Post by Kai Stevens on Nov 25, 2018 0:49:45 GMT
CHAPTER TWO:
i don’t wanna’ die
“My grave will never be filled,
it’s either kill or be killed.”
Hollywood Undead
----We open on a polished wooden floor covered in the center of the room by a black mat, all four walls a soft pallid color. The outer perimeter of the frame is darkened slightly, which serves only to provide foreboding to the locale. When a muscular man enters the frame in a pair of black compression shorts and a pair of black Nike shorts with a white swoosh, a rubber band around his right wrist and a headband wrapped around his forehead, we find that we are in the presence of a Champion.
----The man, clearly ALPHA World Heavyweight Champion Kai Stevens, drops down to his knees on the mat, back to the camera, and curls himself forward so as to rest his forearms and elbows on the mat before him. He pushes the top of his skull into the mat as he interlocks his fingers, pressing the back of his head into the palms of his hands, using this as his foundation to hoist his legs directly straight up into the air, pointing his toes towards the sky. A moment passes in this headstand with closed eyes before he snaps them open and glares directly into the camera.
----“These kinds of things require a certain… Balance,” he explains monotonously. “It stems back to a scientific level-- Newton’s laws. For every action there will be an equal and opposite reaction... For someone to break another, someone must be broken, as you’d say, right?”
----Kai brings his legs down, keeping them rigid as he bend at the hips to hang his legs parallel above the floor for a moment, evidencing his balance and core strength. It, however, is interesting that Stevens does not wield his typical arrogant facial expression, but a stoic one if any at all. Zen.
----“The Chinese, Miles,” he explains. “They postulated that every force, natural, preternatural, or otherwise… Positioned themselves on one end of the spectrum or the other-- an equilibrium. The Yin and the Yang. For centuries this school of thought has informed discourse all over the globe. For every beacon of light in this world-- every glimmer of hope? There is a Plague. There is an evil-- a shadow.
----“In a world like ours, Miles, so devoid of hope, so helpless and impotent... You can see that shadow, that EVIL in the eyes of almost every man. An era of Mr. Hydes in world so desperate for Dr. Jekyll is upon us, Miles… Which begs the question of where the Yang is. More importantly? It begs the question of where it will be come The Crown.
----“As you and I are to fight to the death over the Pure Championship,” continues the Infernal Baptist, dropping down onto his knees again and turning around to sit butterfly style while facing towards the camera. “I have come to learn quite a bit about you in the last few days. You probably fancy yourself the Yin, Miles, and I understand… I get it. Delusions of grandeur are something I see a lot of in this industry. That being said? You and I both know that it will not be me being broken, but you. You might think it’s break or be broken, Miles, but it’s kill or be killed. And I can guaran-fucking-tee you right now that it’s not my time to go.”
----Kai snickers evilly before lifting one leg up and pushing the other foot’s heel further across his body, placing the lifted foot’s heel down on the floor as far in the opposite direction as he can. He places his elbow against the upper leg’s knee and twists his back to crack it. He quickly switches his legs and does the same stretch in the opposite direction. Once he’s done, he returns to the butterfly pose and glares into the camera.
----“You wish to break me, don’t you, Miles?” inquires the Infernal Baptist. “You wish to scar me mentally, as if scar tissue isn’t stronger than regular tissue, you fucking idiot. If your time in ALPHA Wrestling was any indication… If the sycophant you turned into in OWA, in Japan in SSW, was any indication… Then you are the only has been mentally torn asunder. Which means that come The Crown, Miles, I will simply be leaving your physical body likewise.
----“You lay claim to leaving bodies in your wake, evidencing that you are the beacon people have looked to… At least that’s what you say… What you think. But I know better. Sure, all those losses in Miami made ya’ snap in the Pacific, but unlike me, you have NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT YOU’RE DOING! When you’ve got that emptiness inside of you, that Void, Miles? There’s only one way to fill it... To satiate that bloodlust. My years of tutelage under Brian Church have taught me how to take my wrath, my bloodlust... And use it to my advantage. You? You pledged your allegiance to false prophets like Zakk Night. But the World’s Final Prophet has shown me the future, Miles. He’s shown me the Path to Purity.
----“And I will traverse this Path,” continues the Cowboy Killer. “I will make this journey and I will show you the Cancer of your Creation by-- well, force if I have to. And in doing so, I will usher you into this New Age. Resist as you’d like, motherfucker, because when it comes right down to it? When it comes right down to it you couldn’t hold my fucking jock.”
----Kai snickers evilly and repositions himself into a kneeling position, widening his knees before lowering his seat and reaching around behind his back to place the palm of his hand on the inside of the opposite knee from all the way around his back. His free hand reaches forward and across to twist his body even further, an impressive feat of flexibility. Uncharacteristically calm, Stevens switches sides and returns back to a seated position after a moment.
----“If Miami chewed you up and spit you out,” he contemplates aloud. “If Japan chewed you up and spit you out... If Los Angeles chewed you up and spit you out... Tell me, Miles… What the FUCK do you think I’m gonna’ do to you? I’m gonna’ sink my fucking teeth in... Bite down to the bone and then? Then I’m gonna’ rip you limb from motherfucking limb. And you will bow at my feet, Miles… Because if you don’t? I’ll take your fucking knees out.
----“Don’t just take my word for it. Ask all of the coworkers you left behind in Japan, in Miami, in PWF… Because while you were busy tucking your tail between your legs and running away like the bottom bitch you are? I was busy being CHAMPION! I was too busy being better than you EVER fucking were. I was too busy fulfilling my destiny... Something I will do at The Crown against you, Miles.
----“I’m walking into Michigan with one strap,” he snickers sinisterly. “And leaving with TWO! That? That is INEVITABLE! Fate doesn’t give a fuck about your feelings, Miles. Fate doesn’t give a fuck about your opinions. Fate couldn’t give any less of a fuck who you think you are, what you think you’ve accomplished… Your excuses can’t fight fate. Which means that you can’t fight me.”
----Stevens pushes up to his feet and lifts one off the ground, leaning forward to engage in the Warrior Three pose. From here, he transitions into another Warrior pose and flicks his eyes to the camera. His yoga regimen is responsible for his disquieting calm at the moment, but the nefarious grin on his bearded face speaks to a different motivation.
----“I’ve often heard this old adage,” voices the Vessel of the Void. “This old adage that says something to the effect of the devil whispers to the warrior that he cannot withstand the storm, but the warrior responds that he IS the storm... But what you’re about to come to learn firsthand for yourself there, Miles? Is that not only am I the warrior and the storm... But I’m the devil, too. What exactly does that make you, though, Miles?
----“Above all else it makes you a victim, motherfucker. It makes you nothing more than the next head on my pike, the next bloodsport trophy on my mantle. I know you’ve seen the kinds of things I like to do to people inside that ring, Miles, all over the globe! No matter what delusions of grandeur you might possess in that heart of yours, no matter how inflated your ego has become over the past couple of years? You’re still less than nothing to me.
----“Don’t misunderstand me here, Miles. I’m not saying I’m taking our match lightly-- I’m saying I’m taking you lightly. Our match out there at the Crown is gonna’ be a fuckin’ bloodbath. I’m gonna’ kick your teeth straight through the back of your skull and then fucking hang you with your own God damned intestines… And then I’m gonna’ stain that Pure Championship with your blood. And at the end of the day, Miles? At the end of the day, you won’t be able to look back and console yourself by saying you lost because I took this shit personal and put that kind of beating on ya’... Because this is the FARTHEST thing from personal. You mean nothing to me, and I’m gonna’ expose you to the world for the nothing you are deep down inside.
----“Which means, Miles,” continues our Cowboy Killer. “Which means when I’m out there scalping you, out there showing the world a whole ‘nother level of gore... When I’m out there driving your ugly mug straight into the canvas and painting it with your blood? I’m doing it for the smile it’s gonna’ put on my face. You don’t deserve to be here, least of all to be sharing the ring with me up there in Michigan. And I will be happy to show you the motherfucking door-- you understand me, you piece of shit?”
----Without warning, the Infernal Baptist efforts to a vertical base and glares disdainfully into the camera. A malicious smirk overtakes his bearded visage, and he nods his head in self-agreement. Scratching at his beard, he then wags his right index finger at the camera to accompany his venomous vitriol.
----“I’m done wasting my breath on someone like you, Miles,” explains the Envoy of the End. “Come the first of December, motherfucker, the only thing that’s gonna’ be wasted is the canvas, because I’m gonna’ stain it with your blood and they will NEVER be able to get it out… Like a permanent tarnishing of an otherwise clean record… For your time having breath of your own to waste on trying to get under my skin? For your aspirations for what is Inevitably my title? For your career? The end is nigh.”
----From here, Kai shoves the camera back, forcing it to crash into the floor and static until it cuts completely out. As our segment fades to black, we are left with one haunting question hanging over our heads like a black cloud:
----Will Kai Stevens’s journey along the Path to Purity lead him to more gold?
fin.