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X-treme Wrestling Federation »   » Archives » Snow Job RP Boards 2023
Hope Catching Fire
Author Message
Ned Kaye Offline
per cogitabat, per facis
TITLE - Tag Champion



XWF FanBase:
The IWC

(gets varying reactions in the arenas, but will be worshiped like a god and defended until the end by internet fans; literally has thousands of online dorks logging on to complain anytime they lose a match or don't get pushed right)


#1
01-21-2023, 08:43 PM

Hope Catching Fire


Ned was never a huge fan of having private meetings with anyone, let alone Theo, but he knew it was coming since he bailed from the party Pryce had set up for him. The hallway leading into Pryce’s office was as carefully kept and clean as ever. His shoulder buzzed from the pain it had accumulated during his match with Ring Master as he stretched his arm out to grab the door handle, taking a deep breath before stepping into the office. Pryce glanced up at him from his desk, patiently waiting for Ned to sit in the seat across from him prior to speaking, his mere frosty gaze doing all the speaking for him. Kaye steeled himself and sat down, preparing for the worst.

“That was incredibly fucking stupid,” Theo stated, choosing not to mince words. They hadn’t really spoken since the party, unless one considered a message from Pryce’s intern telling him to show up as communication.

Ned crossed his arms, understanding Theo's perspective, but unwilling to fold, “I know it was abrupt and I should've said something, but I don't belong in an environment like that. I tried because I do owe you a lot, but I'm not going to just buckle down and jump when you command it. That's not who I am.”

“So you'd rather make me look like an idiot at an event I held for your benefit than swallow your pride?” Pryce shot back.

“My benefit? If we were doing that for me, it wouldn't be a stuck up buncha suits that never supported me! This was a PR move!” Ned pointed towards the city just barely visible outside of Theo’s office, raising his voice slightly, “That fan I went to see? Him and people like him are my people. They supported me when I was wrestling in front of bingo halls. The people you brought to that soiree forgot my name the next morning. If you wanted to do something for me, you'd have incorporated those who actually support me.”

“Actually support you, eh?” Theo cracked a smile almost before responding, “I don't think you're realizing exactly who you're talking to, Ned. I support you every time I cut your checks. I didn't complain when you went off to nearly get yourself killed twice in the span of a month. Didn't raise a fuss when you started lugging around that girl in meetings. Kept quiet and kept Trilogy- sorry, Saga moving and evolving. This incident is honestly going to be better press than you realize, but I need you to understand from this point onward that I'm not going to be jerked around so you can live out your morality play. Your behavior can and does cost me money. I pay for these excursions, kid. Don't forget it and don’t do it again.”

Ned stood up, staring down at Theo as he prepared to leave.

“You hired Ned Kaye. That's who you're going to get.”

“That I am painfully aware of.”

Pryce gave a small nod as Ned turned his back to his manager, exhaling somewhat. He was already dealing with a headache, a hurt shoulder, and the knowledge of who awaited him in the next challenge, the last thing he needed was to start butting heads further with the people on his side.

“Before you go, I want you to know that I did look into something you had asked me about a while back,” Theo added as Ned had almost left the room, his hand tightly gripping the door’s handle.

“What did you get?” Ned asked, almost hesitating to check further.

Theo scribbled down something on a piece of paper before flicking it towards the far end of his desk, prompting Ned to walk back and check the message. It was an address. Ned glanced up, speechless.

“An old friend of yours.”



“I don’t know why this was your idea of a good place to head out to, Ned,” Darcy complained. Regardless of the time of year, it always felt like out of the way, hilly areas were incredibly muggy to her. She wore a coat, a few supplies lugged over her back, although Kaye was visibly the bigger pack mule out of them both.

“It’s just for this upcoming match. There’s someone important out here that I need to catch up with,” Ned responded, remaining vague. That was the thing that truly frustrated her about him. It seemed like half the time, he was in his own world and to keep up, you had to find what pace his mind was moving. It was endearing, but she could take it or leave it some days.

This was certainly a “leave it” day.

“I get that you wanna beat this Page guy, but I don’t see how going to bumfuck nowhere helps that in the least,” she responded, rolling her eyes a little, “I mean, it’s just a match at the end of the day.”

No, it isn’t,”[/color][/font] Ned proclaimed sternly, scooting a few rocks and branches out of her way as she limped up the bumpy hillside.

“You’ve been weird ever since you knew you were gonna fight this guy. What’s with you?” She asked, finally sick of how closed off he was being.

“This… this whole situation is just complicated, Darce. Can we drop it?” Ned asked, trying to keep his eyes ahead, only for her to step in his way, taking a defiant stand despite her clumsy footing on the way up.

“Not this time, Ned! We’ve been needing to talk for a while now about… well, about a lot,” She looked away, folding her arms together, speaking a bit under her breath as she wiped the fog from her glasses.

“Everybody assumes that we’re… a thing. So, what are we?” She looked up to him, an uncertain look on her face as she pondered the question. The fact is that Ned had thought the same thing, but it was… emotionally challenging to consider, especially given the circumstances.

Darce… look I can’t do this right now-”

“Unfortunately for you, Ned, this conversation isn’t all about you. We need to cover it. To kinda know what our dynamic is. Not for other people’s sakes, but our own…. My own.”

Ned sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead as he stepped around her, “Look… I don’t know. I have a lot on my mind. You didn’t know why this match was so important to me, but it’s because Page… he hurt someone very close to me. My friend Robert. Fighting against Chris Page nearly cost him everything and I… I wasn’t there. I don’t know if I can think about us- if that’s even a thing we want- during all this, okay? Please just give me some time.”

She relented, letting him pass, her speech still somewhat stern, but more understanding, “Alright, but we’re not gonna keep pushing this off indefinitely.”

As Ned began to finally step a few feet forward, he eyed a cabin in the distance, mentally noting its familiarity when suddenly, a rope trap hooked his leg and carried him into the air, suspended from a tree, causing Darcy and Ned to drop all their supplies.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!”

The cocking sound of a shotgun clicked from behind a few bushes as the older man holding the firearm stepped out of the cover, his weapon pointed at Ned, dangling upside down.

“Lotta nerve showing your face here again.”

Darcy began to panic as Ned calmed her down, his hands slowly lifting to try and ease the tension.

“It’s okay. It’ll all be okay. Darcy, this is my friend Robert’s dad, Dewey.”

Dewey Main lowered the gun as his eyes narrowed, asking Ned the one question most pertinent.

“Why are you here?”

Ned took a deep breath, wincing at the pain in his shoulder as he replied with two words.

“To train.”







My father told me once when I was young
A man cannot undo the things he's done
But even though you can't go back
You change the path by choosing to move on


Ned stepped forward from the darkness, the light surrounding him naturally as his eyes bore into the camera, a single sentence leaving his lips.

“I am going to beat the everloving shit out of Chris Page in a 30-minute Iron Man match.”

Without uttering anything further, he walked out of frame. The lights began to dim.

TO BE CONTIN-


Sighing, he walked back into frame, shaking his head despite the finality of his earlier statement. Deep down, he understood entirely that he couldn't leave it just there. With an annoyed glare, he pressed an index finger to his temple, softly tapping the side of his head with his fingertip.

“But I know that won't suffice. Not for you, Chris. No, you’re a man of narratives. Of histories. So let’s begin this tale properly.”

“It’s 2019. I’ve just entered the XWF a few short months prior. I have gained the eye of APEX following my match with Robert Main. I have a long road ahead of me before I am capable of standing toe to toe with Main, but I’m steadily approaching that point. Enter one man: Chris Page. He sees me as a simple obstacle on his journey to becoming the greatest thorn in the side of Robert Main. In a lopsided match, he tears through me, my years of experience on the indies ill preparing me for a man who has a year away from wrestling for four decades. Not in- for. Later in the year, we meet in the Lethal Lottery match, but I’m unable to take him down once more. This is the last time I would face Chris Page in-ring, but it was far from the last time he made an impact on my life.”

“2020. I am struggling with self-confidence. I don’t trust my own abilities, so I lay it all on the line against The Engineer. I wager my XWF contract, the thing I spent a lifetime trying to attain and, in one of the most tragic moments of my career… I fail. I lose and everything is stripped from my hands and I don’t know how to handle it. I would later be dragged back into the XWF following the actions of one Chris Chaos, but that’s a different case of retribution for a different moment in time. The point is that I’m not there for Robert. And because I’m not, Chris Page is. Cataclysm is formed and the go on to be one of the most dominant tag teams in XWF history.”

“2021. I break. Spurred on by mental anguish I cannot put into words, I adapt some persona and try to lock every last bit of myself away, but the real me keeps seeping through. I act destructively towards my friends and begin isolating myself, on a downward trajectory towards overdose. Eventually, it becomes too much, and I have to be admitted to rehab by my friend Steven Cooper. While this is all happening, Chris Page has taken the opportunity at Robert’s side to stab him so thoroughly in the back that it nearly ends Robert’s career…”


He forced the next few words through gritted teeth.

“...and life as well.”

“The two former partners face off in a historic three night series and Main successfully “retires” Chris Page. It looks as though it’s all finally ended and our paths won’t cross again. But then 2022 happens. I find myself through blood, sweat, and tears and start on the long path of atonement and Chris Page begins CCPE, an organization that primarily exists because BOB kicked his ass out with all the ceremony of Mardi Gras beads worn by a firing squad. He signs an army and begins pulling the strings of this industry from a greater height, but I refuse to treat him like some sort of grand controller or king and it takes one of his most talented signees, Peter Vaughn, outside interference, to take me down. And coming into 2023, Chris Page after winning a shot at my title, disavows it, tells the XWF to go fuck itself and walks away.”

“And, frankly, I didn’t stop him. Didn’t need to bother. I know Chris Page, and if there is one thing The Stoned One loves more than anything, it’s playing games with his opponents. That’s why I chose a 30 minute Iron Man. No games, Chris. Not after everything you have done to the people I love. People think I was hard on Isaiah King, tough on Ring Master, but Page, I’m going to be downright vicious towards you. Because you are the greatest redundancy in the wrestling industry and it’s a fact you’re well aware of, and even proud of. You talk about how the people signed to CCPE contracts were stars before you and unintentionally show your hand, reminding everyone that not a single wrestler under your employ really needs much from the Chris Page brand above them. So, who benefits? If they’re going to be great athletes wherever they end up, why all the fuss about one of your contracts? Because it’s a branding effort- the real true talent of “Chronic” Chris Page, the ability to advertise himself with the same amount of ubiquity as a diet soda that leaves an equally shitty taste in your mouth.”

“That’s why he talks so much shit about the Saga and Trilogy before it. You see, in the mind of Chris Page, an organization exists to consolidate power. The concept of people coming together for no other real reason than fitting well together and all fighting for a greater cause doesn’t compute because Page cannot imagine a greater cause than himself. I don’t know if that says something about his ability to conceive of things or merely the size of his ego, but I can’t count either answer out from the man who pitched a talent agency as “a bold new experiment in the world of pro wrestling.” I despise BOB and everything they stand for, yet they saw through you as aptly as I did when they thanked you for their creation by beating you down as a whole collective. What a sendoff. They personally slammed the door to hit your ass on the way out and at no point did you think, “maybe the issue was making a giant organization of opportunists that held zero morals and loyalty and just used vague success as the carrot on the stick for truly vile individuals,” instead you did it again, but you put your name on it. These aren’t the stratagems of a cerebral titan; this is a high school kid submitting the same essay with a different title.”

“But all of that’s really set dressing, isn’t it? You know why I’m going to beat your ass into the dirt and it’s not because I’m bitter about a four-year-old loss. This is about making you pay for what you did to my friend.”


Ned began to tear up, his fist clenched so tightly that he felt his nails bury into his palm.

“You know what I regret most about The Nefarious era, Chris? It’s knowing that those most important to me were suffering and I wasn’t in a mental state where I thought anything of it. I poured bottle after bottle, shot after shot, liquor after liquor down my throat just to ignore the guilt that was flowing through my veins like blood. And when I finally sobered up, it hit me like a freight train. And the worst part was that the parallels between us became ever so apparent. I would think of the years we spent at the start of our careers on the indies. The image of a bloody Robert contrasted by the pain I put Drew and Jim through. Pain and suffering I haven’t been able to personally apologize for yet. And then I know what separates us: shame. I feel ashamed for how I was, yet you seem to aspire to make those moments your defining ones. The fact is, Chris, that I will never be like you because I don’t break bread with people and then cowardly have one of my minions smack him in the head. I hurt Caedus and Archyle with my own hands and I work to right those wrongs with the same two. You’ll never understand brotherhood, Page, because it doesn’t fit into your world. Into your mindset. There are players and pawns in your twisted view and that’s why you blab so much about Theo in regards to myself and Kido, assuming I fully trust him. I don’t. He knows that. If Theo disbanded The Saga tomorrow, Kido, Cashe, and I would still talk and care about one another. Our bond isn’t branding. Our kinship is not a result of advertisement. I am here for those you have harmed, for the people you have been merciless to for your own gain. For the brothers I keep and those I have kept, I will tear down the legacy of Chris Page and hoist the Unified Television Title over my head when I’m finished.”

“Despite every accomplishment, every title, every big-name deal, you are simply what your name implies: a page in the books of greater men. But you will be luckier than you ever have been in your life if you take up that much time in the story of Ned Kaye. I am here to end this dark, gloomy sky you’ve cast over the industry. Not just for Saga or APEX or Prophecy or the countless people you’ve terrorized, but for me. And there will be a flame I will personally carry until your legacy is ash and the clouds part and there is only one glimmering sight from the ground.”

“A light of hope.”


TO BE CONTINUED

"You can't run from yourself."
[Image: riNkNZw.png]
XWF
Wins | Losses | Draws
52 | 37 | 4


Indie Darling Eternal

#33 on The XWF Top 50(2021)
1x Tag Team Champion[with Isaiah King](Current)
2x [Image: CbviDqC.png] (Former)
1x X-Treme Champion(Former)
The Final Supercontinental Champion
1x Television Champion(Former)
Star of the Month - April 2019 | March 2021 | December 2022
RP of the Month - March 2021 (Void of the Mind)
Winner - Leap Of Faith Rafter Match 2019
1x 24/7 Briefcase Holder
Winner - War Games 2023(With Mark Flynn, Isaiah King, & Crash Rodriguez as G00D-B01)


All Time Career(Interfed)
Wins | Losses | Draws
52 | 38 | 4
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