Tuesday March 15, 2011
Honda Center- Backstage Hallway
Anaheim, California
11:10 PM Local Time
I awoke to find myself curled up into a ball, every inch of my body wracked with firey pain. I moaned silently, and began to straighten my body out, feeling the dried blood on my face cracking as the skin beneath the crimson mask moved. My hands clutched my stomach, which was still slightly damp- more blood, I realized.
In fact, I couldn’t feel a part of me that wasn’t covered in blood. It was matted in my hair, on my face, and soaking my clothes to the point that they stuck to my body. For a second, I was alarmed- how much had I even lost here? But the general feeling of agony overrode any sense of concern I had for my own well-being.
Worst of all, was the sensation that something was choking me, and I raised my hand to my neck, trying to pry the unwanted necklace away. I quickly withdrew my hand with a yelp, and looked down. Two of my fingers were sliced open, the blood seeping out and joining the dried blood that already covered me.
“What..?” it was all I was able to say before I was wracked by a coughing spasm, causing me to curl back up into a ball. My ribs, my legs, my head, everything hurt. Most irritating of all was whatever was wrapped around my neck- the coughing made it dig into the skin even more.
More tentatively this time, I raised my hand back to my neck, and felt for whatever was there. Barbed wire? Why was barbed wire wrapped around my neck?
What the hell had happened to me?
Slowly, painfully, I managed to work my way over to the wall of the hallway, and sat up against it. I looked down at my ring gear. It was ruined, covered in dried blood, and a small tear ran up the left side of my tights. I idly poked at the hole, and looked up.
In front of me, not ten feet away, stood an empty chair, and everything came rushing back. The cage match. The interference. The attack from behind. Finding Ariel in the hallway.
Oh God... Ariel.
But she was gone. The only evidence that she had ever even been there was a small bit of discarded rope hanging from the chair.
“N...no..” I managed to choke out. It wasn’t fair! Over a month she had spent in captivity, and I had finally seen her! I had talked to her!
Damn it all to hell, I had TOUCHED her!
How could I have come so close to liberating her, only for everything to fall apart, and her to be thrown back into captivity, just like that?
Everything overwhelmed me at that moment. The fatigue, the pressure, the pain, and the heartbreak, all of it washed over me like a wave of misery, and the first tears began to leak out. I brought my knees up to my chest, buried my face in my hands, and began to sob uncontrollably.
A small part of me felt like an idiot. The X3W World Champion, the #1 ranked wrestler in the world, was cowering in a hallway, crying like a little girl. But at that moment, the vast majority of me didn’t care.
Eventually, however, the tears began to dry up, and the rational part of my brain began to regain control. Tonight was bad, yes, but it wasn’t a total disaster. I was bloodied up and hurt, but nothing that wouldn’t heal in time. And as disappointing as it was to lose Ariel again, I wasn’t back to square one.
At least I finally knew the name of the monster who had perpetrated this heinous crime.
How could it have been Psycho Soldier? Sure, we had completely opposite outlooks on religion, but our match had been about respect, and it had been one of the toughest, hard fought matches of my career. And Soldier had even been gracious in defeat, wishing me well as I advanced to face Crazy KYD. How many times had I passed him in the hallway at shows, offering a friendly smile and a wave, never knowing that he was keeping one of my best friends tied up in some unknown hellhole?
How could he have done this to me?
How could I have LET him do this to me?
I knew all along what Psycho Soldier was, and yet I tried to pretend otherwise. An ‘honorable Satanist’, I had thought of him, like such a thing could possibly exist. The man revered the Prince of Lies, and yet I stood there and took him at his word when he said “no hard feelings.”
I shook his hand, and now I was lucky the knife he stuck into my back was only in the figurative sense.
What a fool I was. What a stupid, stupid fool.
Tears leaked out again, but this time, they were tears of guilt. Everything that had happened to me, I had brought upon myself with my naivete. Everything that had happened to Ariel was on my head, because I was too blind to see the truth when it was right in front of me.
Had I listened to Szalinski, and stayed away from Ariel, none of this would have happened. She and Jeremy would still be together, and Psycho Soldier wouldn’t have taken her. Everyone would have been happy, and I would have just had one less friend in the world.
Which was fine, really, because I didn’t really deserve Ariel as a friend in the first place.
Heck, after tonights miserable performance against Johnny Rotten, I didn’t even deserve to be World Champion.
Oh, to hell with you, Wendy Briese!
I almost looked around for the speaker, even though I knew the harsh words had been the result of my own thoughts. As my body and my mind began to numb itself into an endless bath of self-pity and anguish, some little part of my brain had shut the water off, and yanked out the drain plug.
Was I going to turn into another Szalinski, someone so wracked by their mental anguish, someone so steeped in feeling sorry for themselves, that they could barely function as a human being? Was I going to curl up into a ball and do nothing, when Ariel still needed me? Was I going to hang my head in defeat, when I wasn’t even defeated?
No, tonight was a victory. The blood and tears I had shed were merely a price, a price I should be all too willing to pay. Because they had purchased the pieces of the puzzle, and all I needed was to finish putting it together. Now that I knew where Ariel was- or at least who had her- what was stopping me from finding them and freeing her?
And then making sure that Psycho Soldier never hurt me- or anyone I cared about- ever again.
Gingerly, I raised my hands to the barbed wire that was wrapped around my neck. I knew I should have gone to the medical area, had a professional remove it, but something told me that the only person who could remove this burden from me was myself.
I gently began to unwrap the wire from around my neck. Luckily, only a few barbs had truly sunk into the flesh of my neck, but I sobbed in pain each time one ripped free. I could feel more blood welling up in these wounds, spilling over to run down my neck, but at this point, considering I was covered in it, it mattered little.
Finally, my demonic collar had been removed. There was a garbage can nearby, and I took a step, ready to throw the wire away, but then I stopped. I don’t know what made me decide to do it, but I began to coil the wire in my hands, careful to avoid getting pricked again.
I looked around at the scene, dried smears of my blood all over the floors and walls along with a ruined door nearby, and I felt a momentary pang of pity for the poor soul that would be stuck cleaning this up.
Slowly, stumbling at first, but then finding my legs and my balance, I began to walk back towards my locker room. The road workers and stagehands were still busily breaking down the show, getting everything ready to transport to Oakland. Every single one stopped to look at me, mouths agape. Several even rushed to assist me, but I shrugged them away, my head held high in pride and defiance.
I knew exactly what I was going to do. I would go back to my locker room, I would clean myself off, throw away my ring gear, and put on my street clothes, and then I would go home to my family. And tomorrow morning, when I was well-rested, and (hopefully) somewhat healed up, I would begin to figure out just how I would liberate Ariel, and bring her home safely.
And if Psycho Soldier tried to stop me?
I looked down at the coiled barbed wire in my left hand, and smiled grimly.
To hell with him.
------------------------------------
Monday March 21, 2011
Golden Gate Park
San Fransisco, California
6:57 PM Local Time
[Golden Gate Park at twilight is the setting as we fade in this fine spring evening. Wendy Briese stands alone, dressed in a pair of jeans and a windbreaker. Considering the beating she had taken at Shatterpoint, Wendy’s healed up fairly well over the past week. She still sports a small mouse under one eye, but her nose has healed, as has her arms, and fingers. She does, however, move with an obvious stiffness, as if her midsection is still sore. Also noticeable is that the collar of her windbreaker is pulled high, although whether she’s covering up the wounds to her neck, or merely doing her best against the blustery elements, is indeterminable.]
“Well, I think it’s fairly safe to say that this has not been one of my better weeks.”
[Wendy sighs in resignation, although there is definite anger being supressed, both in her facial expression, and in her tone.]
“I was attacked from behind, my match ended in enormous controversy, and it was finally revealed to me just what kind of match my title defense will be in.”
[Yeah, she’s definitely not happy]
“Everyone knows my opinion on matches such as the Fatal Attraction, so there’s little point in me repeating it. I don’t like it, but at the same time, I’m bound by my honor as both a competitor and a champion, so I really have no choice but to compete in that travesty come the time.”
[Another shrug of resignation, although there is a definite irritation about Wendy.]
“And if our TEMPORARY president Mrs. McTaggert thinks the best thing for this business is to have her two best wrestlers be blown up and nearly hacked to death for her own amusement, then I’m in no position to say no.”
[Another disgruntled shake of the head]
“Ironically, there is actually one person that I would love to be locked in the Fatal Attraction Cage with for a few moments, but unfortunately, as that person has yet to win a single match since the creation of X3W, I doubt we’ll be seeing him in the main event of a pay-per-view anytime soon.
[Gee, who could she possibly be talking about?]
“And apparently, that’s all actually MY fault.”
[An incredulous, mirthless laugh]
“Psycho Soldier, make whatever excuses you want as to why you’ve struggled in X3W. Go ahead and claimed that I somehow managed to magically ‘steal’ your talent away from you. But personally, you’d be better served looking in a mirror, and holding yourself accountable for your failures.”
[A small, grim smile]
“Consider it practice, because very soon, you’re going to be held VERY accountable, indeed.”
[Wendy’s eyes narrow just a bit]
“I don’t care what your rationale was, or what you even hoped to accomplish. Ariel Shadows had NOTHING to do with any issue between you and I. There were other ways you could have gone about getting your delusional, psychotic ‘revenge’, Ariel didn’t deserve that fate.”
[Small pause]
“You, on the other hand, will deserve every single bit of what will be coming to you.”
[Wendy takes a deep breath, but her emerald eyes are already blazing.]
“You have already lost. Your attack, as shocking and painful as it was, was a failure, because all it has accomplished was to put me on notice as to what kind of ‘person’ you truly are. You will not catch me off guard again.”
[Wendy fiercely shakes her head in denial]
“But you will be, Soldier. Because there will be no preparations you can make for the swift and merciless retribution that will fall upon your head the moment Wendy Briese manages to get ahold of you. I won’t spoil the surprise of what’s in store with you, but I will say, that what goes around, will certainly have come around.”
[Another grim, humorless smile, and Wendy pauses for a long while, emotion suddenly washing over her.]
“But you think this is all funny, don’t you Johnny and Mike?”
[Wendy is looking directly at the camera, and nearly trembling, so irate is she]
“If you two don’t like me, I can hardly blame you, especially after last week. But like before, what does Ariel have to do with this? Are you really so despicable that you have to throw out a cheap shot about a kidnapped girl in some attempt to get under my skin?”
[A derisive snort, and Wendy shakes her head]
“You didn’t need to do that. Mike Powers got under my skin the first time I heard him open his mouth.”
[A helpless shrug]
“So what is it that you guys want me to say? That Johnny Rotten should have won that match? That you had me beaten at the top of the cage? I can’t deny it. I watched the replay of that match, and I was absolutely annoyed with how many stupid errors I made over the course of that contest. If ever I deserved to lose a match, last week was it.”
[Wendy shakes her head in digust]
“And I’m just as unhappy about the conclusion of that match as you are, but I’ll get to that in a second. I am happy, however, that I get another chance to get into the ring against Johnny Rotten this week. After the debacle last week offered, I definitely have something I need to prove this week.”
[Again, her gaze hardens just a bit]
“But most of all, I’m looking forward to getting back into that ring, because I would LOVE another opportunity to shut the both of you up. I don’t like bullies, and you two are among the worst I’ve ever met.”
[Wendy adjusts the collar of her windbreaker, and, almost imperceptibly, winces.]
“Mike, for someone who looks and acts like he wouldn’t last two minutes in a physical confrontation with an average eighth grader, you sure like to strut around as if Johnny Rotten’s accomplishments are somehow your own. Having a manager of my own, I’m no stranger to the concept of piggybacking, but you’ve taken it to a new level of ridiculous.”
[Wendy rolls her eyes]
“And Johnny, normally I’d admire a man who allows his actions to speak more than his words. But your actions are cowardly and reprehensible. Do you really find accomplishment in beating up a non-wrestler?”
[Another derisive snort]
“Perhaps so. After all, considering that you have yet to officially record a win in X3W, I suppose you have to take your accomplishments where you can get them.”
[Wendy looks away for a second, then breathes in and sighs]
“And that brings us back to... that.”
[That being last week’s main event, of course. Wendy pauses for a few seconds, gathering her thoughts, and takes another deep breath]
“Joey Jenova. You’re a good person, and I can definitely tell that your heart is in the right place. But your actions last week at Shatterpoint were beyond foolish.”
[Wendy pauses again, not happy about saying such things about her upcoming tag partner, given her opinion on interference in matches, she stands firm]
“I know what you were hoping to accomplish. It was the main event, after all- the time of the show when the largest number of people were watching. With that spotlight, you hoped to humiliate Rotten, and redeem yourself at the same time.”
[Wendy’s voice is gentler now, but her tone still carries a significant reprimand]
“And I’m sure it was very self-gratifying, but in the end, it was such a waste. All it did was cheapen the end to what had been a entertaining match. When all was said and done, nothing was accomplished.”
[Wendy leans forward, and a small smile cracks her face]
“Now, all that being said, I’m more than honored to stand next to you this week on Shatterpoint. You’re an amazingly talented wrestler, and you’re not afraid to stand up for what you believe in. And most of all, you normally try to maintain the integrity of this company, and this sport, when so many others just look for whatever shortcut they can take to the top.”
[The smile widens just a bit]
“Most admirable about you, though, is your dedication to your friend, even though Jason Riviera turned his back on you. I hope you can free him from the spell that witch Jasmine has put over him.”
[A small sad sigh]
“I just hope your efforts are not futile. Crazy KYD seems every bit as misguided, childish, and self-centered as he was the first time I faced him. And I know you want a piece of Johnny Rotten as well, considering what he and Mike Powers have done to your friends Graham and Mr. Talinsdale.”
[The smile returns, and for a second, Wendy looks almost warm and friendly, the first time all promo.]
“Joey, last week, millions of people around the world celebrated Saint Patrick’s day, in honor of the man who drove the snakes out of The Emerald Isle. This Tuesday, let’s follow in his example, as we send three of X3W’s snakes fleeing into the San Fransisco Bay.”
[Short pause]
“But let’s do it the right way this time. In a manner that leaves no doubt which pair are the better wrestlers here in X3W. Because together, I think we can accomplish quite a bit.”
[One last smile, and Wendy turns to walk away as the scene fades]
