accompanies his final words with a thumb dragged across his throat.

In the waning gibbous moon, the gold armor in which he is clad glints with a subdued, almost dark shine.

“Yours, or your enemies’.”

Fade to black.

4000 words (wordcounter.net)