Post by Markw on Apr 23, 2015 16:07:52 GMT -5
WFWF End Game – A Kingdom In Flames
Joe Bishop: “I've really 
ed this up haven't I?”
It was a pretty painful moment of realisation. A lot of the blame does rest on Trace Demon of course, but I can't completely exonerate myself. Lila Sleater's stranglehold over the WFWF is tighter than ever, and the only people who even want to stop her, are about to beat each other to within an inch of their lives.
It'd be quite funny if the consequences weren't so horrific.
I can't say that I regret what I did. I can't say I regret stabbing Trace Demon in the back. He can't bring Lila down, that's quite clear. But I do... I do regret being here.
I regret the fact that I'm going into this match at all. A year ago, this match was all I wanted. I loathed Trace Demon with a passion, sour grapes I suppose, I'd lost to him twice and I was itching to put it right. Desperate to pin the man I'd demonized one, two, three in the middle of that ring. I was too proud really, I couldn't just let it go then, I couldn't focus on doing what was best to progress because I was so hell bent on destroying a man who hadn't really wronged me. If you'd given me this match a year ago, I would have grabbed it with both hands. I would have loved it. A brutal, bloody fight with the man who was my 'arch enemy'.
Now a year on, honestly, this is the last thing I want. I had to distance myself from Trace, but it's turned into a fantastic divide and conquer opportunity for Lila Sleater that looks like it might just work. This time it's Trace who is desperate to obliterate me, and I'm the one who honestly believes they have bigger fish to fry. Trace's pride won't let him end it here, he has to crush me for what I did to him. He's exactly like I was then in that respect.
I suppose I like to think that I've matured to some extent. I don't need to avenge my two defeats to Trace Demon any more. I don't need to put it right.
I just need to save the WFWF, and contrary to popular belief it's not Trace Demon who threatens it. It's Lila Sleater.
It's fair to say that, yeah, I'm pretty down about the whole thing. I don't want to destroy Trace Demon, but I have to. Right now it's be or be killed and the future of WFWF, the one shining beacon in an otherwise dark and dreary life, hangs on it. Trace wins, then the Revolution fails and the WFWF falls. I win, and it will have taken almost everything I have out of me. Maybe, just maybe, if I can, this company stands a chance.
But even then it's slim.
It's pretty bleak, and everyone knows...
Jason Anders: “Yeah, you have.”
That I'm as guilty as everyone else.
And with that he left. And there I sat. A revolutionary, without a single ally left. A 'popular' movement without the support of the people. For all intents and purposes, a joke, with no hope of winning this fight. This fight for the very soul of the one thing I care about.
The words 'losing battle' come to mind, but it's one I have to keep fighting.
---
It's amazing how quickly someone can lose their mystique isn't it?
A few years ago, the name Trace Demon struck fear into even the most foolhardy of professional wrestlers, even if they'd never admit it, nobody wanted to step into that ring with Trace Demon. In recent years Trace Demon has been the WFWF World Champion, he has been the owner of the WFWF, he has put together one of the most breath taking undefeated streaks in WFWF history. He has been the face of this company.
Knowing Trace Demon as I do, I can assert with some certainty, that he was most proud of being exactly what he said he was.
He was, undeniably, 'The King Of Demons'. Not a mere mortal, but a creature who inspired fear in all he came into contact with. The star of every young WFWF fans nightmares. Trace Demon was king, the WFWF was his kingdom, and no one, no one, could do a thing about it.
Trace Demon was untouchable, and the truth was, almost everyone who stepped in the ring with him had lost before the bell rang.
Three defeats are all it has taken. Shawn Malakai and Drakz have driven the king into exile, and an incompetent woman, now sits on his thrown. The aura that followed him has gone, Trace Demon is now just a man. A man no one is afraid to step into the ring with.
Our previous encounters both ended before they began, there was never any doubt, Trace Demon beats Joe Bishop, because to be honest, I'd already been obliterated in the psychological battle. Now I step into that ring with Trace Demon for a third time, and for the first time, I won't go into that ring intimidated. I won't look into those eyes and see a demon, a king, my superior, I'll look into those eyes and I'll see a withered, broken, beaten man. A man whose pride won't let him pack it in, a man who still thinks he's relevant, when it's clear to everyone with a pair of eyes that he just hasn't got it any more.
Trace Demon has become what he despises, Trace Demon is Yukio Blaze.
Everyone's thinking it Trace, I may as well say it.
You ruled this place once, but you couldn't keep it in your grasp. You've proven, beyond doubt, that you can't wrestle it away from Drakz, you can't take back what Lila Sleater stole from you. She has plunged this once great land into flames, and you couldn't do a thing about it.
Well that's not true actually. You could have done something about it.
You could have let me, and Kyle Matthews, and Jason Anders help you beat Drakz. You could have swallowed your pride to do what's best for your kingdom. You could have done whatever it took to come away with that belt, and the leverage we needed to unseat Lila Sleater.
But you didn't.
Because the truth is, the WFWF isn't what you care about, the World Championship isn't what you care about, the Revolution isn't what you care about.
At least none of those things are the be all and end all for you.
What you really care about is being 'The King Of Demons'. You want to be feared, because it feeds that ego of yours. And the way to get it back, to reclaim your mystique, was to beat Drakz clean. To do it without us.
So that's exactly what you tried to do. You stepped into that ring with Drakz without any help and for a second time, he chopped off your head.
It's a matter of priorities I guess. For me the priority is restoring the WFWF to what it once was, rebuilding this once great promotion, ensuring that our fans stop accepting mediocrity. Ensuring that only the very best, have a place in this promotion.
For you, the priority, is and always will be, Trace Demon. You care more about what people think of you, than what they think about the WFWF and that is just unforgivable.
I know that this battle is going to be bloody and brutal. I know it's not going to be one sided, I'm under no illusions. You could beat me in that ring, 1...2...3, for a third time. You may not be what you once were, but I've still got an awful lot to prove. I need to be at my absolute best, I have to be willing to put everything I have into this match to stand a chance of beating you, and even then you could prove to be too good for me. I am not Drakz, I haven't proven I can beat you and until I do I won't be the legitimate leader of this movement.
But the page of history has turned Trace. You were the WFWF, you were this company, but not now. Not anymore. You're the old, and it's time for something new. It's time for someone, capable of putting the vision you presented to me all those months ago into practice, to take control.
If I want to bring down Lila Sleater I have to put everything I have into destroying you, I'll do exactly that, because I have to. If I don't the WFWF will perish, because you're not going to defend it, you're not going to try to rebuild it, you're not even going to try. You're just going to do what's best for Trace Demon. You want to sit on the thrown, you want to be the king, but you don't care about the people, you don't care about the kingdom, just as long as it kneels in front of you.
A kingdom in flames doesn't need a king, it needs someone who can put out the fire.
ed this up haven't I?”It was a pretty painful moment of realisation. A lot of the blame does rest on Trace Demon of course, but I can't completely exonerate myself. Lila Sleater's stranglehold over the WFWF is tighter than ever, and the only people who even want to stop her, are about to beat each other to within an inch of their lives.
It'd be quite funny if the consequences weren't so horrific.
I can't say that I regret what I did. I can't say I regret stabbing Trace Demon in the back. He can't bring Lila down, that's quite clear. But I do... I do regret being here.
I regret the fact that I'm going into this match at all. A year ago, this match was all I wanted. I loathed Trace Demon with a passion, sour grapes I suppose, I'd lost to him twice and I was itching to put it right. Desperate to pin the man I'd demonized one, two, three in the middle of that ring. I was too proud really, I couldn't just let it go then, I couldn't focus on doing what was best to progress because I was so hell bent on destroying a man who hadn't really wronged me. If you'd given me this match a year ago, I would have grabbed it with both hands. I would have loved it. A brutal, bloody fight with the man who was my 'arch enemy'.
Now a year on, honestly, this is the last thing I want. I had to distance myself from Trace, but it's turned into a fantastic divide and conquer opportunity for Lila Sleater that looks like it might just work. This time it's Trace who is desperate to obliterate me, and I'm the one who honestly believes they have bigger fish to fry. Trace's pride won't let him end it here, he has to crush me for what I did to him. He's exactly like I was then in that respect.
I suppose I like to think that I've matured to some extent. I don't need to avenge my two defeats to Trace Demon any more. I don't need to put it right.
I just need to save the WFWF, and contrary to popular belief it's not Trace Demon who threatens it. It's Lila Sleater.
It's fair to say that, yeah, I'm pretty down about the whole thing. I don't want to destroy Trace Demon, but I have to. Right now it's be or be killed and the future of WFWF, the one shining beacon in an otherwise dark and dreary life, hangs on it. Trace wins, then the Revolution fails and the WFWF falls. I win, and it will have taken almost everything I have out of me. Maybe, just maybe, if I can, this company stands a chance.
But even then it's slim.
It's pretty bleak, and everyone knows...
Jason Anders: “Yeah, you have.”
That I'm as guilty as everyone else.
And with that he left. And there I sat. A revolutionary, without a single ally left. A 'popular' movement without the support of the people. For all intents and purposes, a joke, with no hope of winning this fight. This fight for the very soul of the one thing I care about.
The words 'losing battle' come to mind, but it's one I have to keep fighting.
---
It's amazing how quickly someone can lose their mystique isn't it?
A few years ago, the name Trace Demon struck fear into even the most foolhardy of professional wrestlers, even if they'd never admit it, nobody wanted to step into that ring with Trace Demon. In recent years Trace Demon has been the WFWF World Champion, he has been the owner of the WFWF, he has put together one of the most breath taking undefeated streaks in WFWF history. He has been the face of this company.
Knowing Trace Demon as I do, I can assert with some certainty, that he was most proud of being exactly what he said he was.
He was, undeniably, 'The King Of Demons'. Not a mere mortal, but a creature who inspired fear in all he came into contact with. The star of every young WFWF fans nightmares. Trace Demon was king, the WFWF was his kingdom, and no one, no one, could do a thing about it.
Trace Demon was untouchable, and the truth was, almost everyone who stepped in the ring with him had lost before the bell rang.
Three defeats are all it has taken. Shawn Malakai and Drakz have driven the king into exile, and an incompetent woman, now sits on his thrown. The aura that followed him has gone, Trace Demon is now just a man. A man no one is afraid to step into the ring with.
Our previous encounters both ended before they began, there was never any doubt, Trace Demon beats Joe Bishop, because to be honest, I'd already been obliterated in the psychological battle. Now I step into that ring with Trace Demon for a third time, and for the first time, I won't go into that ring intimidated. I won't look into those eyes and see a demon, a king, my superior, I'll look into those eyes and I'll see a withered, broken, beaten man. A man whose pride won't let him pack it in, a man who still thinks he's relevant, when it's clear to everyone with a pair of eyes that he just hasn't got it any more.
Trace Demon has become what he despises, Trace Demon is Yukio Blaze.
Everyone's thinking it Trace, I may as well say it.
You ruled this place once, but you couldn't keep it in your grasp. You've proven, beyond doubt, that you can't wrestle it away from Drakz, you can't take back what Lila Sleater stole from you. She has plunged this once great land into flames, and you couldn't do a thing about it.
Well that's not true actually. You could have done something about it.
You could have let me, and Kyle Matthews, and Jason Anders help you beat Drakz. You could have swallowed your pride to do what's best for your kingdom. You could have done whatever it took to come away with that belt, and the leverage we needed to unseat Lila Sleater.
But you didn't.
Because the truth is, the WFWF isn't what you care about, the World Championship isn't what you care about, the Revolution isn't what you care about.
At least none of those things are the be all and end all for you.
What you really care about is being 'The King Of Demons'. You want to be feared, because it feeds that ego of yours. And the way to get it back, to reclaim your mystique, was to beat Drakz clean. To do it without us.
So that's exactly what you tried to do. You stepped into that ring with Drakz without any help and for a second time, he chopped off your head.
It's a matter of priorities I guess. For me the priority is restoring the WFWF to what it once was, rebuilding this once great promotion, ensuring that our fans stop accepting mediocrity. Ensuring that only the very best, have a place in this promotion.
For you, the priority, is and always will be, Trace Demon. You care more about what people think of you, than what they think about the WFWF and that is just unforgivable.
I know that this battle is going to be bloody and brutal. I know it's not going to be one sided, I'm under no illusions. You could beat me in that ring, 1...2...3, for a third time. You may not be what you once were, but I've still got an awful lot to prove. I need to be at my absolute best, I have to be willing to put everything I have into this match to stand a chance of beating you, and even then you could prove to be too good for me. I am not Drakz, I haven't proven I can beat you and until I do I won't be the legitimate leader of this movement.
But the page of history has turned Trace. You were the WFWF, you were this company, but not now. Not anymore. You're the old, and it's time for something new. It's time for someone, capable of putting the vision you presented to me all those months ago into practice, to take control.
If I want to bring down Lila Sleater I have to put everything I have into destroying you, I'll do exactly that, because I have to. If I don't the WFWF will perish, because you're not going to defend it, you're not going to try to rebuild it, you're not even going to try. You're just going to do what's best for Trace Demon. You want to sit on the thrown, you want to be the king, but you don't care about the people, you don't care about the kingdom, just as long as it kneels in front of you.
A kingdom in flames doesn't need a king, it needs someone who can put out the fire.
OOC: Ugh pretty obvious I'm not happy with this, it's really just a very short glimpse of what I wanted to use to frame something bigger, but I've been swamped by essays and football has stolen my limited spare time I'm afraid. I need to have a big think about where I'm going once time is on my side again. Sorry it's not what the work you've put into the feud deserves Trace.
