Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

Raion Kido · (02-03-2023)

“The sky is blue and grass is green, and blood is a bright, bright red. And it’s finally time for a reckoning.”

It was no secret that Sarah Lacklan did not hold him in high esteem, and Raion Kido did remember the words she had said when he was to face Angelica Vaughn.

“I recall sending her a Big Bento box in the hopes that she would be satisfied, but it’s now time for a more potent meal.”

The steaks sizzled as he placed them over the gridiron, red-hot coals burning underneath. White smoke billows from the grill, carrying the scent around Houston’s Memorial Park, and into the nostrils of Ryleigh Dixon.

“Mmm… starting to smell pretty good, my Lion!”

Ryleigh had been involved in a social media episode that might have caused her to relapse to alcohol, and the Lion had taken it upon himself to shield her from the nastiness, and take her for a cookout.

“I have to admit - being used to Japanese cuisine, I’m not very knowledgeable on meat, but I know enough about steak not to burn it!”

A small chuckle escapes his lips, even though there is a constricting feeling in his throat. Nevertheless, the Lion continues.

“But I picked steak, firstly because I don’t think anything else would have been any more appropriate in the Lone Star State, and secondly, because I do remember Ms. Lacklan wanted some more flavor after I sent her a treat.

So now, at Weekend Warfare, she’s getting exactly that - from my hand to her mouth.”

The embers in the fire burn as brightly as he says these words, but Raion retains a jovial look upon his face. However, it isn’t that simple. Double the number of competitors, and one of the best names in the XWF at the very first round.

How was he to overcome this?

“Are you okay, Raion? You look out of sorts…”

The Lion knew no fear - but there was no hiding the concern upon his face. Perhaps the impending doom that was mounting upon him meant that he had to go clear his mind.

“Hm? Oh - sorry, just spaced out!”

Perhaps this cookout was not only just for Ryleigh, but to him as well. Ryleigh approaches him and gently grabs him by the chin, to look directly at her face.

“I know enough of my Lion to see that something is troubling him.”

And the Lion draws a sigh, conceding at last.

“I suppose I can’t fool you, Ryleigh. I feel the taste of blood on my palate. Not literally, though. Something… metaphorical.”

A small silence, broken only by the sound of the meat cooking on the grill, before the Lion proceeds.

“The circumstances here are dire. I wanted the Main Event, the challenge after dealing with newcomers and returning names in meaningless matches. But now the stakes are much higher than they were, and I am truly feeling the pressure.”

He clenches a fist, the spatula that he still holds now quivering.

“For in the end, not everything about me is metal. I am a simple man and there’s millions of reasons for which every match is a challenge. And this shall be the first one in a very long time.”

The soft touch of Ryleigh’s hands on her face breaks up his train of thought.

“You’re one of the best talents in the company, Raion, and you didn’t need a shortcut to the top, nor a perpetual train of people singing your praise - you simply go and prove what you can do. The world knows how talented you are, and it’s time you remembered yourself.”

Ryleigh places a kiss on his lips, and the taste of her makes the taste of blood on his throat slowly start to fade away.

“Yes - you’re right, love. There’s only one person on which I can rely, and that is myself. Because if I don’t do that, then who will!?”

In the end, that was that to which all came down. Whatever feeling of anxiety or inadequacies would have to be put aside, because this was March Madness, and he would not be shown up. Not this time.

For he was a Saint of Athena - and his charge was to fight.

But soon he is distracted from his own mind as the pleasant smell of cooked meat reaches into his nose.

“Hang on - it seems some of them are ready!”

Raion now picks up a steak, the mark of the gridiron branded into it. He cuts it open, and there it was - medium rare, the perfect blend of brown, pink and red. Firm on the outside, juicy and tender enough inside, and bright red blood flowing on the plate.

Just like that of the Blood Princess would at Weekend Warfare.

“Ahhh… that’s truly delicious, Raion.”

“I hope you like it, love. And more than that, I hope Sarah likes the meal I’m going to give her next Saturday.”

While the Gold Saint of Leo could still taste his own blood on his throat, there was now something about that sensation. It was usually the sign of the wake-up call, the fight-or-flight response that drove the most cowardly of beings to fight for their own survival.

And in a Saint of Athena, that could only mean one thing - that the blood on his veins had to boil, and that the power of the universe must once more awaken within him.

That it was time for his cosmos to burn!

“Because our dear Blood Princess, love, is going to live up to her namesake.”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“With March Madness finally comes a challenge. I get Sarah Lacklan, one of the XWF’s greatest. Former Universal Champion, Anarchy Champion, and current Tag Team Champion.

But just like in a steak, what you see as cooked on the outside might just very well be tender and juicy from within - ripe to be crushed under one’s teeth, and upon the cutting of the knife, blood flowing a bright, bright red.

Very much, ladies and gentlemen, like our esteemed Ms. Lacklan.”

A smile as bright as the Texas noon is on the face of Raion Kido as he begins, betrayed by the cold glint of his eyes - the look of a knight as he rides against the barbarian hordes.

“She casts this impression of great success, but when we really come down to it, it turns out that our dear Blood Princess did not win the Universal Title that she attaches to her name until her second year. And for all her vaunting, and her pride in telling of how she cashed in immediately after winning, that’s the measure of the so-called UNIVERSAL FN’ CHAMPION - her greatest accomplishment was taking advantage of Shawn Warstein.

I won immediately after Leap of Faith, and earned my win on equal footing with everyone else. It strikes me as ironic, Ms. Sarah, that the bearer of the briefcase has to point this out, but at least I arrived at the Universal Title scene on my own merit.

And if I must speak about the Universal Title, well - ALIAS held it. Thaddeus Duke held it after you vacated it, and so did Chris Chaos, the man that broke you in half - who, despite several shortcomings, still managed to hold it almost twice as long as you did. What do they all have in common?”

The fire in the grill flickers as Raion lets the question linger, before he answers in a steely voice - like an oiled blade that exits the scabbard.

“They too, Sarah, have fallen prey to the fangs of the Lion, as shall you at the very first round of the March Madness tournament. Not one person shall prevent me from seizing the crown, least of all you. Even with a gold belt and her dear sister standing by her side, people shall talk about the downfall of Sarah Lacklan right before her rise even started - thanks to the Lion.”

The mirthless grin that Raion has worn on his face all this time is now gone, replaced with a bare-toothed snarl.

“And when the FN’ Universal Champion lost her title, nothing happened. Not a phoenix-like rebirth for the once-called Firestarter, but mere oblivion - so much, in fact, that we can’t even see her last match!

For the reality of our beloved Sarah Lacklan is not that she’s this conquering legend, but rather, that she is not. Whatever accomplishments she had have been forgotten, whatever history she might have made devoid of any relevance. She is but a show of nostalgia dedicated to her ephemeral emptiness.

I mean, she’s been inactive for just as long as her run lasted! Two years was she with the XWF, two years she was gone, and in that time, the company did not seem to need our favorite Blood Princess!

And what’s worse, her absence was not even full! 657 days you claim to have been on the shelf, but I saw you stand beside Angie in our first match. I saw your trumpet choirs announce you as Commissioner time and again until you lost interest, and decided to return - which, by the way, would not even be the first case of an official doing that only to fall to the Lion.

Just ask Micheal Graves.”

The Saint of Athena now points a finger at the camera, his voice as metallic as his Golden Cloth, and as incandescent as the embers on the grill that makes the remaining steak sizzle.

“So don’t whine to me about the shelf, for the truth is patently obvious: You simply lacked the courage to return, just like you lack the discipline to compete. You fancy yourself the best example of modern wrestling, but your dedication is less to it than to your social media, Ms. CoolTube. I don’t say this just because of your V-logs or screenshots, but because this also reflects in the ring. Just like you did with the Universal Title, you’ve obtained your new belt by exploiting someone else’s misfortune.

It’s bad enough you did this to Dolly and Nickles, but they’re not whom I mean. The true victim this time is your own dear sister. At least she worked to earn a title, and now that she’s lost it, here comes benevolent Sarah to bail her out. Which shows, in the end, what you really are - a parasite. Like Chris Chaos, and everyone I have faced since, and your end shall be exactly the same as theirs.

Just another body struck by the Lightning Bolt.”

An extended fist forward, its swift explosive motion producing a loud metallic clang.

“For unlike you, I require no deception, nor excuses to justify myself upon adversity. Unlike you, I never left. When I lost the Universal Title, I went right back to work, and I have won ever since.

Come Weekend Warfare, it is your turn to fall. The current Tag Team Champion, the former Universal FN’ Champion, shall be the first in the March Madness tournament to break upon the Lion’s anvil.

And the world shall be reminded that our red-clad, red-eyed Blood Princess also bleeds a bright, bright red.”

Putting a steak between two loaves of bread, the Lion takes a bite - the red blood dripping over the green blades of grass.

“Here we go, then. NRG Arena, Houston, Texas. It’s time to make things right, and to earn my title as King. Which translates to the fangs of the Lion sinking upon your lifeless flesh, and sending you back to oblivion.

So next time the once-great Blood Princess is back to pay respects to her dear parents in Heaven…”

Setting the sandwich down on the plate, Raion sticks a fork in it - burying it in the meat like a sword through flesh.

“... Tell them it was Raion Kido that made you taste your own blood.”

Fade to black.

2000 words (wordcounter.net)

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode The Taste of Blood
Author	Message