Burning does not mean the end. Not always. Like a phoenix, some people rise, stronger.
Where has he been?
The question that everyone has been asking? Or maybe no one? Maybe no one cares anymore. He failed after all. His last match was a mockery.
Quote:Gator kips up and high fives Socrates. Both men look at Davids on the ground. They shrug and play rock, paper, scissors!
"ROCK" "ROCK"
"PAPER" "PAPER"
"SCISSORS" "SCISSORS"
"SCISSORS" "ROCK"
Socrates yells “dammit” and Gator smiles as he covers the Television champion. Both the referee and Socrates go for the count.
1...
2...
3! Paul Heyman, was a second too late.
The crowds watched him be humiliated by two men who deserve to be at the bottom of the barrel. All because The Brotherhood just had to get their way. They couldn’t stand to watch him succeed.
How disappointed he was in himself was nothing compared to how he felt to Paul. He had really let down his mentor, the man who was the driving force behind his success. How would Paul feel? How does Paul feel?
It’s been months and no one has come to save him. Not this time. Not yet at least.
Cain and Sebastian Duke had gotten to better of him and here he stands, with his body tied to a cross as if he had been sacrificed to save all of you from your sins.
Blood had dried down his face, the red had become cemented as if it were war paint. Except he had lost this war. Although, as long as he remained breathing, the war wasn’t over. Not in his eyes. Death was the end of the war, this was merely a battle. The war though, that is clearly set to continue.
“Help,”he whispered, as he did every day when the masked man plodded down the grotty steps into the blackened damp room.
“No,”the man responded, as he did every day.
The man was clearly just a guard or a servant, send to give him water and food. Yet there was always a glimmer of hope that the mere mortal might feel sympathy for him. He was, after all, stood up near enough permanently, other than three hours during the night when they allowed him sleep.
This was all to keep him alive, and he understood that. Why let him die? That would be too obvious, too easy. They were merely waiting for an opportunity to make use of him. His services or his value. Although he was not a champion anymore, he still held a lot of value. People had probably forgotten but for a select few. But he holds a 24/7 briefcase. What is almost a guarantee to winning that championship belt. Yes, the Universal Championship belt.
I assume you’ve worked out who he is by now?
He isSteve Davids.
Two time X-Treme Champion, Former Television Champion, 24/7 Briefcase holder.
You see to me, he holds a particular value. A value that I cannot allow to go untouched for any longer. Whilst it may not mean direct success for me, it will mean getting my name back out there. In the media, and allowing myself to be reborn alongside Steve Davids? Oh and who am I? Well all will be revealed in good time.
It would be dull to make the subtly extravagant reveal so soon wouldn’t it? This is more than likely, the first you will have heard of him in almost six months. And it will be the first the majoritiy will have heard of me in, well, ever.
The odd echo and whisper may float on by but my name is one that has largely faded into the shadows as he has.
The reason I have looked for him, for so long, is because he is exactly what I need to get our names up in lights. This is not just for my own personal gain. This is not just my own selfishness. It never was and it never has been.
I have always been about helping those that deserved a chance. I have always been about providing for others WHILST benefiting. Yes, there always must be a sense of looking after number one but why prevent others from benefiting from your own success. Perhaps it is my own naivety that allows me to have this attitude, because it is a dog eat dog industry after all.
Will people have missed me? Probably not. I was always rather irritating, and many of my followers, well they’re either dead and gone or entirely useless without me there to hold their hands.
You see without certain connections, people begin to fade. They begin to fail. As Steve has.
No one has come to save him this time, well until now.
Oh yes, don’t you think it’s about time I made my epic entrance? Okay, well maybe it’s not so epic.
Masked, I strolled from the darkness next to the door that the guard had entered from and stood behind him. Steve gasped as I pulled a knife from my pocket and sliced the throat of the guard.
Maybe there were certain aspects of selfishness in me after all, I mean what had that guard ever done? Then again, what does it matter now. He’s staring at the back of his stupid fucking eyelids.
“No one ever wears a mask so ridiculous,”Steve said with a sad smirk on his face. He was right though,the frog mask was the only one that was available at the petrol station.
“Oh I do apologize if my mask is not sinister enough for you,”I said, sarcastically whilst shrugging my shoulders and shaking my head.
“On the contrary, it has a twisted humour,”he muttered.
“The best kind then,” I joked, “now do you want me to save you or are you happy standing there like that for a few more months?”
“Please,” his smile had faded into a desperate sadness.
I cut the ropes and pointed to my heels. He understood, and followed. The behemoth looked slightly skinnier than he had in the past.
“Are you going to tell me who you are?”He asked, whispering.
“Not yet you mug,”I slapped him gently. What an invalid.
Getting in had been difficult, I feel like getting out should be the easy part.
I was wrong.
As soon as we got to the top of the steps two guards tried to jump us but I flipped mine over and knocked him out with a swift elbow across the jaw. Steve, despite his evident weakness managed to kick the guard down swiftly and I punted him in the head for good measure. They were both out cold.
A siren begun to rang and I realized there was no point in being subtle at this point.
We turned, looked at each other, and nodded. We both begun to sprint for the first exit of the eerie house. It is a good thing the Brotherhood clearly were not around or our escape may not have been possible. The doors were locked there was only one thing to do…
I grabbed Steve by the head and flung him head first through the window. He was okay, just more blood. Again, perhaps contrary to my beliefs, another selfish act. We sprinted for the hills but turned and nothing followed.
Either they had given up or had begun to panic. If Duke is around to find out about this then there is no doubt a lot of them will not be seeing daylight tomorrow morning.
We walked sluggishly. I had to prop Steve up, his rags were covered in blood so there was no way we could go walking through the city like this.
I dialled some numbers and called Tom, my friend, I definitely wouldn’t expect you to remember him.
“We need picking up, track my phone and get here as soon as possible,”
Tom was here in what felt like an eternity but was actually no longer than twenty minutes.
We scurried through MY building, more on that later and to a lounge.
The fire crackled and the scent of lavender floated into our nostrils.
“Here,”Tom threw Steve some tracksuit bottoms and a warm jumper, as well as a set of underwear.
“You can put them on AFTER you have had a shower, I mean Jesus,”I laughed, Steve smiled slightly as Tom showed him where the shower was.
“So who’s your friend?” Tom asked.
“Oh don’t be jealous Tom. He is merely an acquaintance at this point and you know I don’t swing that way, as much as you hate it,”I joked.
“You’ve always had a knack for avoiding questions and failing to arrive at the point,”
“Put it this way, he’s certainly going to be beneficial,” I smirked as I grabbed Steve’s 24/7 briefcase from the sofa and held it in front of my chest. I caressed it with my hands and grinned.
“Ah, and when he finds out who you are do you think he will really have any interest in giving it to you?”
“Well I did just save him. That’s not the point though, I do not intend on using it myself. I intend on putting Steve Davids back where he belongs, at the top. And if I happen to be standing next to him whilst he’s at the top of the mountain then so be it,” I was pretty happy with my plan. The arrogance shined through as I smirked.
Tom nodded with approval. His bulging body was suppressed by the grey suit that suffocated his muscles.
“You do know you’re still wearing that fucking frog mask don’t you?”He asked.
“Of course, the cameras are still rolling and I cannot show them my face until the final scene otherwise the effect is ruined,”
“You know, I’m pretty sure everyone has worked out who you are by now,”
“I know but, well, stop ruining the fucking moment alright! This is a big deal to like all four of my fans! Now run me a bath,” I smiled.
I turned to the camera, grinning through the mask whilst Tom went to run me a bath.
“Now as Tom says… you’ve probably worked out who I am. I mean I thought the subtle mention of connections would have done it but for those of you who do not know who I am, this will not shocking because you more than likely will not care…”
My sarcasm had turned into seriousness with a click of the fingers.
Click.
“I am going to be the man that puts Steve Davids back on top. And I WILL be stood there next to him because that is where I belong. This time, I will be helping people, but I will be helping the right people. No passengers. No Andrew Morrisons or John Austins weighing me down. The people I carry to the top this time will be the men who deserve it and can actually stay there for at least a brief period of time. I am a natural leader. I am the man who makes connections. I am…”
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