It looked as if the Lion had struck a nerve.

Of course, with that came ALIAS’ very heated response, and while Raion Kido knew no fear, he knew that this was the ultimate test.

Outside of the ring, things were no easier, as his path had now intertwined with the one of Ryleigh Dixon. She had called to him in a moment of distress, and he had come. There they both were, in her house in Las Vegas, and she had just woken up after a troubled night. The Lion was content to watch over her rest, but that meant he had to deal with his own burdens.

And here he was, right before the Cannabis Cup, going for nothing less than a miracle - with the wrath of every other opponent trained down on him. But now was not the time to worry about that - Ryleigh was waking, and it was her well-being that mattered most.

“...mm…”

A soft breath was released and her eyes began to open. Bright blue with a little green in the light. Her awareness was slowly returning, finding herself in strong arms she’s become familiar with. A glance at the clock and she realized how much time has elapsed. With careful movement, she turns herself around and looks into her protector’s eyes.

“Raion…?”

“Good morning, Ryleigh. Sleep well?”

When she smiles, her freckles seem to dance along her face. There’s a light red color upon her cheeks.

“Ah… yes. Though I didn’t mean to fall back asleep like this. I’m sorry”

Her left hand moves to gently comb through his lion’s mane of hair and she purses her lips.

“How long have I kept you waiting like this?”

Doing his best effort to smile, the Lion shakes his head.

“You haven’t kept me waiting at all, but I’ve been here for an hour. I couldn’t have slept anyway - I got my battles to fight.”

Although he had earned his place in the match, there was a thought drilling inside his brain, the thought that everyone he was facing had thrown at him. What if he was there because they didn’t think he could take on the XWF Universal Champion alone? What if he was just another worthy sacrifice?

“But don’t let me trouble you, lady. There are enough burdens here for one person alone.”

He places a slow, delicate kiss on her cheek, and slowly lets her go.

“What is your day looking like?”

He’s sweet. She’s smiling a little more. Just laying there on the bed, side by side, is comforting. She checks the flower calendar on the wall behind him before her eyes meet his.

“Completely free. I don’t work until tomorrow afternoon. For that, I’ll be traveling to Los Angeles in the morning. Until then…? Let’s do whatever you want.”

The entire time, her hand is softly caressing his hair. Raion can’t help but blush, but his smile widens.
“Then I got an idea. There’s a place I want to see before I get back to New York. It’s one of Las Vegas’ landmarks and it’s got an observation deck where we could go.”

He points at the sky, and the sun filtering through the window of her house.

“It’s a good place to see the stars, too. How about we go to the STRAT Hotel’s Skypod tonight?”

It was a good plan as any to take his mind off the Cannabis Cup and the focus on every other competitor bearing down on him. More importantly, it was a fine place to take Ryleigh - a woman like her deserved the best, and if Raion could make her feel that way, he would.

“This is going to sound a little strange, but… I’ve actually never been there.”

A cute snort is followed by a laugh.

“A top model who has never visited the STRAT Hotel. Can you believe that?”

Her freckles stretch along with her smile. A close observer could find patterns among them. She finally sits up and swishes her dark brown hair with a turn of her head, the locks resting over her left shoulder. Her pajamas fit for the summer solstice give her a softer appearance.

“I believe the observation deck opens in half an hour. Are you hungry?”

A soft rumbling sound might betray that question - and it was not good to think on an empty stomach, either. Raion stands up from the bed and offers her his hand.

“After how my life has been these past weeks, there is nothing I could not believe, Ryleigh. And well… I certainly feel like I’m starving!”

A mutual smile from the two should settle the deal, and she relocates to her master bedroom to change. As he watches her go, the Lion’s thoughts drift back at the task at hand, but the thought of this woman gives him a galvanizing resolve.

He was no sacrificial Lion. He was a warrior of hope. He was a Saint of Athena, and his charge was to bring light to the darkness of the world.

Even if he had only one shot, his duty was to take it - and give his life, if need be.

And if he could, that’s what he would do.

Take the shot that pierced the heavens - and the universe itself.


The STRAT Hotel’s Skypod and Observation Deck was almost deserted at that time of the morning, which suited the Lion well. There was Ryleigh, there was the staff, and there were few other guests far apart, and that was just the way he liked it. From a comfortable couch looking at the Las Vegas skyline, he was finally treating her to something she could enjoy - and his own stomach to a much-needed meal. The latte macchiato and the cheesecake slice seemed to have brought new life to him - and with it, a renewed hope.

“It’s not the Velvet Rabbit yet, but I hope in a few days’ time, we’ll have just as great a time!”

The Lion gazed at Ryleigh’s face - and her freckles - almost as if entranced. It was good to have her by his side.

And he hoped that, if she was there to see him, she would see him as the new XWF Universal Champion.

“You know we will.”

She offers him a confident smile.

“Wherever I go, a party is sure to follow!”

A soft laugh escapes her. Ah, a trademark within the Dixon family. They were self-confident, perhaps borderline cocky, and trendsetters. At least when it came to her and her oldest brother, Nathaniel. But as soon as the thought of her brother appears, she quickly makes it disappear as she enjoys her iced mocha coffee. She had already finished her jalapeño and cheddar toasted bagel. Not an ounce of the sour cream n’ onion cream cheese remained. They’re relaxing within Eats 108 of the observation deck and simply enjoying each other’s company.

“Don’t worry. You’re the real star. You’re the next XWF Universal Champion. I’ll be in the front row, cheering you on every second of the way.”

Raion drew a sigh and gave her his best smile. The thought of that was reassuring, but the thought of actually winning, and her reaction to that… maybe that was the best thing of all.

“That is about all I can ask from you, Ryleigh - and for that, I am most grateful!”

He takes her hand and gives it a kiss, and once they’re both finished their meals, he leads her by the hand into the outside of the observation deck. A white railing serves as the edge to keep people inside, and several coin-operated binoculars dot the area.

But the Lion isn’t there to just watch the sky. There was also a message to send, and with it went his entire soul.

After all, this was his shot.

“Come with me! There’s something I want to do!”

He places his Golden Cloth Box on the ground, and, after putting on the Gold Cloth of Leo, he takes something else.

A golden bow, with a golden arrow, which he gives to Ryleigh. Her eyes widen slightly, a bit taken aback by what he’s presented to her. Initially, she laughs just a little.

“How did you get this in here…?”

Some time, somewhere, he must’ve received special permission. Sneaky, sneaky lion. The Crown Jewel of the Dixons smiles and lightly pulls on the bow to test the integrity of the string. After a moment, she draws it back with the arrow’s tips pressed against the string. A regal, elegant pose encompasses her.

“I… took archery classes for quite some time.”

“Remind me never to cross you!”

His breath taken away by Ryleigh’s pose, he joins behind her so that both are drawing back the string, and holding the bow steady - the tip of the golden arrow glinting in the sunlight and aimed right at its source.

“Ready?”

“Yes. Are you sure this is safe, Raion-kun?”

Her smile only widens at the prospect of firing the arrow with this bow. The sunlight in the outdoors offers kisses upon her freckled face. ]For his part, the Lion gives her a mischievous wink.

“For us and for anyone here, yes. For them? I would not be so certain. Let fly!”

Nodding at each other, both release the string, and in a lightning-fast, snapping motion, the golden arrow is propelled forward, and ever upward, until it disappears in the sky, engulfed in the light of the sun…


“That, my dear Ryleigh, was my shot. And as it takes its course… I’m happy that you are here by my side.”

As he looks at the sky, he feels the weight on his shoulders lifted by the presence of the woman at his side. She looks up -- not to the sky but to him. A warmth caresses her cheeks and she takes a moment to admire him. His strength, his valor… His bright eyes and his wild hair. Time is lost between the two.

“...I’m with you for as long as you want me to be, love.”

In Britain, it’s an endearing term. A simple title. She was born in San Diego, but the English lineage runs in her blood. With a sweet smile, she leans up and kisses his cheek. Blushing once more, the Lion closes his eyes for what seems like an eternity, before opening them up to look at her.

“And I for you, Ryleigh.”

The golden arrow that they both had shot would meet its mark.

And at the Cannabis Cup, the Lion would meet his own.


“As this finally comes to an end, and the Cannabis Cup approaches, I hear the same exact thing from my foes, over and over again. The only reason I am here is because there is nobody else. The only reason I am here is because I cannot take on ALIAS alone. It’s been an endless cycle of the same people telling me that I can’t do this, right after the very reason for why I am in this match happened in the very first place.

And now, when we’re at the final stretch, when the last words have come to appear, Charlie Nickles is silent, and Dolly Waters can only be bothered to show up at the very last minute.

But as tragic as that is, neither of the two compare to our esteemed XWF Universal Champion. Because all he has done from the moment I spoke last, is to flail in impotence at the onslaught that awaits him. He’s shown his rear and his middle fingers, and thrown a tantrum worthy of Charlie Nickles’ best rant on the XWF social media.

And as I look at all of you bearing down on me, I have but one single goal in mind. I’m taking the shot I was given, the shot of a very lifetime.

The shot that will pierce the heavens and make the universe burst.”

So the Lion begins in the open air of the outdoors Observation Deck, the ornate metal of his Golden Cloth reflecting the glory of the sun in the sky, and his white cape flapping dramatically behind him. The Lion clenches a fist, his eyes now glinting with the shine of the warrior that sallies out once the gates have opened.

Because this, more than ever before, was the time to fight. The battle for the universe itself.

More than ever before, it was the time to make the cosmos burn.


“I want to make something clear, Dolly. I never asked for any of this. I never asked for Theo Pryce’s attention, or for that of Ned Kaye and Jason Cashe. Same way I never asked for Thaddeus’ attention when we faced either. I was content to be where I was, and all this time, I’ve fought alone.

Is it my fault I earned all of this? It’s not like we’ve ever had the opportunity to see me cash the briefcase after I’ve just won it, and no, I’m not the type to walk in on someone else’s match without invitation. Leave that to Sarah Lacklan, and I’m sure you’d do that if you were given the chance, but some of us actually like to earn our accomplishments.

That’s why I am where I’m booked. And that’s why I’m booked against the three of you.

I mean, it’s embarrassing enough that what you call ‘the greatest wrestler of our generation’ has to bring the “can’t beat me one on one point”, since it makes him look like the rage pig he acted like last time we saw him, but from you? It’s just that same thing at which you hiss at your manager, then turn back and have the gall to say it to my face.

And then you dare criticize him for telling you to back down.”

Raion peels back his teeth and shows his canines. This was hypocrisy, plain and simple, and he would not stand for it.

Little did it matter that Dolly Waters had to echo the words of ALIAS. If he had been booked in this match, it was for his value alone - only by his value, and his value alone, would the Lion be judged.

And by his value, the rest of them would fall.

“Which, by the way, the way that this is going, maybe you should actually listen. After all, you’ve just used losing against the Ringmaster to say that me beating you wouldn’t be as bad! I mean, at least two other people in this match have beaten him, and you mean to use losing to him against me? Do you even listen to yourself, or do you just like to hear your Southern drawl that much?

In fact, I quite distinctly remember saying that I would deal the three of you, and the XWF as a whole, the biggest blow it ever got, and that was by winning the Universal Title without cashing in the briefcase. You know, the biggest win anyone could ever get? The thing that seems almost impossible? Were you eating mothballs when I said that, or are you trying to make this about yourself?

But that’s not even the worst part of it all, no. The worst part of it all is that you dare paint me as mocking your child abuse. I didn’t know making a tripping reference equated that somehow, but let’s not get that in the way of the ‘poor me’ story. Fast forward to now, and tripping over your own feet is all you’ve been doing, and there you have no one to blame but yourself. And believe me, I don’t wish that for anyone - not even for Nickles or even for worse than him, and not for you.”

This time, the Lion slashes the air with both hands, the very motion of his arms cutting the air around with a quick sound. He did mean his words. No one, not even his worst enemy, deserved a constant streak of misfortune.

But he was no stranger to misfortune of his own, was he? Twice he had been dashed by Charlie Nickles, and every time he used it as fuel to come back stronger.

He had performed the ultimate comeback, and Charlie Nickles was there again.

This time it would end the way it was supposed to end.

And there would be no Dolly Waters-like lamenting.

“It’s ridiculousness of the highest order, but it’s not funny, especially for you. I did mention you held every title the XWF had to offer, and I’m even willing to give you enough credit to say whether you deserve to be here is irrelevant. You are here and I’m supposed to face you, and Nickles, and ALIAS, like the biggest match I’ve ever faced in my career, because it is. It’s not my fault you come into it in the worst position of all, but I’m not the one slashing my wrists and bleeding out to the world.

Point your finger at me and say how I don’t mean what I say, Dolly, at least I’m not the one lying to the audience. At least I’m not throwing a pity party out of going from pitfall after pitfall. Not that I would know much about that, given that through which I have been, but for the sake of argument, I’ve lost three times. One of them was inconsequential, and I wasn’t even pinned, but the other two were big. I’ve suffered a title match loss, and what did I do? I went back to work.

I suffered a loss at a tournament finals, and what did I do? I went back to work! I didn’t contemplate pulling out of a match where I had been booked, especially not one for a title, because while you claim to stay true to the dream, I actually go out there and fight to make it come true! And now the one win I got overshadows those two by leaps and bounds! Every single word that comes out of my lips is meant from the bottom of my heart, and at the end of the day, I go out and prove that resilience and hard work pay. You’re letting your failures define you, I’m turning them into motivation for tomorrow.

So yes, you too bring the times I’ve lost to Nickles, it’s all the three of you have done, because it’s the only thing you have, and after Leap of Faith, that well has run dry. Even now that he’s meant to be here he’s gone and ran away, and you’ve done the exact same thing. You’ve gone from chasing the footsteps of Thaddeus Duke to chasing the tail of the Nickleman after he’s chosen to hide. You don’t get to discredit me after that.

You don’t get to teach me what this battlefield is.”

As the Lion makes silence, there is no smile upon his face - nothing written on it but grim determination. This event was right before the finals of the Cannabis Cup, and it deserved to be treated accordingly. For all his faults ALIAS had, and the Lion had too.

Dolly Waters and Charlie Nickles had not, but here she was attempting to lecture him.

But it was time for him to give a lecture of his own.

“Both you and Chucky Murder have chosen to run, I’ve been the one to hit the first blow and only ALIAS has risen, and this is for the biggest title. The one that Charlie gave up Goldi to chase. The one you’ve never won. And the one that ALIAS claims as his universe. This battlefield has been mine from the beginning and at the very least I expect you to fight with the same dedication as I have, and more. You know why? You should, Ms. Southern Gal, you, and ALIAS, have said it yourselves: Because I still have the briefcase. And I could have all this to myself.

But what you see as an advantage, I see as a requirement, for I entered this match not just for the simple title.

I entered to pit myself against the very best the XWF has to offer.

I entered to give Charlie Nickles the reckoning he’s had for a long time.

And I entered to get the biggest win in my career, right from the very one I had last Pay-Per-View!”

“That is a battlefield for which I’ve come prepared, a battlefield that I mean to make my own, and the battlefield where the shot is fired that pierces the very Heavens and breaks the universe.

The battle starts on July 24th, and all floors of the Velvet Rabbit shall see the golden arrow go through all of your hearts.

And you, my dear Dolly, shall be the first to fall.”

The young wrestler from Osaka points towards the ground, to the void below the STRAT Hotel Observation Deck.

His warning has been given, and Dolly’s fate was now her own.

Now, however, it was time to take on the name in this match that gave him the greatest motivation.

“Unless, of course, Charlie Nickles decides he’s too busy playing Yugi-Oh to show up at the Rabbit, eh?

This should not have gone unnoticed. You knew I was coming for you, Charlie. You might have looked down on me once more, but you wanted to make the point of beating ALIAS. What is left of that now, Chucky Murder?

Seriously, out of all of us here, Dolly was the one with the worst track record, but you were the one with the least right to be here, and now you’ve turned into the biggest disappointment.

You’ve filled your mouth for months about how you were the Kido killer, how I walked away a lesser man, and now that the Lion has come once more, your entire course of action is to burrow in the ground like the worm you are.

And I do remember saying, the first time, that a worm may never beat a Lion.”

As the canines show again, Raion now grins ear to ear. How had the tables turned, had they not? This was not a rookie going for the Television Champion, nor a simple exhibition match of no consequence.

Now the Lion was at the same stage as the Nickleman - going for the XWF Universal Title itself.

And twice the Nickleman had failed. This time, he would not escape.

“Oh, but wait - Charlie Nickles actually came back. Charlie Nickles actually has something to say! Charlie Nick… just went and said the same thing he’s been saying since he first beat me.

Almost like he knew he had nothing else.

And it was already tiresome the first time, Nickleman.”

As the canines show again, Raion now grins ear to ear. How had the tables turned, had they not? This was not a rookie going for the Television Champion, nor a simple exhibition match of no consequence.

Now the Lion was at the same stage as the Nickleman - going for the XWF Universal Title itself.

And twice the Nickleman had failed. This time, he would not escape.

“I mean, it’s almost like you know, Charlie, that all the people you’ve beat in your Main Events, I’ve already beat on regular nights. They might be more than I have had, but that doesn’t matter, because in them, you did things that I did first. Before you beat the Ringmaster, I did. Before you beat Centurion, I did! To this day I remain your biggest win and you can’t stop spewing that out of your sorry snout, and you have to turn back to numbers! Because, I don’t know if we remember, but you’ve been in the XWF for almost two years, and I’ve only been here for six months! It’s almost like I knew, like now everyone knows, that you weren’t special in the first place - almost as if I’ve been the better man all this time!

And that’s why, Charlie, you have to go back to talking about pinning ALIAS to remember you once beat him right before he beat you twice. You know, the very reason I said you were just given your spot as pity. The very fact that I’m talking to you right now should be a damned thing for which you should be grateful, because I’ve been done with you since my very first message.

You now come lashing out and saying I don’t matter, but you’ve had your mouth filled with me for months. It’s almost like people remember you were Television Champion after you beat Raion Kido, and in fact, it’s almost like without me, you wouldn’t have even gone on to face ALIAS in the first place!

See, Charlie? I too can play the logic game. I’ve even said this in my first message, and now, at the very end, you come back and try to spin over what has been a complete disaster. Unfortunately, like I said, things have changed since we first met. Now, when push comes to shove, you go and slink away just like you said I did, and you only now show your snout after Bobby Bourbon slapped you with a newspaper. You’ve had weeks to make a comeback. You’ve had weeks to say something about me.

You even went and called out Cashe and Ned instead of taking it up with me. And now, once you have no choice but to show up, the only argument you have has been repeated so many times now it lost all value, because I keep coming back. And isn’t that what you’re doing against ALIAS!?”

The steely, vengeful look in the Lion’s eyes betrayed the grin that had grown wide on his face. Had Charlie Nickles not been aware of the irony? So much had he proclaimed that Raion didn’t matter, but here was Raion once more.

Just as he was against the XWF Universal Champion.

Perhaps it was time to disabuse the Nickleman of these misguided thoughts.

“If you want to play that logic, then I matter just as much as you do - because ALIAS still has to deal with you, and you still have to deal with me. By the way - nice attempt to try to sneak away a victory that doesn’t exist, but you and I have faced each other twice. And this all started because you jumped me backstage after I beat Thaddeus Duke.

So now, in your utter desperation, you’ve resorted to making stuff up out of thin air. You’re blowing up so much smoke you’re like a blown out engine, and that’s exactly what you’ve come to be. You’re at the end of your rope. You’ve got literally nothing left but coming at the nick of time!

But you know what, Charlie? I’m done with you. You don’t deserve to be here. You don’t deserve me talking to you, and I’m doing this as a courtesy. This was meant to be the ultimate duel, the ultimate victory, and you and Dolly Waters have wasted it away. Gloat to ALIAS about doing his job for him, but at least he can be bothered to bring the fight when the title is on the line. You failed, Charlie. You failed at getting the Universal Title, you failed at keeping me down, you failed at making this match be the match of the night for the Cannabis Cup. You’ve failed, failed, failed! The only thing you have to look for now is to be put down like the rabid dog you’ve always been, and that honor belongs to no one, but to Raion Kido alone.

Come July 24th, no matter how many Devil Hook Drivers you attempt to put on me, you’re going to be stopped by the power of the Lightning Bolt. This fist of mine is colliding with your heart, and it’ll put you down not just for three seconds, but forever. Out of the Universal Title picture, out of my misery, out of everybody’s misery. The Bastards lose their puppy, the coins go over your eyes, and the Lion deals the blow of justice once and for damned all.

And when that moment happens, Nickleman, the worst shall not be your death. The worst of all shall be that you’re finally forgotten - as you should be.”

“And speaking of forgotten, let’s speak about the one that has forgotten the most. Because our esteemed XWF World Champion has forgotten who it is that he is facing.”

Once more the Lion’s grin fades away, replaced by a stone-faced expression, before the Lion roars what comes next, not without a note of irony dripping from his voice.

“‘YOU’RE NOT SPECIAL!’”, ALIAS cries, from the comfort of his spot at the grandest stage of the Cannabis Cup, the XWF Universal Title draped on his shoulder, when Raion Kido was the first face the XWF Universe saw at Fire and Ice, as only a replacement, and his own was the last. ALIAS was making his claim for the belt, but Raion Kido was the one about which they talked.

“YOU’RE NOT SPECIAL!”, ALIAS screams, when Raion Kido won the briefcase in a six-person event, and ALIAS only won it in a singles match. As if that were something to be proud of. As if that were enough to insult me. As if it wasn’t right before the main event where Charlie Nickles lost it all: Goldi, the World Title, and his manhood. As if it wasn’t, somehow, more important, than ALIAS defending his belt.

“YOU’RE NOT SPECIAL!”, ALIAS now hollers in desperation, when Raion Kido has proven, more than once, that he’s capable of doing just as much as ALIAS did! Yes, I lost twice to Nickles and Bobby Bourbon, but then I beat him and grabbed the prize! You tell me that you haven’t eeeeeeeeeveeeeeeeeeer been pinned one on one, but this is the first multi-person match in which I’ve even seen you take part! Come talk to me when you actually win one of those to get a shot at your belt, and maybe you’ll have more of an argument before accusing me of running away. Because see, I faced Mark Flynn, I faced Bobby Bourbon, and Marf, and Angie and Vita, before I was the only one that had what it took to make the damnable leap.

Just as I am the only one now that seems to be willing to go against you.

So maybe, just maybe, I actually have a point when I say I am that special.”

The Lion’s voice goes from a roar to a whisper. While ALIAS had screamed his impotence, the young Osaka wrestler did not need his voice to be loud.

He needed it to be strong, and that was what he was going to be.

“I mean, I’ve heard that special line from almost every single opponent I’ve had since I stepped foot in the XWF. Xavier Lux was the first to say it, now I get it from the champion himself. Is it my fault that they’ve all fallen? Is it my fault that my journey here was faster than most, and that whatever adversity that comes through my path I come back from stronger? Is it my fault that I’m booked here, despite me not even thinking of it?

The more I hear about it, the more I hear you going “but you’ll be there somewhere, Raion, just not now”, and I say to hell with that. If I’m going to be XWF Universal Champion, what does it matter whether it’s now or in a year, two years? What’s changing here, my ability or the fact that I’m going after a spot that you want?

That’s another thing wrong with the three of you, you don’t throw backhanded compliments my way and expect me to be graceful. I’m coming here for the same motivations that you have, and at least I am honest about it. At least I make no pretense about who I am and what I do. I’m Raion Kido, the best the XWF has produced in 2022, and I’m here to make my way to the top - and to make its name shine with pride, which is more than you have done since the moment you captured it!”

This time, Raion points towards the camera. He did not forget that no one else in the XWF had done this year what he had done, and he would let no one dispute these facts.

Not even ALIAS himself.

“What else did you want me to do, ALIAS? I wasn’t coming to the XWF as anything other than a spot that Adi Gold had left free in a Pay-Per-View, suddenly I was Star of the Month in my first month in the company, and here I am now after coming out of literally nowhere. And what do I get in response? I get ALIAS, the very face that’s meant to carry the company, acting like a whiner, and crying “YOU’RE NOT SPECIAL!”. Raging and snorting like a pig, because he cannot stand not being the center of attention, not having his ego stroked like he thinks it should.

But here’s the thing, hollering hog. If you think what I’m doing is patronizing, then maybe the skin you have is paper-thin, and you should grow a new one. Like the one I have to stand the venom of everyone that slings it. Like the skin I have to tell you, right in your face, that my talk is rife with the life that I have lived!

You might want to look down on me for having Saint Seiya as an inspiration, but it’s as much my life as crude humor is to yours. It’s the very reason I’m stepping into the ring, the same exact reason that led the XWF to hire me, the very motive I stand across the ring with you here!

If all your life has been is penis jokes, then I’m sorry you’ve lived so little, ALIAS, and I’m sorry that you failed to become a man. If all you have is to lift up both middle fingers and cry obscenities at whoever stands across from you, then you fail at being anything in life.

But that’s not what I want to be. That’s not all that Raion Kido entails. What Raion Kido entails, above everything else, is being an example! What Raion Kido entails is for everyone that watches the XWF to look at me and say “I want to be that guy. I want to be the guy that, no matter what happens, keeps the standard of justice held high above everything else. I want the XWF Universe to believe that justice does prevail, because it’s what I was born to do, what I was meant to do, and the very lifeblood in my veins!”

As he finishes saying these words, the Lion clangs his right fist to his chest. So many times had his inspiration been attacked, but this was his entire reason to be.

Perhaps people had failed to understand it, perhaps they did not care.

But at an occasion like this, it was just the time the world understood.

“So tell me, ALIAS, what is that road without adversity? What is that road without a challenge to overcome? Did I not explain to Dolly that when I lost to Nickles I got to work? Charlie might deny it all he wants, but does he not know that I’m here? And don’t you accept that there’s an echo between you and I!?

But here is where the difference ends. Because unlike you, ALIAS, I actually care about making a difference. Your motivations may be just as valid to you as mine is to me, but mine at least serves as inspiration for the rest of the world. Because I don’t just do this for myself - I do this for the god damned example!

That means, ALIAS, that this match is the ultimate opportunity for me to prove the truth of what I’ve been saying all along - that the power of the universe lives within all of us. That any of us may eventually transcend and become something greater than they are. That’s the reason I lace up the boots, and here at the Cannabis Cup, I get to display it at the grandest stage of them all!”

Now his fist goes to the air, high above his head, before he brings it down once more in a thumbs down sign.

Three other people stood in his way.

And all three of them should fall.

“And that means, lady and gentlemen, that I don’t care which one of you has to go down. If it’s you, all the best, and I get to do something Nickles failed twice to do. If it’s Nickles, great, I’ve got the win I wanted and the top prize to boot. And if it’s Dolly, well, it changes nothing. Because in any of those three ways, Raion Kido becomes the XWF Universal Champion, the first man to win against ALIAS in months, and the only one to stop his reign.

Charlie will probably cry on the XWF media, you’ll claim you still weren’t beaten one on one, and maybe then we’ll go toe to toe, just the two of us, and I’ll beat you there again just to prove a point. I’ll even give you my briefcase just so you can cash it in, and then I’ll beat you there a third time.

This is where you’d say “LOLRAIONWINS!”, but again - at least I have some form of self-respect.”

A mirthless grin appears at his face, which leaves as fast as it came. While ALIAS might have enjoyed the jokes, it was time for Raion, more than ever, to get serious.

“And speaking of self-respect, I’m not even done, ladies and gentlemen! So far back does ALIAS have to go to speak of dominance, that he has to bring in 2008 too! What was I, eight, nine years old? Gee, I’m sure you also want to tell me about the ‘90s as well, tell me to get off your lawn while you’re at it. In case you haven’t noticed, my story begins at Fire and Ice in February of 2022, and six months from then, that’s exactly my point of comparison. You say in 2008 you were not half the man you are now, and I say that, in 2022, the man you’re now is not half the man I am.

You know why I say that? Because all that lashing out, and the diatribe about you spinning lies, how you don’t need to do this and that - it does nothing but confirm what I’ve said before. Tell all the stories you want, at least there’s something behind my in-ring presence. But you? Take away your words and your spinning web after web - and just like I said, there it’s absolutely nothing. It’s empty.

And that means, ALIAS, you’re empty, and it’s tragic. You’re flailing your arms against the one guy that wants to pull off miracles. You rend your garments and lash out at someone that does what you are capable of doing. You think I look at you like the monster of the day, but the only thing I see is the holder of the biggest belt in the wrestling world, and a target to destroy.

The ultimate monster, ALIAS, and the greatest enemy for a Saint of Athena.

That is why I’m willing to lay down my life on this ring. That is why, whatever it takes, I’m ending the three of you. Whether it’s at the very rooftop of the Velvet Rabbit, or at any of its floors. Because I may have the briefcase, but I’ve earned this shot, and in it I place my entire being.”

Picking up the golden bow that leans against the box of the Golden Cloth, Raion picks it up, as well as another arrow, and draws the string back once more.

“Come July 24th, the Velvet Rabbit shall see the ultimate miracle. The breaking of the universe, a new big bang. The impossible event that materializes before their very eyes. Raion Kido, the holder of the briefcase, beating the best of the XWF on the grandest stage of the Cannabis Cup.

The one shot that strikes at ultimate glory.

The golden arrow that pierces the heavens…”

*SNAP!*

One more time, the arrow flies towards the sun, its trajectory soaring ever higher, and ultimately fading from view.

“… and breaks the universe itself.”

Fade to black.