I don’t mind the dark, in fact, I love it. But that is only to be expected from a creature like me. It’s within the darkness that all of the ugly in the world can hide. For me, the darkness serves as a camouflage, allowing me to venture out into the world, to go places that I otherwise couldn’t. Be it my fame, or my appearance, my presence always causes the world to stop around me. People point and stare, whisper amongst one another. Some even go so far as to attack me, but in the darkness all of that can be avoided. In the darkness I can feel free, free from my sins.
However the darkness that fills my mind is a different manner of beast. That is the darkness that I fear. The one that haunts my dreams and nags at my consciousness all hours of the day. Sinister thoughts, murderous thoughts, my thoughts.
The first time that I can recall such thoughts was my childhood. I couldn’t have been more than 12 at the time. Our next door neighbor had this dog. A beagle if I remember the breed correctly. His name was Rex, and he used to escape the confinement of their backyard at least once every other day. As a child who wasn’t allowed to have a pet of my own, I grew excited anytime that I saw Rex out of his yard. It was an opportunity for me to play with someone who didn’t judge me, who didn’t seek to hurt me in some way. All this animal wanted to do was fetch that old green tennis ball and have his belly rubbed. I was happy to oblige.
The day that I killed Rex was the first time I experienced the darkness. To this day I can’t tell you why I did it. Maybe it was me lashing out for all of the abuse that I took. Maybe it was the stupidity of a child who didn’t realize just how final his actions really were. Maybe I wanted to feel the rush of being in control, of having absolute power over another living being, Maybe it bit of everything. Whatever my motivations, I remember watching the life drain from Rex’s eyes as I squeezed my hands around his neck, and the complete lack of empathy I felt when I realized what I had done.
The darkness that infiltrated the mind of that child still conceals itself within me today. It’s mere existence within me was a major catalyst for my choosing professional wrestling as a career in the first place. So few avenues in life allow for a person as twisted as myself to not only exist, but to thrive. Out of the limited options, this was the one that appealed to me the most.
When the name Wraith first appeared on XWF booking sheets, not a single person took notice. All they could see, if they could see anything at all, was another green rookie who was likely to work a few matches and then disappear from the XWF as quickly as he first appeared.
When Wraith challenged Calypso for the Federweight championship, and won it not by defeating the six time champion in a war of words, but instead won the belt via a technicality, It also went unnoticed.
Wraith waited patiently for someone to come and challenge him for the strap, someone who had both the skill and name recognition required to make the entire world take notice.
What Wraith got was Das Wundersnitzle and a half retired Cadryn Tiberius. The Federweight had always been a lower tier belt, but there used to be a time where the best trash talkers in the XWF would come after it with a fiery determination, just to see if the champ had the chops to live up to the Feder name.
Those days are long gone, so when Tank Hammerit made a very lame attempt at the title, I decided to just walk away from the championship and find a new way to make my mark in the XWF.
This brings us to Warfare. Wraith and Pestilance vs BX3 was never destined to become match of the night. It was far from anything that even the most hardcore of fan could get behind. Two rookies vs a team that exist merely for comedic sake. The fans didn’t cheer us throughout the match and they didn’t boo BX3, instead, they just sat there. Most of them anyway, others used our match as an opportunity to hit the restrooms and concession stands before the “real” action began.
The match itself was a quick one, ending in a double submission, even if only one counted. It was intended to show dominance. Pestilance like myself wanted to send a message to management. A message that sent the statement that we were both better than this. After the match, things got a little out of hand. I had promised to spill blood in this match for my “master”, and so far, I had not fulfilled that promise.
It should be known right from the start that I will do anything for her. Not only is Mandii Rider a strong warrior herself. Not only does she have a seemingly unbreakable spirit that drives her to compete at the highest caliber, but she also saved my life.
I found myself without the spirit to continue on. I had been abandoned by everyone I had ever been foolish enough to care for. In retrospect, I realize that these people were never true my allies or brothers. Each one of them came into my life seeing not a friend, not an ally, but a tool. A tool to somehow advance or protect their own careers.
A rookie looking to get noticed, an up in comer who saw an association with me as his potential ticket to the top, and a legend in the making who decided it best to have me on his side instead of in the ring across from him. Each of these people found me as I was beginning to ascend the ranks in the XWF, and each of them left me as it all came crashing down.
Not her though, Mandii wanted nothing more than to see me pull it together. She comforted me, not because she had anything to gain, but because she could see that I was hurting. Later that same night, we decided to travel together. We talked, compared scars, shit on Jenny Myst and her boy toy. She now looks to me as a friend, but I look into her eyes and I desire more. She’s not your typical girl. Asking her out, buying her dinner, I know that is not the path to her heart. She, like myself, is a warrior, and warriors find their great loves on the battlefield through the shared undertaking of spilling the blood of their enemies.
It is for this reason that I have dedicated myself and my abilities to her. A gesture that when first proposed, she was hesitant to accept. Like I said before, Mandii Rider looked to take nothing from me. She just offered friendship in a time of need, and in return I offer her my loyalty. I will fight by her side and help vanquish our foes in order to win her admiration, in order to win her love…
Thursday, 03/15/2018
Novotel Perth Langley
7:13am
I approach Mandii’s hotel room, two coffees in hand.
*Knock Knock*
I wait patiently for her to answer her door, but she doesn’t. I debate whether I should knock again. “Maybe she’s still asleep”, I think to myself. I decide to let her be. She had a hard fought victory against Jenny Myst last night. She could probably use a little extra rest.
I decide to go outside and get some fresh air while I wait for Mandii to begin her day. I quickly down the first coffee on my way to the elevator and toss the empty cup into a trashcan. I press the button to call for the elevator. Within seconds it responds with an audible *DING* and the doors slide open. I step inside and press the button for the first floor. The doors slide shut, and that nauseating feeling creeps upon me as I begin my decent.
I’ve never liked elevators, they’ve always fucked with my stomach, but as the years have gone by, I’ve managed to learn to cope with them. At least I don’t hurl the second the stop moving anymore.
The elevator stops abruptly and another *DING* sounds just before the doors slide open again. I step out and take a deep breath in hopes of calming my stomach. I take a small sip of my coffee as I casually walk through the lobby.
Out of the corner of my eye, a figure catches my attention behind the glass wall that separates the lobby from the gym. It’s Mandii, running on a treadmill, and by the looks of things, she’s been at it for a while. I open the door and step inside of the hotel gym. Mandii sees me, but neither of us say a word. I watch her closely as I draw near, awestruck by her beauty.
”I brought coffee back to your room, but I figured you were asleep.”
”No, it takes work to rebuild a division, especially one that Jenny Myst single handedly ran into the ground.”
I smile as I recall the sight of Mandii pinning that cocky little bitches shoulder down for the 3 count.
”You fought well last night.”
And I watch as she can’t help but let a slight smile creep onto her face as well.
”It felt good to finally shut her up.”
”Not an easy task.”
”No, but a satisfying one.”
She can’t help but giggle to herself at the thought. We both know that Jenny will be back will a whole new list of reasons why she is still the better Bombshell, but for the time being, it feels good to enjoy her victory. Her smile disappears as she looks over to me with a concerned look in her eyes.
”How’s the knee?”
I stomp my foot to the ground a couple of times, sending a sharp pain up from my knee to my lower thigh.
”I won’t be running a treadmill anytime soon, but I should be fine.”
”You should have waited to challenge Finn.”
”Nah, I’ve worked through far worse.”
She looks away from me, focusing instead on the muted TV mounted in front of her machine.
”You’re of no use to me if you allow yourself to get injured.”
For a moment, I felt the chemistry between us. I believe she did too, but she’s closing herself off for whatever reason. I let out a sigh before responding.
”Then I won’t get hurt.”
”Finn Kuhn isn’t someone that you should overlook. He’s been on a quick rise since joining the XWF, and he defeated Chris Chaos pretty decisively not that long ago.”
Her tone is getting a little defensive. It’s like she doesn’t think that I’m taking this match seriously. The next words out of my mouth don’t help ease her concerns.
”Pfft, who hasn’t beaten Chris Chaos lately?”
”This isn’t a joke...”
I take a moment to think on my words before speaking.
”I know it isn’t, but we have nothing to fear from Finn Kuhn. The kid’s a loud mouth whose ego is bigger than his britches. I’ll be fine.”
She doesn’t even look me in the eye as she turns off the machine and throws her white towel over her shoulder.
”I need to clean up.”
She pushes past me and heads straight for the elevators. The fact that she worries about my health, and can get this angry at me are promising signs. As I turn to exit the gym, I manage to twist my knee wrong, causing it to give and send me crashing to the floor as my coffee spills everywhere. Maybe she’s right, maybe I should have waited…
”Finn Kuhn, you carry yourself around this goddamn place like you’re not some over entitled jerk off with DELUSIONS of grandeur! What have you done in the XWF other than tell anyone and everyone that’ll listen, just how great YOU THINK you are? After Warfare went off the air, you made a statement...
”Time to prove I’m a challenger of… Universal proportions.”
”Surely you're joking, right? If not, you’re only kidding yourself. How long have you been on the quest to prove yourself to the XWF? How many times have you boasted about your talent, only to fall short when put to task? If you were half as good as you try so hard to make us believe, you would already be the Universal Champion! It’s not like you haven’t been awarded the opportunity to be in that spot, but you just couldn’t get past Jim Caedus, could you? I won’t give you shit for that, not many can stand toe to toe with Caedus and walk away with the victory, but the fact that you fail OH SO HARD at doing just that, yet think that you actually stand a chance at defeating the man who took Old Yeller out behind the woodshed at Turning Point is simply laughable.”
“Oh, but now it’s time to PROVE that you deserve to be a challenger. Okay, so what in the hell were you doing before now, huh? Was everything leading up to last night just you bullshitting around and wasting everyone’s time? If you ask me, you’re still wasting everyone’s time! Calling out Chris Chaos, that’s not your ticket to the Universal Title.”
“Hey, I get it, you beat Chaos back in January. It was a crowning achievement in your career at the time, and a good starting point for proving that everything you've been telling us about your talent and skill is true. The problem is, you haven't really capitalized on the situation, have you? Directly following that win over Chaos, you lost to Caedus, and then at Turning Point you barely squeaked out a surprise pin over Danny Imperial. Do you really think that you can pull that shit on the Universal Champ? Do you really believe that you can rely on an eye poke and a quick rollup to unseat The Engineer as champion? Fuck no kid, FUCK NO!”
“So the only truly impressive thing on your resume as of late is the fact that you defeated Chris Chaos. A man who’s star has done nothing but fall over the course of the last year. Let’s face facts Finn. There once was a time that defeating Chris Chaos would have meant something. Where getting THAT win would have instantly catapulted you to the main event. Those days however, are long gone. So, while toppling the once great Chris Chaos may have still been a good stepping stone for your ascension up the ranks, the impact of that victory continues to fade more and more with each passing week. Yet you’re so transfixed on the guy because you still somehow think that anyone gives a shit when he is beaten.”
“Then there’s Micheal Graves. Do you wanna explain to everyone what it was about attacking an injured old man from behind that you thought spelt GOOD CAREER MOVE to you? Are you really so daft that you think anyone will see your cowardly actions and suddenly begin to take you seriously as a threat?
What happens when Micheal Graves returns from his knee injury and ENDS you? What does that do for Finn Kuhn’s Universal Title aspirations? That’s your problem kiddo, you don’t think anything through. You just react in the moment, allowing emotion to drive your actions. If you were a smarter man and a better warrior, you would learn to pick your battles more wisely. There is nothing to gain from Chris Chaos or an injured Micheal Graves.”
“But…”
“There is something to gain from Wraith bringing the fight to you and defeating you on Warfare. You had your ugly face all over the show. You opened by whining about not receiving your special prize at Turning Point. AWWW poor bitch boy didn’t get his lolly pop! A little later on, you did that big attack on Graves and made a statement that you were better than him, if he didn’t see you coming, and you have a lead pipe, and finally, a litter later on, you were backstage boasting about said attack and trying to force Steve Sayors into an impromptu interview so that you could once again stroke your own ego.”
“It was at this point that I knew that my path to the top would begin with YOU. A universally hated twat with an overinflated and undeserved ego. I stepped out from the shadows and waited until I had your attention. Then, when you knew what was coming, I dropped the sword and brought it to you like a man. As far as the chair shots at the end go, lets just say that was payback for me having to listen to you run your stupid mouth all night!”
“So what happens this week at Warfare? The newest rookie who probably isn’t a rookie is going to put Finn Kuhn to the test. I’m on a mission to spill the blood of cunts like you and prove my love to my master. With every body that I leave in my wake, I grow ever so closer to my goal, and in the end, you’ll just be another notch on my blade!”
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