“Micheal Graves isn’t looking to prove anything, or to be the better wrestler. Against the XWF Universal Champion, no less!”

So might the Dark Warrior have declared to the world, but the duty of Raion Kido was clear.

“I’ve won this title by proving that I could endure, and by beating three of the greatest wrestlers in the promotion, and it is my charge to ensure that doing all I have wasn’t in vain. Graves may not care. But the rest of the Trilogy cares. So does the XWF management, and much more so the XWF Universe itself.”

These were the thoughts inside the head of the Lion as he went through the door of the facility where he was scheduled to train.

“And above everything else, I care.”

A state-of-the-art gym where a ring is set up is the location into which the Lion has just stepped, and once within, the Lion surveys his surroundings. Ned Kaye and Jason Cashe are having an impromptu match under the watchful eye of Theo Pryce, and Raion has just arrived to see the Notorious One place the DioGEE in a headlock. As he approaches, a scuffle between them breaks out, and the group’s leader steps in to break it.

“God damn it, Cashe, I told you a hundred times not to bite Ned!”

“Sorry, it’s that hair of his. I love me a good smell, and he smells delicious..”

“Remind me to change conditioners.”

At that point, Pryce notices the latest member of the Trilogy’s arrival, as he sets down his golden box on the ground, and removes his plain black T-shirt and tracksuit pants to reveal he’s already wearing his tights.

“Glad you could make it, Raion.”

“Gentlemen. Always great to see you.”

“Good. Now, in the ring. You and me.”

It takes but a fraction of a second for Raion to blink a single time, before getting in the ring. No sooner has he made his way between the ropes that the leader of the Trilogy is charging at him! It’s all the Lion can do to duck Pryce’s clothesline instinctively, but he can barely turn around before Pryce catches him from behind, and drops him with a Facebuster!

*SLAM!*

Raion’s fight or flight response has kicked in, and as he gets up, he is already burning hot!

“...!”

The DioGEE and the Notorious One watch amusedly from the apron, leaning against the ropes.

“I'll bet you a few stacks and an IOU for a Hug that Kido handles Theo!”

“Mine’s on Pryce. Kido is fantastic, but Theo… well, you're better off just paying real close attention."

The Lion and Theo start circling each other, and it’s at this point that the Cornerstone of the XWF addresses him.

“I want you to burn this into your mind. You make it a point to carry yourself with dignity, but that doesn’t matter to people like Graves, or even Mark Flynn. You’ve seen what he did to his own partner, and after you win at Warfare, he’ll be coming for you next. Do you think he won’t do what I just did to you, or worse? Do you think Graves is looking to do anything but hurt you?”

“Of course not!”

“Then make it a point to destroy him.”

The Cornerstone of the XWF has made his point clear, and it’s turn for the Lion to defend himself once more as he comes full blast again! This time the Lion is ready and stops him cold with the Battering Ram! Down goes Pryce and Raion goes for an armbar!

“Like that?”

Pryce escapes the hold and both men scramble to get up! Raion is faster, however, and rushes once more to drop Theo, but the leader of the Trilogy brings him down with a small package, then locks in the Figure Four Leg Lock!

“No. More like this.”

It takes all of the Lion’s strength to go through the pain and break Theo’s submission, and to tap into his cosmos, but he finally achieves it, and rises with a mighty roar!

“RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!”

Theo comes at him again, but the Lion is incensed now. He charges at Pryce and drops him with his Sling Blade, then lands an elbow drop right to his back for good measure! He forces Theo to his feet and shoves him to the turnbuckle, then plants a high knee right on Pryce’s jaw! Theo slumps on the ground, completely limp!

“That was simply incredible!"

“Finish him, Kido!”

After that tremendous comeback, Raion has Pryce right where he wants him! He takes off running and goes for the final blow…

“LIGHTNING BOLT!”

… but Theo Pryce is an XWF Legend for a reason. He drops down to his knees and hits the Lion right between his legs with a powerful low blow! The Lion is unable to do anything but to drop on his knees to the mat, absorbing the pain, and the Cornerstone of the XWF pushes him to the bottom rope, then delivers the icon of his repertoire - the Sovereign Stomp!

*THUMP!*

The Lion is out cold, and Pryce places a foot on his chest to count his own pin! Raion stirs just as the “three” sounds, and Pryce lifts his foot up.

“Damnit!" Cashe turns to offer a hug to Ned. "A bet is a bet.." Ned shoves Cashe back. "Oh, the money? Fuck, there goes my Costco Lighter Shopping..." Cashe says as he pulls out his wallet.

“You're that broke? I know you look homeless, but I never imagined you were!”

“I got my weed and my woo sah to take care of too!”

“I can’t believe this… well, we’ll forgo this debt this time, Cashe. Just make sure you pay up next! Better yet, just don't gamble with me unless you like losing.”

Raion has just realized this might have very well cost him the XWF Universal Title, and the thoughts come rushing to his head. What did the Cannabis Cup victory mean now? Had it all been a fluke? Had it all been for naught? Would he, the man with an example to set and a point to prove, so easily fail at his first test?

Was it all just a childish dream all along, good while it lasted, but ultimately fruitless?

“... And now what? …”

As he stares blankly into the distance.

“Hey Kido, you okay?”

“Pryce just turned the tide on him. That’s gotta bring him hard.”

It’s Theo Pryce himself that snaps the Lion out of his thousand-yard stare.”

“Raion. Look at me.”

The Lion looks up at the Cornerstone of the XWF, uncertain now of what to expect. But Pryce now extends his hand to the downed Lion, who takes it to get himself back up.

“Sometimes, Raion, a harsh lesson is in order, especially given who you are facing, and even more so with the stipulation you have chosen. If you have the intention to fight towards the very bitter end, that means not just to compete, not just to do your best, but to fight. That is the game of Graves, and that’s what Mark Flynn comes to do.

It’s okay to be better, in every single way. But you picked this match, and you said the very words yourself: Victory comes to the last man standing.

“So make sure that man is you.”

Pryce now nudges the young Japanese wrestler on the shoulder.

“Don’t take it personally - this was only illumination.”

It is at this point that it dawns inside the Lion’s brain, almost as if the Aurora Borealis itself had streamed inside his head.

Perhaps illumination was the word.

“Illumination… yes. Sounds about right, sir.”

“I trust I’ve made my point clear.”

“Very much so. This is not just about proving myself, or anything that has happened until now. Nor is it only about proving how better I am than Graves - everyone knows that already. Instead, this should be my chance to make a statement. To show the XWF Universe and the world as a whole what happens when one decides to challenge the XWF Universal Champion.

To bring, indeed, illumination.”

Perhaps it was what the Lion should finally bring, but at this point, a smile appears on his lips once more.

“And perhaps I should go just that little bit further. It isn’t just illumination I’m bringing to Warfare. Micheal Graves wants a mugging, but I’m going to do him one better.”

The eyes of the young Saint of Athena light up again, before he gives a tiny, almost imperceptible wink.

“I’m going to make this his execution.”


“In the darkness of the night, we may be fortunate enough to see the aurora.”

Very far away, almost imperceptible in the distance of the New York skyline, there can be distinguished some shimmering green waves - the lights of the Aurora Borealis, a very rare sight in a place such as New York, but a sight that has appeared as of late. Of course, a spectacle like this may be better seen from great heights - such as the Summit One Vanderbilt - the ideal spot for this kind of occurrence.

And pointing at them is the Lion, his burnished Gold Cloth of Leo reflecting a glint almost as subtle as that of the aurora in the horizon.

“Many people may call that the northern lights, and it is, in essence, a stream of particles released by the sun. 

It’s a beautiful sight, but more than that - it is illuminating.

And since it is clear that the message I’m trying to get our own Micheal Graves to understand isn’t hitting home, it might be time for him to receive some illumination of his own, courtesy of the Lion.

Silently, the Lion raises his right arm, pointing his finger square at the camera.

The time to bring his own aurora had finally come.

And no light was brighter than that of the cosmos at its time to burn.

"After all, we’ve gone from time traveling, to crypto-currency shilling, to brain uploading, or whatever idiocy Micheal Graves wants to peddle every time he shows up on camera when he’s not railing at the XWF front office. But among the anti-management whining he has done throughout these three appearances, at least he asks the very beginning of a question that deserves an answer.”

Raion’s lips curve in his trademark sly grin, but the look in his eyes, as ever, belies a different intention - the ferocity of the beast in defense of his turf.

Micheal Graves decided to challenge him, and it was his charge to respond.

And in the process, the Lion would make the Dark Warrior see that this was the exact time for them to face.

“Why didn’t you come looking for me?”, asks the Dark Warrior, which I’m sure makes him think he’s found the chink in the armor. Let’s paint Kido as a coward before he didn’t come looking for me! It’s the killing blow, for sure! Alas, Mr. Gravy Roast might not recall the encounter, which wouldn’t be a grave crime in and of itself, and of course, after the ravages he’s suffered to his brain, he doesn’t have the memory that I do.

I remember this vividly, Mr. Dark Warrior, because this was two weeks before I had even made my debut!

And the moment you said that, you were the number one contender for the Television Title, which you would later come to lose!”

This time, Raion grins ear to ear, the feral grin of the beast from which he draws his name. Perhaps Graves now understood his error - it was one thing for a wrestler that had not even made his debut to challenge a contender with no reason.

But the tides had turned in a most unexpected way since then.

Who held the advantage now?

“So tell me yourself, Graves, why didn’t I come looking for you? Might it have been because I was a non-entity back then? Could it be, perhaps, that I needed to prove myself before I even thought of coming at you? I’m pretty sure I’ve more than done that before I even got this title, and before I even had a chance to look at you again, you were gone, and have been downhill ever since then. You can’t even use the ‘shelved’ excuse - you even went to Savage to lose to the Chameleon before sinking in your office hell!

And then? Well, you faded into the background, and I started having better things about which to worry - you know, like beating a Legend? Challenging for a title? Making my way up the March Madness tournament, just to name my first two months in the XWF? Not all of us think so little of ourselves that won’t go at the first chance to seize glory we have, Mr. Pretend Not To Care. And yes, I say pretend, because you’re all too eager now to come, after having been nowhere near it in five years, to attempt to take the biggest prize this company has to offer.

So perhaps it’s my turn now, Mr. Dark Warrior, to tell you that your entire world is a lie.”

As he points towards the camera, Raion’s smile is now gone, replaced by his ferocious snarl. For all his shows of resentment towards the XWF front office, and his claims about barely being able to hold a job, it seemed that Graves had been content in his position behind a desk.

And so conveniently, in fact, had he chosen to break out of his supposed office hell, to take the chance to go for the very XWF Universal Title.

By what right did he dare question the Lion?

“Why did I not come for you, Graves? Because I knew this would eventually happen, and I would be ready when the time came. And now that it has finally happened, not only have I proven my truth - I’ve also seen where you have gone, and what you have done, and the spirit in which you did it all. And therein lies, perhaps, what may be your greatest failure.

All this I have done, you may have done in the same amount of time, but you’ve chosen to fade away. You don’t get to rant at how excluded you were now, for everything you’ve said has proven to be a bold-faced lie. But as grave as it is, this isn’t either the actual problem - but the attitude of that which lies beneath.

You cultivate a martyr's complex, holding out your bleeding wrists so they might see how much they’ve hurt you, but those wounds were inflicted only by yourself. You brood in the shadows when all you want to do is scream, 'Look at me!', and all this office hell against which you railed this whole time is but the result of you sulking your way to indifference. Isn’t that what you’ve just said, Mr. Dark Warrior? Aren’t you rubbing your hands with anticipation at the thought of XWF being forced to promote you, despite how much they would hate this?

The only conclusion to draw out of this, Graves, is that no matter how much time you spent in this company, no matter what history you had here, you never grew into a man - and that’s why you never rose higher than a chance at this title five years ago. And after all this time, you’ve made no effort to come back. Even Charlie Nickles, as much as he failed, had a better motive to keep trying, and you failed to even match him, let alone prove his better.

But like you said, Graves, I’m the one with things to prove here. I’ve been honest enough to acknowledge it, and I’m not about to fail now. Not with the XWF’s flagship three-night event just ahead. Not after the biggest match of my career, after the other names that were in it, and even less than that after you’ve insulted my whole world!”

The Lion bellows these words, the echo of his roar extending through the open air of the New York night. Several things were riding into this, his personal grievance for one, but more important things over that. In the Cannabis Cup, the XWF Universal Title match was in the middle of the card.

Now it would be defended at home, in its rightful Main Event, the last card of a three-day extravaganza.

And the only right way for it to happen would be for the two winners of the July event to meet in the grandest stage of the XWF.

Raion Kido would not stray from that goal.

Nor would Micheal Graves derail him.

“But I suppose I should thank you, anyway, because even then you make it a point to admit how much better I am than you.

While I should be thankful for the compliment, I knew that somehow this would be coming - our Dark Warrior throwing his entire reason to fight to the garbage can in an attempt to delude himself into thinking this match favors him.

Because in all your rant, Graves, you’re still making a fundamental mistake, one I’ve made sure to explain from the very beginning when I chose this stipulation. You were goading me about something XTREME, but you fail to realize I ‘ve given you something beyond your wildest expectations.

Because this, Mr. Gravy Roast, is my world, that same world you decided to insult. This is how far I am actually willing to go to prove the truth behind my words. This is me choosing to play your game, my way.

And above everything else, this is how I know the measure of a man.”

Raion Kido clenches his fist, his eyes now galvanized. Not only were there personal reasons, as he had previously explained, for his choice of stipulation.

Not only was it right for the beliefs that he holds, not only was it something Micheal Graves would not be able to claim he was at any disadvantage when his time came to fall, but above all else, it is a match of endurance above all limits.

An endurance that the Lion had already proven he had.

“So when I tell you that after you and I are done, you won’t be able to do so much as twitch on the mat, I’m not saying it lightly, or puffing my chest, Graves; I’m only bringing to you the illumination that you so clearly lack. I’m saying it because I’ve done this before. And that occasion, Mr. Xtreme, was before I even came close to winning the Universal Title. Before I fought all over the Velvet Rabbit and into the streets of New York, and before I leapt out of the Burj Khalifa to catch the briefcase.

Ask the Ring Master, Graves, what happened when he and I were locked inside a cage. Ask him what happened when all he could do was watch me climb the cage and exit before he even knew what was going on before the bell rang. What was that, ten seconds at the least, maybe more? Do you think I never was in an actual fight, like, I don’t know… Dolly Waters breaking a bottle over my head at the biggest match of my life? ALIAS spearing me through a shattered glass window through the streets of New York?

The very reason why you’re challenging me, and not anyone else, for the Universal Title?

See, Graves, at least I take the time and effort to find out what I’m facing, because that’s what any wrestler, let alone Champion, is supposed to do. I told you the first time, Mr. Gravy Roast - the amount of punishment on which you pride yourself on having taken is the minimum requirement to climb into the wrestling ring at all.

So perhaps you should look in the mirror long and hard before you decide to talk to me about low-hanging fruit - preferably when you’re capable of seeing your own body instead of wishing you could fondle Vita Valenteen, and perhaps then it would dawn on you that I’ve tried to give you that importance you crave but pretend to disdain!”

A swift, sharp point at the camera follows the words of the XWF Universal Champion. It wasn’t like Raion himself had not been involved in grueling matches, and this match was a testament to that fact.

Micheal Graves might exult himself in his ability to give and receive punishment, but this was the Lion defending his ground, and his entire purpose was for the Dark Warrior to fall.

A purpose from which he would not be swayed, and for which Graves’ purported endurance would never be enough.

“And now that you know this, tell me: Are you really thinking I’m intimidated by you acting like a glutton for punishment? I made it a point to pick the match I picked because the entirety of my sole grievance against you hinges on it! I specifically said I picked Last Man Standing because nothing else would do! Not merely because I mean to prove my superiority beyond any doubt, since you’re kind enough to admit to it already, not only to solidify this reign I have just started in my first year within the XWF, but because of that very idealism you made the mistake of insulting off-hand.

And what I’m coming to show you, Mr. Dark Warrior, is not just how much pain and suffering I’ll endure to keep the XWF Universal Title, but what it’s going to take for Mark Flynn, or anyone, to take me down from the place I have earned. How much more you can take means nothing if you’re not willing to make the effort to rise, like I have after I’ve been knocked down. Point at Bobby Bourbon and Dolly Waters all you like, but I’ve beat them when the time came, and for greater stakes than yours.

It isn’t enough to boast to be still standing if one won’t ever move, and unlike you, Graves, I’m not willing to stay where I am, else I would never have signed up here at all. I’m not willing to blame Theo Pryce, Chris Page or Vinnie Lane for my own failures, and neither am I willing to use it to languish in oblivion. Because I’ve come here, and I’ve got so far, to bring light to a world of darkness, as is the calling of any Saint of Athena, and the Dark Warrior shall be consumed in the power of the Lion. Bring all weapons, shattered glass, or low blows that you can hit, and they shall not be enough.

When you look at me get back on my feet if the referee ever reaches nine, you shall see defiance in my face, and in yours I shall see frustration, which shall turn to anger, which shall then become despair before you feel the fangs of the Lion bite into your heart, and all around you becomes darkness.

And when you stir again, if you are even capable, you will do so just in time for the announcer to say “and still…” the XWF Universal Champion!”

One more time do the Lion’s words fly towards the New York wind, fluttering in the air as much as the white cape behind his back.

The Dark Warrior had already made clear he did not care, but the Lion had performed his charge.

And now it was time for deeds.

“I’ve wasted enough words, Graves, it’s time to end this already. August 31st, New York City, Wednesday Night Warfare. You come into the Big Apple expecting a mugging, but once you and I meet inside the Madison Square Garden, you’re going to find that the prey is you, and that the game has changed. Because this isn’t a contest, Graves. This isn’t a fight between two competitors.

This isn’t even the one-sided assault you’re expecting to be. I’m the one bringing this to you, Graves, an illumination for you that comes with the power of the northern lights. You may like to cheat death either figuratively, given your track record so far, or quite literally after your last message, but there is no escape this time.

You want this to be a mugging in the night, but the aurora is coming…”

The snarling leonine expression on his face, and his canines glinting in the light, the XWF Universal Champion drags his thumb across his throat.

“... and this has become an execution.”

Fade to black.