Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2013 18:50:57 GMT -6
Outwit, Outplay, And Outlast
“Are you so sure you won, Reya?”
The words of Father Nathan from the end of this last Ignite have kept ringing in my head for the last several days, unable to be suppressed. I had been declared the winner of our match at Kamikaze after having crucifying him upon a cross with barbed wire, an act which I will surely have to answer for at some point in the future but it was an action that had to be taken. I had no intentions of becoming a martyr upon the cross either by my own choice or by force, especially after what he had done to Paxar just the week prior. No, it was Father Nathan that brought his own fate upon himself by turning his back on his faith by joining Unstable.
I tried to bring him back from the brink. I tried to save him.
Father Nathan wanted none of it. He chose to go over the edge instead. He wanted to be painted as the blasphemous martyr. He wanted me to tie him to that crucifix and put that crown of thorns over his head, to bleed and suffer for his followers in a similar fashion to the way Jesus Christ bled and suffered. He received half of what he wanted, only because it was the sole way of ending the match. The other half, the crown of thorns, I tore in half right in front of him.
Father Nathan is no Jesus Christ, nor will he ever be...no matter how much he desires to become him.
“You had help.”
Paxar throwing nachos at Father Nathan was...regrettable. However, after he crucified her putting her in the hospital for days before Kamikaze being pelted with nachos in retaliation is minor compared to what she could have done. As for the former ACW Ultimate Champion Xandor Cross, his arrival was a surprise even to myself but it was a welcome one. He did prove to be a minor distraction in the match, but the same could have been said if one of the other members of Unstable had made their way down to the ring.
“You will kill her one of these days, Reya. Look in her eyes. Paxar knows it too. Look deep into her eyes and see the resentment festering, waiting for the time to come out.”
“Reya? Hello? REYA! Paxar shouts loudly, only now noticing that I have been staring into her eyes for the last several minutes while thinking to myself.
Could Father Nathan be right? I see no resentment in her eyes, but she could very well be hiding it from me deep within. After all, she has proven her ability to keep things from me in the past. Perhaps this is no different. Perhaps I could be the one that will to blame for her death...
“HEY!!!” Paxar yells at the top of her lungs, snapping her fingers at the same time which causes me to blink my eyes and forces me out of my thoughts. “Are you alright? You were starting to freak me out...”
“I am sorry,” I reply apologetically. “I just have a few things on my mind at the moment.”
“Don’t tell me, let me guess. Does it have something to do with that big ball of hot air that Father Nathan was blowing about you last week?” she asks as I give her a slight nod in response. “Well, drop it. He’s just trying to get in your head, to put a rift between us. Besides, you’ve got other things to think about...”
“I do?” I inquire curiously.
“...I see you haven’t been paying attention for longer than I thought. You probably didn’t even hear me explain just where we’re at right now, let alone anything else,” Paxar says to me.
“No, I did not,” I answer, finally taking my eyes off of my friend to view my surroundings. There are a few trees nearby, but most of what is around us appears to desolate at best.
Letting out a deep sigh, Paxar shakes her head in dismay. “Fine, I’ll explain again from the beginning. See where we’re at? This is known as Fighting Island,” she informs me. “It’s a privately owned island just barely across the border with Canada.”
Narrowing my eyes, I glare at her in confusion. “So you are saying that not only are we currently in Canada and not Detroit where we are supposed to be but we are on a private island? That sounds an awful lot like trespassing, among other things...”
“Don’t freak out, Reya,” Paxar reassures me. “I mean yeah, we’re probably not supposed to be here but we’re not going to be here long. The people that own this island probably won’t even know we were here, plus we’re not going to do something to it that they probably haven’t done themselves. It is kind of a dump, after all.”
“It does appear to be quite dilapidated,” I reply in agreement. “However, I do not see why we have come here in the first place.”
“It’s simple, Reya. You’re a fighter. You always have been and you always will be until you draw your last breath. This is Fighting Island. Seems like a perfect place for a fighter like you to train this week,” Paxar states, nodding at me. “Speaking of training, I think it’s time for your little lesson in survival.”
“Survival?” I ask inquisitively, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Indeed. See, in your match at the NEW five year anniversary show you’re in a Royal Rumble match with the winner getting a title shot of their choice so long as it’s not for the World Title,” Paxar tells me.
“I see,” I reply. “Well I have been in several matches such as this both in New Edge as well as in other promotions...”
“You do have experience in this kind of match,” Paxar interrupts. “But do you know what all of those matches had in common?”
Not knowing the answer to her question, I shake my head. “You lost. Each and every single one of them. Not only that, but you weren’t even really close to winning any of them. Do you know why that is?”
“Because my best was not good enough?” I reply sheepishly.
“Well it wasn’t, but that’s not why,” Paxar explains. “It’s because you were so busy worrying about other people that you didn’t look out for number one. I know you like to help others and everything, but in a match like this you can’t trust anyone. Not even your friends and allies. To win this and get a title shot they’d throw you over the ropes without a second thought. If you want to win this, you have to survive without helping them and without them helping you. You have to survive on your own.”
“I believe that I can do that,” I declare confidently, smiling at her.
“There’s more to it than that though,” Paxar says to me. “Out of twenty three participants, you’re going to be the second one in. Not only that, but even to start off with you’re facing your former arch nemesis in Gaf...”
“Mister Lionheart...” I mutter softly. “The same man I buried alive...the same man that put me in a casket and nailed it shut...”
“The very same,” Paxar affirms with a nod. “How you two managed to be the first two entrants into this thing I don’t know. Something tells me that creeper manager of Gaf’s Kevin Rouser probably had something to do with it.”
“Given his propensity for antics such as the one he did when he was in my dressing room last week, that would not be a surprise,” I tell her. “However, what is done is done. I will be the second entrant and there is nothing I can do to change that.”
“Exactly. It’s not like you’re entering last and half of the people are already eliminated,” Paxar points out. “For you to win this you’ve got to get through not only Gaf but the other twenty one men and women too. Survival is key and to survive you need to be able to do a few things.”
“Such as?” I ask curiously.
“There’s three things really,” Paxar states. “The first is that you have to outwit them, each and every one of them from Gaf to Alexis and everyone in between. Now there’s a few of these people that you haven’t faced in the ring before, but for the most part you’ve faced many of those in this match at one time or another. I could list them all right now because I memorized the list, but I think I’ll just give you the list of all of them later before the match. In any case, you know from experience what some of them are likely to do when they step in the ring. Use that to your advantage and get the upper hand on them. As for the ones you haven’t faced yet, we can look over tapes on them later to see what tendencies they have.”
“Okay, so I need to outwit them, to be able to anticipate their movements before they make them,” I say to her. “What else?”
“You’ve got to outplay them,” Paxar declares. “Use those wits like I said before, but also don’t do stupid stuff like they might try to do. High risk moves in a match like this might score you cool points with the fans, but they’re also more likely to get you eliminated. Use your quickness like you always do, but don’t take to the air unless you want to get knocked over the top rope and out of the match.”
“Stay on the ground,” I reply with a nod. “Got it.”
“Finally, outlast them,” my friend tells me. “If you want to win, you’re going to have to outlast all of the rest of them. Since you’re the second person in the match, you’re going to be a lot more fatigued than those coming in later. You’ve got really good endurance but you will still have to conserve your energy. When you need to, back off and just get some of that energy back. Let them fight among themselves and when the time is right then strike. Pick your spots wisely and you’ll put yourself in a good position to win this thing.”
“Anticipate their movements, stay on the ground, and pick my spots...” I repeat back to her. “Those things will be difficult to do, but I will certainly try.”
“Trust me, Reya,” Paxar states. “You do those things and you’ll win this thing. You’ve got this.”
“The competition will almost definitely be tough, but I pray that your advice is right Paxar. I will follow that advice and God willing I will emerge as the sole survivor and victor of this Royal Rumble,” I tell her confidently.
“That’s the spirit!” Paxar exclaims. “Now come on. We’re on this big island with plenty of room to run. Sounds like a perfect opportunity to do a little endurance run.”
Flashing a bright smile at her, I agree with a nod. “Indeed. We can even make a wager between us if you would like...first to go completely around the island and back to our boat chooses what we shall have for dinner, perhaps?”
The eyes of Paxar bulge widely as she shouts back at me. “You’re on!”
In an instant, Paxar bolts away from me running as fast as she can. After letting out a slight chuckle I soon start running after her, pacing myself as I go...
Outwit.
Outplay.
Outlast.
The three keys that are necessary for survival. They will be of great use to me in surviving to the end of this Royal Rumble match against twenty two other competitors, for if I manage to let even one person successfully outwit or outplay me I will almost certainly be outlasted by them. God willing, when the ring has been cleared and the bell has been rung it will be my hand raised in victory and not the hand of another.
